Scott County Personal Injury Lawyer
Whenever an accident leads to someone getting hurt, the resulting physical, financial, and personal losses can often be harder to overcome than the pain of the actual injury. Fortunately, if you got hurt specifically because someone else acted recklessly or carelessly, you may be able to hold that person financially liable for the harm you sustained due to their actions.
Successfully pursuing civil compensation can be hard for anyone to manage by themselves, so retaining a skilled Scott County personal injury lawyer is almost always key if you want the best possible odds of a positive case outcome. Once retained, your seasoned attorney could explain how your case will proceed in or out of court, help collect evidence of fault and documentation of your damages, and work tirelessly in pursuit of the restitution you deserve.
What Makes Someone Liable for a Personal Injury?
To successfully sue someone else over a personal injury, the plaintiff must be able to prove that the defendant was legally negligent. In the context of civil litigation, negligence has four critical components, all of which must be present for a case to be valid:
- An implicit or explicit “duty of care” owed to the plaintiff by the defendant
- A reckless, careless, or illegal act or omission that constitutes a violation of that duty
- A causal relationship between the breach of the duty and an accident involving the plaintiff
- Compensable losses stemming directly from that accident
Simply put, a person is negligent if they do something unreasonable and directly cause harm to someone else as a result. If a civil plaintiff can prove negligence by a defendant through a preponderance of the evidence, they should be able to hold that defendant responsible for every compensable consequence of their behavior.
Importantly, damages do not have to have objective financial values to be compensable. In addition to economic damages like medical expenses and loss of work income, a Scott County personal injury attorney could also help a plaintiff seek restitution for non-economic forms of harm like physical pain, emotional anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.
How Comparative Negligence Could Impact Recovery
Unfortunately, even if an accident victim in Virginia can prove that someone else is primarily to blame for their injuries, that injured party may not be able to recover any compensation if they themselves are somewhat to blame for their accident as well. This is because Virginia civil courts follow a pure comparative fault system, under which any amount of negligence attributable to a civil plaintiff completely bars that plaintiff from seeking recovery.
Because of how inflexible this legal principle is, hiring skilled legal counsel is especially crucial to achieving a good case result following a serious accident. A knowledgeable lawyer in Scott County could help build a comprehensive personal injury case that both demonstrates fault by a defendant and disproves allegations of fault made against a plaintiff.
Speak with a Scott County Personal Injury Attorney
The amount of compensation a successful civil plaintiff receives is directly connected to the severity of their losses. In other words, civil recovery is often the only way victims of severe accidents can have any hope of living a normal life in the months and years to come.
If you suffered significant injuries and losses in an accident that was not your fault, a seasoned Scott County personal injury lawyer should be able to help. Call today to set up your initial consultation.
