How Do I Know If I Have a Personal Injury Claim?
You may have a personal injury claim if someone else’s actions or omissions contributed to your injury. That someone else could be an individual, a company, or a government entity. The best way to determine if you have a case is to contact D’Amico Pettinicchi and schedule a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer in Torrington.
What Damages Could I Be Entitled to in a Personal Injury Case?
Through a personal injury case, you may be able to recover compensation for various types of losses related to your injuries, such as the following:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and loss of future earning potential
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Permanent disability
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
- Property damage, such as vehicle repair/replacement
When you meet with us for your free, no-obligation case review, we can assess your situation to determine the personal injury compensation you may pursue.
Can I Still Get Compensation If I Was Partly to Blame for My Injuries?
If you were partly to blame for your injuries, you can still recover compensation. However, Connecticut uses a modified comparative negligence rule that could reduce the compensation you recover. Under this rule, you must be 50 percent or less at fault for your injuries, and the compensation you can recover through a trial award will be reduced by a percentage equal to your degree of fault.
As an example, if you were found to be 40 percent at fault for your accident and your total damages were $100,000, you would receive $600,000. At D’Amico Pettinicchi, our attorneys have the skills to minimize fault attributed to our clients while maximizing the liability of the other responsible parties.
How Soon Should I Start a Personal Injury Claim?
The best time to start your personal injury claim is right now. The sooner you begin working on your case, the better. While this is partly due to the various deadlines for different aspects of a legal case, that’s only one of several reasons to start quickly.
Your lawyer will also need time to gather evidence and build a strong case. This isn’t something that happens overnight. A successful legal case requires extensive planning over several weeks. Additionally, the evidence needed to prove your case likely won’t last forever. Surveillance camera footage gets overwritten, eyewitness memories fade, and other types of evidence degrade or are lost over time, making it essential that your lawyer can gather them quickly.
How Long Do I Have in Connecticut to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
In general, Connecticut personal injury victims have two years to file lawsuits against the parties responsible for their injuries. However, there are several exceptions to this rule.
For example, personal injury cases arising from an intentional act of violence or a defective product incident are subject to a three-year time limit. Additionally, the deadline for filing a lawsuit can be paused for up to seven years if the defendant leaves the state. Finally, the clock doesn’t start counting down until a defendant’s role in a personal injury incident is discovered if they fraudulently concealed their involvement.
How Long Does a Typical Personal Injury Case Last?
A typical personal injury case can last anywhere from several months to a few years. The exact amount of time your case will take depends on the complexity of your case and whether it settles or goes to trial. Generally, more complex cases take longer, and going to trial adds significantly to the time required for a case.
What Must Be Proven in a Personal Injury Claim?
For a successful personal injury claim, you must prove that the defendant’s actions caused your injuries and that you sustained losses due to those injuries. In most cases, you must also prove that the defendant’s actions were negligent, meaning a reasonable person in a similar situation would not have taken them.
What Are Common Personal Injury Cases?
Common cases that lead to personal injury claims in Torrington include the following:
- Car Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Boating Accidents
- Bus Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents – When a vehicle strikes a pedestrian, the injured pedestrian can file an auto insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s liability coverage policy to recover compensation.
- Bicycle Accidents – Cyclists may be injured by aggressive drivers who don’t give them space on the road or by drivers and passengers who open their vehicle doors into the cyclist’s path.
- Slip and Fall Accidents – Wet floors, loose railings, uneven surfaces, and poor lighting can all contribute to slip and fall accidents. These incidents can result in serious injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, and spinal cord injuries.
- Dog Bites – Connecticut applies a standard of strict liability in dog bite cases, meaning victims may be able to hold the dog’s owner liable even if they didn’t have any reason to believe their dog was aggressive before the incident.
- Defective Products – Injuries caused by defective products may also result in cases based on strict liability, where the injured party only has to demonstrate that a defect caused their injuries, rather than proving that the manufacturer was negligent.
- Workplace Accidents – While many workplace accidents fall under the scope of workers’ compensation, not all do. If you are an independent contractor or your injury was caused by a third party, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit.
- Premises Liability – Beyond slip and fall accidents, many other incidents, such as exposure to hazardous materials or negligent security, fall under premises liability.
- Violent Crimes – Physical assaults and other violent crimes can result in personal injury lawsuits.
- Medical Malpractice
- Nursing Home Abuse
What Types of Injuries Happen Due to Personal Injury Accidents?
Personal injury accidents can result in a wide variety of injuries. Some of the most serious and prevalent of these injuries include the following:
- Traumatic Brain Injuries – TBIs occur when the brain strikes the inside of the skull and can lead to permanent cognitive and physical disability.
- Spinal Cord Injuries – Damage to the spinal cord can cause chronic pain, numbness or tingling in the extremities, mobility issues, and paralysis in particularly severe cases.
- Internal Organ Damage – Internal injuries are often difficult to identify immediately after an accident, as they frequently take time to begin displaying visible symptoms.
- Fractured Bones – Bones can break in various ways in accidents, including simple, compound, comminuted, and greenstick fractures, which may require surgery to repair.
- Burn Injuries – Accidents involving fire, chemicals, or electricity can leave victims with significant burns, requiring skin grafts and resulting in permanent scarring or disfigurement.
- Electrocutions – Incidents involving electricity can cause burns and damage internal organs. Victims of electrocutions should always seek immediate medical attention.
- Lacerations – Deep cuts may require stitches and leave victims with permanent scarring.
- Crushed Limbs and Amputations – Motor vehicle and heavy machinery accidents are some of the leading causes of crushed limbs. Limbs may be amputated in the accident or may have to be amputated later on in the hospital.
- Psychological Injuries – Not every injury sustained in an accident is physical. Victims often experience psychological injuries, as well, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
