Lynchburg Personal Injury Lawyer

Whether it occurred in a roadway accident, due to a hazardous property condition, thanks to a medical professional’s misconduct, or through any other means, a personal injury can throw off all your future plans in a matter of moments. Even if you can recover completely in a physical sense from this kind of experience, the financial and emotional scars of a serious injury can last a lot longer—to say nothing of how life-altering permanent disability or disfigurement can be.

If you sustained any harm due to someone else’s irresponsible behavior that required you to seek professional medical attention, you should consider discussing your legal options with a Lynchburg personal injury lawyer. By pursuing the compensation you deserve with an experienced attorney’s assistance, you could give yourself much more favorable odds of securing a positive case outcome and moving on with your life as best as you can.

Rules for Civil Litigation in Lynchburg

With rare exceptions for cases that arise under very specific circumstances, successful personal injury claims in Virginia involve an injured “plaintiff” proving through a “preponderance”—meaning “majority”—of available evidence that one or more “defendants” bear financial responsibility for their injuries based on their legal negligence. In the context of civil law, “negligence” has four component parts that all must be present during an accident for a civil lawsuit or settlement demand to move forward: a duty of care owed by the defendant(s) to the plaintiff, a violation of that duty, causation of an injury through that violation, and causation of compensable losses through that injury.

What constitutes “negligent” behavior can change a lot depending on the circumstances, as well as on the specific duty that a defendant had to keep a plaintiff reasonably safe from harm. For example, property owners do not owe any significant duty of care to trespassers, but they do have an obligation to inspect their land for hazards that could harm lawful visitors.

Importantly, plaintiffs can also bear partial fault for their own damages if a court finds that they acted negligently themselves—and thanks to Virginia’s “pure contributory negligence” system, any such finding in a personal injury case almost always prevents any form of financial recovery whatsoever. Fortunately, a dedicated Lynchburg personal injury attorney could work to contest allegations of contributory fault and maximize the compensation available for an injured plaintiff.

Recoverable Damages Through a Successful Claim

Since the central idea behind personal injury litigation is to restore an accident victim to as close to their pre-accident state as possible, successful plaintiffs in these types of claims may demand financial restitution for every impact their injuries have already had on them and will likely have on them in the future. This includes not just objective financial losses like medical expenses and lost work income, but also subjective forms of “pain and suffering” such as lost consortium with a spouse and lost enjoyment of life.

All that being said, even the strongest grounds for a personal injury claim may mean nothing if an injured party waits too long before starting the litigation process. As a personal injury lawyer in Lynchburg could affirm, Code of Virginia §8.01-243 sets a filing deadline of two years past the date an accident victim discovers their injuries that applies to most personal injury cases, although there are some exceptions in unique situations.

Get in Touch with a Lynchburg Personal Injury Attorney

Nobody likes the idea of going through a prolonged legal battle while still recovering from a serious injury. However, taking a proactive approach to civil recovery may be important not just to get you a measure of justice for the harm you unfairly sustained, but also to protect your financial security and personal interests for years to come.

A qualified Lynchburg personal injury lawyer could explain filing options and set you on course towards a beneficial case outcome during a private consultation. Call today to schedule yours.