Even if you try to act safely and be reasonable whenever your actions could impact other people, not everyone acts with the same care in the same situations. Unfortunately, it is all too common in Calverton and throughout Maryland for reckless or careless actions by a single person to negatively affect the lives of countless others, whose only offense was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If you suffered injury because another person acted in an irresponsible way, you may have grounds for a civil lawsuit that a Calverton personal injury lawyer could help you explore. With guidance from an attorney who has successfully handled many similar cases before, you could effectively advance your best interests while also protecting your rights inside or outside of court.
Recoverable Damages from a Personal Injury Claim
The main idea behind any form of civil litigation—whether it takes the form of a private settlement negotiation or a public hearing in civil court—is to allow a person injured by someone else’s misconduct to recover money for the “compensable losses” they sustained directly due to their injuries. Liability in these types of cases typically revolves around the named defendant(s) being found “negligent,” which means they violated an implicit or explicit duty they had to act in a reasonable way and proximately caused harm through that breach of duty.
A plaintiff who can prove negligence in this way could demand restitution for both past and future losses of economic and non-economic natures, including:
- Medical expenses
- Wage/income losses
- Property damage
- Physical pain
- Lost enjoyment of life
- Lost consortium
Working with a Calverton personal injury attorney could be key to identifying and valuating recoverable losses based on an individual plaintiff’s unique circumstances.
What Could Hinder Recovery Efforts?
Even if a civil plaintiff can establish that someone else was 100 percent at fault for their injuries, they can only recover for a limited amount of compensation for some of their ensuing losses. Specifically, Maryland Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings §3-2A-09 caps recovery for non-economic damages at $890,000 as of October 1, 2020, a number that only increases by $15,000 each year to account for inflation.
To make matters more complicated, a plaintiff found to bear some percentage of fault—even one percent—for their own losses is ineligible to recover anything at all. This is because of the extremely harsh “pure contributory negligence” standard that Maryland courts apply to personal injury claims, a system that only four other U.S. states and territories still adhere to.
Finally, MD Code, C&JP §5-101 allows a maximum of three years after someone discovers they were hurt due to negligence for that injured person to start pursuing civil litigation. Anyone who fails to get their claim started by this deadline will generally be barred from recovery, although there are some exceptions in unique situations that a personal injury lawyer in Calverton could discuss in detail if applicable.
Talk to a Calverton Personal Injury Attorney Today
The days and weeks that follow a severe accident can be even more chaotic than the accident itself, particularly if you are struggling to deal with newfound expenses and personal losses. Fortunately, if you can prove someone else accountable for the circumstances leading up to your accident, you could potentially hold them liable to pay for your ensuing damages rather than taking them all on yourself.
A Calverton personal injury lawyer could explain your options and help you effectively pursue a positive outcome to your case. Call today for a consultation.
