Personal injury. Two words most often heard by consumers in the context of a lawsuit. The commonality of this type of lawsuit is directly tied to its broad application. There are hundreds if not thousands of potential scenarios in which a personal injury could conceivably occur. Understanding personal injury causes can contribute to a safer experience.
With such a broad definition, someone else's wrongful conduct causes harm to the victim, personal injury can be difficult to see in practice. While the decisive knowledge of whether a personal injury claim is likely to succeed lies with an experienced personal injury attorney, Attorney at Law has compiled a short list of some common circumstances that can lead to a personal injury lawsuit.
Automobile Accidents
Automobile accidents give rise to the largest class of personal injury lawsuits. One of the biggest legal hurdles in a personal injury lawsuit is proving negligence. Negligence can only arise when the defendant had a duty of care for the victim. On the road, however, all drivers have a duty to one another to follow all rules of the road and to be alert and attentive while driving.
Personal injury arising from automobile accidents can be a number of physical harms, or they can be the financial harms of being unable to work or perform necessary duties.
Medical Malpractice
Another field where duty of care is relatively simple to discern is with medical malpractice cases. A doctor, nurse, or healthcare provider is bound to provide patients with the best possible care and act in their best interest.
Medical malpractice personal injury lawsuits may include prescribing medication without understanding fully the side effects, botching a surgical procedure due, or performing unnecessary procedures.
Premise Liability
The most common form of premise liability is the classic slip-and-fall scenario. Most premises liability derives from a place not taking a reasonable amount of car in protecting visitors from a hazard such as a wet floor.
If you have suffered an injury in one of the circumstances detailed above, you should contact an attorney. An experienced personal injury attorney can help you acquire the compensation that you deserve for your case to pay for medical expenses, or lost wages.
Many people will admit that there was a time when they may have been neglectful in their everyday lives. Perhaps they forgot to lock their car, left wet clothes in the washer, or forgot to start cooking dinner. These small acts of negligence often result in a temporary feeling of foolishness as they correct these mistakes.
Legally, negligence takes on a slightly different tone. While an individual may still have to make up for their mistakes, the legal consequences of this can be severe in their impact. Cornell Law School defines negligence as “a failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances.”
Broadly speaking, negligence is defined as acting in a way that a reasonable person would not. In the state of Texas, negligence is closely associated with the idea of personal injury, which can manifest in several ways:
Each of these types of personal injury could be the result of negligence on the part of the perpetrator.
A premises liability case may claim that a facility owner failed to properly mark a wet floor sign, leading to a slip and fall. Since most reasonable facility owners can and do place “wet floor” signs near wet areas, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that this facility owner was negligent.
Similarly, if a manufacturer sends out a product that has not been quality tested into the stream of commerce and that product injures a consumer, that manufacturer may be found to be negligent. The train of logic would be that since most manufacturers test the quality of a product before bringing it to market, a non-negligent manufacturer would do the same.
Medical malpractice is one of the more dire examples of the damage of negligence. If a doctor, nurse, or surgeon fails to properly sterilize their equipment, fully discuss treatment options and risks, or fails to properly inform their patients, that practitioner may be found to be negligent.
Dog bites are a rare instance where negligence can apply to another creature entirely. Since a dog is the property of its owner, it is the owner’s responsibility to ensure that the dog is properly trained and well adjusted. If an owner brings an untrained, aggressive, or maladjusted dog around other people or animals, that dog may attack them. The negligence here is failing to properly account for the established behavior of the dog and still bringing it to a place where it could harm others.
If you have been accused of negligence, or any other form of personal injury, contact an attorney today to discuss your legal options and potential solutions.
Asbestos is a mineral family that includes amphibole and serpentine forms. These minerals have been used for their heat and corrosion-resistant properties, but asbestos has also been found to be a carcinogen to people exposed to it.
Asbestos exposure can come with many negative consequences. These consequences can be economic, medical, and financial. In addition, it may be difficult for people who are subjected to asbestos to understand how they can recover.
Asbestos exposure and subsequent complications can remove a person’s ability to work, reducing the number of hours that can be worked or permanently disabling the individual. Medically, people exposed to asbestos will have to undergo constant medical treatment and monitoring in order to limit the damage that asbestos causes. Finally, these consequences can be devastatingly expensive to resolve. For this reason, litigation can be useful in providing relief for victims of asbestos exposure.
Before you can consider whether you have a case, you will need to identify what harm has been caused to you. Asbestos exposure can manifest in many body regions, but most symptoms are concentrated in the lungs and abdomen. Due to the body’s inability to process asbestos, many of these conditions are permanent and can be mitigated but not cured.
The most benign category of asbestos-related diseases is asbestos pleural diseases. Asbestos pleural diseases include pleural effusions, plaques, and thickening.
Pleural effusions are large quantities of fluid building up in the mesothelium between the lungs and lung cavity wall. Effusions exert pressure on the lungs and can cause difficulty breathing as well as chest pain.
Pleural plaques are a number of hardened or thickened areas in the lungs, while thickening is a buildup of scar tissue in the entire lung. These symptoms can increase difficulty breathing, cause chest pain, and increase the likelihood of developing additional asbestos-related health concerns.
Asbestosis is an asbestos-related type of fibrosis characterized by a buildup of scar tissue around the asbestos particles in the lungs. In addition to more typical symptoms of other asbestos pleural diseases, asbestosis has the troublesome symptom of crackling noises when inhaling.
The most important and deadly health complication caused by asbestos is mesothelioma. This aggressive cancer of the mesothelium is a severe condition that mainly manifests in the lungs, known as pleural mesothelioma, and the abdomen, known as peritoneal mesothelioma.
Once an asbestos-related disease has manifested symptoms, confirming this condition is vital. Many of these issues, especially mesothelioma, only manifest after a long latency period. Due to the long period of dormancy, mesothelioma, and other asbestos-related diseases, the health conditions can intensify without detection.
Once an individual suspects that they may have an asbestos-related disease, they should go to a pulmonologist in order to confirm the diagnosis. For asbestos pleural diseases, aspiration may be helpful in identifying or even treating conditions like pleural effusions in a limited capacity.
Once an individual has had their asbestos-related condition confirmed by a third-party medical professional, treatments will be explored, and legal measures can begin to be explored.
Once an asbestos-related disease has been identified, the next step in filing a lawsuit is finding out who is responsible for the exposure in question. Since asbestos-related conditions have an extensive latency period that can last for decades, the source of an asbestos exposure can be challenging to parse.
Asbestos has seen use in manufacturing, mining, and construction industries. For this reason, people can be exposed to asbestos particles when asbestos-containing materials are damaged, disturbed, or moved. These damaged materials will release microscopic particles into the air, allowing the asbestos to be inhaled, where it can settle in the lungs and damage tissue.
For residents who lived in buildings built before 1970, there may be asbestos in the drywall, ceiling, insulation, gaskets, or ductwork of the building. If the owner of the building, landlord, or realtor knew about the presence of asbestos and did not disclose that or recommend asbestos abatement to safely and professionally remove the asbestos, there may be a case for negligence or reckless endangerment for the residents.
There are also possible asbestos exposure avenues for workers. For example, manufacturers who work on ships or automobiles may be exposed to asbestos used in the parts for these vehicles. Similarly, construction workers using insulation or cement with asbestos may be exposed. If these workers are not adequately protected or provided personal protective equipment, their employer may be liable for their asbestos-related diseases.
Finally, some individuals work in the mining industry extracting asbestos or talc. Because talc forms near asbestos in nature, talc miners may find themselves exposed to asbestos. If miners are not adequately protected or given protective gear, they may also have a legal case against their employer for failing to care for the workers properly.
Finding out that you have been exposed to asbestos is devastating. It feels as though the world around you has fundamentally changed. When you are going through this experience, you don’t want to spend a lot of time considering whether you have a case or shopping around to find the right attorney to seek justice on your behalf. You want someone who knows what they’re doing, who cares about doing it right, and who won’t burden you with expensive retainer fees.
If you have been exposed to asbestos, and if you have subsequently developed an asbestos-related health condition like mesothelioma, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to cover your medical expenses and recover potential damages. In order to successfully file and prevail in your lawsuit, you will need the help of an asbestos attorney.
An experienced Personal Injury attorney can utilize legal expertise, trial tactics, and expert witnesses to achieve the best possible outcome for your case. By leveraging their experience with asbestos litigation and legal expertise, the right attorney can shave years off of litigation and get you your settlement or verdict that much faster. The best place to find a Personal Injury attorney is with Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of attorneys can connect you with the best Personal Injury attorney in your area. Not only can AAL find you a Personal Injury attorney to help you achieve justice that most closely fits your needs, but we can do so without costing you anything. AAL’s Personal Injury partners work on contingency. That means you pay nothing upfront, and if you don’t win, you never pay anything.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a complimentary consultation and begin your journey to justice.
Asbestos is a relatively obscure substance that many people will never have to interact with. Unfortunately, for those who do have a need to learn about it, asbestos is often the cause of a health complications or injury. In order to provide more information about asbestos, the ways exposure can occur, and the consequences of asbestos exposure, Attorney at Law has put together this short guide.
Asbestos is a mineral family of silicon-based geological substances. Asbestos has been used throughout the world for its high-tensile strength, heat resistance, and anti-corrosive properties. There are six types of asbestos divided into two broad subgroups: amphibole and serpentine.
Amphibole asbestos is the subtype defined by two major factors: having perfect lines of separation, called cleavage by geologists, and fracturing in needle-like patterns. This type of asbestos family contains five types of asbestos:
Amphibole asbestos is most notorious for its alleged association with talc products. Since talc and asbestos form under similar circumstances in similar locations, there have been allegations that asbestos contamination has been found in talc products. There have been some instances, where the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found asbestos in some talc products including hygiene items, makeup, and other cosmetics.
Serpentine asbestos, also called white asbestos, is the most common type of asbestos found in up to 95% of products that contain asbestos. Despite its ubiquity, there is only one type of asbestos that makes up the serpentine asbestos subgroup: chrysotile. Chrysotile saw an extensive amount of use in the period of time between World War II and the 1970s.
Because of its perceived usefulness, asbestos has been used in a wide variety of consumer products. The most common areas of usage are in manufacturing, construction, and manual industries. When asbestos-containing products are damaged, disturbed, or impacted, asbestos particles can be released into the air. Once it’s in the air, asbestos can enter the body, most often through inhalation.
There are different avenues of exposure to amphibole asbestos. This varies based on the type of amphibole asbestos that someone is exposed to.
People can be exposed to actinolite through cement, drywall, insulation, paint, or sealants. Workers in factories that produce these objects can also be exposed just by breathing.
While amosite asbestos is rarer, it is still found in chemical insulation, gaskets, fire protection, or tiles. Similarly, anthophyllite is also found in cement and insulation materials.
Crocidolite is less useful than other amphibole asbestos forms because it is less heat resistant. Despite that, it does still find its way into cement and floor tiles.
Finally, people may be exposed to tremolite through many of the common amphibole asbestos avenues. However, tremolite is the most famous amphibole asbestos mineral because of its discovery in cosmetic talc products including Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder.
Serpentine asbestos has many of the same uses as amphibole asbestos but is far more likely to be used than other asbestos types. Some common products that expose people to serpentine asbestos include:
Additionally, chrysotile is used as a binding material in linoleum flooring.
While asbestos was seen as an extremely useful material that saw widespread utilization, in the late 1970s, an increasing body of evidence began to show that asbestos is a carcinogen, or cancer-causing substance.
This discovery has contributed to the causal association between asbestos and the rare and aggressive cancer, mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the mesothelium, a protective lining of tissue that surrounds the lung cavity, the heart cavity, or the abdominal cavity.
The most common type of mesothelioma is pleural mesothelioma. This cancer occurs in either of the two mesothelium layers that cover the lungs and surround the pleural cavity. The frequency of this cancer occurs because of the pattern of asbestos particles gathering in the lungs. Those particles that gather in the lungs cause constant irritation and damage to the pleural membranes until cell damage causes DNA alterations that result in cancer development.
By comparison, the second most common type of mesothelioma is peritoneal mesothelioma. Peritoneal mesothelioma is a cancer of the abdominal lining. It is theorized that asbestos enters the peritoneum through the lymphatic or circulatory system. Once there, the asbestos embedded in the peritoneal cavity causes the irritation and damage that leads to peritoneal cancer.
Even if asbestos exposure does not result in cancer, there are still a number of asbestos-related conditions that can occur. These conditions include asbestos pleural disease, asbestosis, and pleural fibrosis.
The symptoms of asbestos exposure can take decades to appear due to the extremely long latency period of asbestos-related diseases. When they do appear, asbestos-related conditions will often present with symptoms associated with the lungs. This includes chest pains, difficulty breathing, crackling noises when breathing, or shortness of breath.
If you have developed an asbestos-related disease, there are important steps that will need to be taken. First, you will need to find several specialists to help you manage your symptoms, combat the advancement of your conditions, and help extend your prognosis. These processes are stressful, potentially dangerous, and costly. However, there is something that you can do about that.
If the asbestos exposure occurred in a residence, then the residents may be able to file a lawsuit against their landlord or property management company. If the asbestos exposure occurred in a professional or industrial setting due to inadequate protection, then you may be able to file a lawsuit against the company for failing to protect you.
The bottom line is that if you have been exposed to asbestos and have subsequently developed asbestos-related health conditions, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to cover your medical and potential damages. In order to successfully file and prevail in your lawsuit, you will need the help of a Personal Injury attorney.
An experienced Personal Injury attorney can utilize legal expertise, trial tactics, and expert witnesses to achieve the best possible outcome for your case. The best place to find a Personal Injury attorney is with Attorney at Law.
At AAL, our nationwide network of attorneys can connect you with the best Personal Injury attorney in your area. Not only can AAL find you the Personal Injury attorney to help you achieve justice, but we can do so without costing you anything. AAL’s Personal Injury partners work on contingency. That means you pay nothing upfront and, if you don’t win, you never pay anything.
Don’t wait. Contact AAL today for a complimentary consultation and begin your journey to justice.
If you are considering filing a civil lawsuit against somebody for an injury they caused you years ago, it’s important to first check your state’s statute of limitations to determine if you are still eligible to do so. Below, we explain the statute of limitations for personal injury cases.
A statute of limitations is a law that determines the maximum amount of time a party has to initiate legal proceedings from the date of an alleged offense. Statutes of limitation exist because it is believed that after enough time has passed, evidence can be lost and witnesses’ memories can become foggy, making it much more difficult to litigate a case fairly.
The exact length of statutes of limitation varies depending on jurisdiction and the nature of the offense. Severe crimes such as murder, crimes against humanity, and war crimes usually do not have a statute of limitations. However, most other crimes do.
Personal injury cases are a type of civil lawsuit, meaning that they pursue compensation rather than punishment. Most civil cases have a statute of limitations applied to them. In the United States, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases in nearly every state ranges from two to six years.
Below, you can find a guide to the statute of limitations for personal injury cases in each state. Note that this is a rough guide and you should always check an official state source to be certain you are receiving the most up-to-date information.
| State | Statute | Personal Injury Statute of Limitations |
| Alabama | Ala. Code § 6-2-30 et seq. * | 2 |
| Alaska | Alaska Stat. § 09.10.010 et seq. | 2 |
| Arizona | Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 12-541 et seq. | 2 |
| Arkansas | Ark. Code Ann. § 16-56-101 et seq. | 3 |
| California | Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 312 et seq. | 2 |
| Colorado | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-101 et seq. | 2 (3 years for injuries from motor vehicle accidents) |
| Connecticut | Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 52-575 et seq. | 2 |
| Delaware | Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, § 8101 et seq. | 2 |
| District of Columbia | D.C. Code § 12-301 et seq. | 3 |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. Ann. § 95.011 et seq. | 4 |
| Georgia | Ga. Code Ann. § 9-3-20 et seq. | 2 |
| Hawaii | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-1 et seq. | 2 |
| Idaho | Idaho Code § 5-201 et seq. | 2 |
| Illinois | 735 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/13-201 et seq. | 2 |
| Indiana | Ind. Code Ann. § 34-11-2-1 et seq. | 2 |
| Iowa | Iowa Code Ann. § 614.1 et seq. | 2 |
| Kansas | Kan. Stat. Ann. § 60-501 et seq. | 2 |
| Kentucky | Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 413.080 et seq. | 1 (2 years for injuries from motor vehicle accidents) |
| Louisiana | La. civil code § 3492 et seq. | 1 |
| Maine | Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 14, § 751 et seq. | 6 |
| Maryland | Md. Courts & Jud. Proc. Code Ann. § 5-101 et seq. | 3 |
| Massachusetts | Mass. Ann. Laws ch. 260, § 1 et seq. | 3 |
| Michigan | Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5801 et seq. | 3 |
| Minnesota | Minn. Stat. Ann. § 541.01 et seq. | 2 |
| Mississippi | Miss. Code. Ann. § 15-1-1 et seq. | 3 |
| Missouri | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.097 et seq. | 5 |
| Montana | Mont. Code Ann. § 27-2-202 et seq. | 3 |
| Nebraska | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-201 et seq. | 4 |
| Nevada | Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 11.010 et seq. | 2 |
| New Hampshire | N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 508:1 et seq. | 3 |
| New Jersey | N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2a:14-1 et seq. | 2 |
| New Mexico | N.M. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-1 et seq. | 3 |
| New York | N.Y. Civ. Prac. Laws & Rules § 201 et seq. | 3 |
| North Carolina | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-46 et seq. | 3 |
| North Dakota | N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-01 et seq. | 6 |
| Ohio | Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2305.03 et seq. | 2 |
| Oklahoma | Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 12, § 91 et seq. | 2 |
| Oregon | Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.010 et seq. | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 5501 et seq. | 2 |
| Rhode Island | R. I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-12 et seq. | 3 |
| South Carolina | S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-510 et seq. | 3 |
| South Dakota | S.D. Codified Laws Ann. § 15-2-1 et seq. | 3 |
| Tennessee | Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-3-101 et seq. | 1 |
| Texas | Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001 et seq., Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Ann. § 2.725 | 2 |
| Utah | Utah Code Ann. § 78B-2-101 et seq. | 4 |
| Vermont | Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 12, § 461 et seq. | 3 |
| Virginia | Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-228 et seq. | 2 |
| Washington | Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 4.16.005 et seq. | 3 |
| West Virginia | W. Va. Code § 55-2-1 et seq. | 2 |
| Wisconsin | Wis. Stat. Ann. § 893.01 et seq. | 3 |
| Wyoming | Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-102 et seq. | 4 |
There are sometimes exceptions to the statute of limitations for personal injury. The main one is called the discovery rule and applies to situations in which the injured person did not know that they suffered an injury or that the defendant’s actions caused the injury until after the original statute of limitations had passed.
For example, if a surgery patient were to find out that their surgeon left a surgical implement in their body only years after the surgery, they will still be able to file a personal injury lawsuit because of the discovery rule.
There may also be exceptions to the statute of limitations in the following situations:
According to the National Floor Safety Institute, falls account for over 8 million hospital emergency room visits a year, the leading cause of E.R. visits. In this article, we provide an overview of slip and fall injuries including common types and causes, what you should do after a slip and fall injury, and the kind of compensation you may be able to recover if you are able to prove somebody else was at fault for your fall.
Slip and fall injuries are a general category comprising several types of more specific injuries. Among these are the following.
Although slip and fall injuries can happen at random with seemingly no cause, there are a number of conditions that can make them more likely. If a property owner does not take any action to repair or warn others about the following conditions, they may be more likely to be held liable for slip and fall injuries caused by them.
If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident and aren’t sure how to proceed, it is recommended that you follow these steps.
Your first priority when having a slip and fall injury should be to seek medical treatment. Having proper health care for your injury will help you heal as quickly as possible, and your medical records will serve as an important piece of evidence if you choose to make a personal injury claim.
Wherever your slip and fall accident happens, it’s important to report it to the store manager, property owner, or landlord. Ask them for a copy of a report detailing the incident in writing.
Additionally, you’ll want to obtain documentation of everything related to your accident. This can include:
Yoir next step will be to get in contact with a personal injury attorney who will be able to help you through the process of taking legal action if you choose to. Having an experienced lawyer on your side is the best way to increase your chances of getting fair compensation for your losses.
There are a number of both financial and non-financial losses that you may be eligible to receive comepnsation for in a slip and fall injury lawsuit. These include:
One of the most challenging things you will have to do as part of a slip and fall lawsuit is proving that the defendant was truly at fault for your injury.
In order for the owner of the property where you fell to be held legally liable for your injuries, at least one of the following conditons must be true:
The third condition is the most common, but also the most difficult to prove because the idea of what a reasonable person would do in any given scenario is subjective. There are several factors that could play into a jury’s decision about reasonable behavior, including:
The nuance of liability is why many slip and fall cases can become complicated and it is highly recommended to retain a lawyer to help you with your claim.
If you have been injured or experienced some sort of loss because of the negligent behavior of a health care practitioner or institution, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice case. If you decide you want to pursue a lawsuit to seek compensation for your losses from a doctor or hospital, this guide will offer the steps you need to take to do so.
If you wait too long to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, you may miss the statute of limitations, a legal time limit on how long you have after an incident to take legal action. The statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases varies from state to state, but it can be as short as one year after the mistake happened. For this reason, you shouldn’t hesitate too long before deciding whether or not you want to move forward with a claim.
As soon as you consider filing a medical malpractice lawsuit, it’s important to get in touch with an attorney. Medical malpractice cases are a particularly complex type of personal injury lawsuit, and you most likely won’t be able to navigate them on your own. An experienced lawyer can help you prove your case in order to get the best compensation possible while understanding all of the hoops you have to jump through along the way.
Choosing to sue a hospital versus a doctor can be two very different things. The hospital itself cannot always be held responsible for the actions of an individual doctor, who is most likely designated as an independent contractor and not an employee of the institution. In this case, you’ll need to pursue legal action against the doctor themselves. If the doctor was an employee, however, you can sue the hospital. It’s also possible to file a lawsuit against more than one party. The important thing is to understand who is legally responsible for the medical error.
Medical records can be a key piece of evidence in a medical malpractice case, so you and your legal team will want to obtain them in order to be able to build your case. You can make an official request to the hospital for copies of your records, for which they may or may not charge a fee. However, they legally must release your records to you if you ask for them.
In addition to your medical records, you and your legal team will also want to gather all relevant evidence that proves that the doctor or hospital was indeed negligent. You will have to be able to prove that they did not meet the expected standard of medical care, that their failure to do so caused your injury, and that your injuries led to the damages you are seeking. Evidence for a medical malpractice case may come in the form of:
An important thing to determine early on is exactly how much money you are asking to be compensated for. This sum is called damages. There are many types of losses and harms that can go into medical malpractice damages, including:
You and your legal counsel should have an exact figure in mind of the damages you seek to recover, as well as a figure you would be willing to settle for in a negotiation.
Because of tort reform, there are usually some legal and procedural hoops you will be required to jump through by your state before you can file a medical malpractice lawsuit. You may have to file an affidavit of merit, which is when a medical expert affirms that you have a valid case. You may also have to submit a claim to a medical review board before being allowed to file a lawsuit in court, or agree to a pre-lawsuit alternative dispute resolution. Your medical malpractice lawyer should know all of these requirements and help you meet them.
Once you have completed all of the above steps, you should be ready to have your lawyer draft and file an official complaint for you. This should indicate your name, the names of the parties you are suing, a detailed description of the negligent act(s), the harm that they caused you, and the damages you are seeking to recover. This complaint will be filed at the office of the local branch of the state court’s clerk.
From here, the case will have to be litigated. Most of the time, the doctor or hospital will prefer to settle with you privately rather than going to court in order to save time and legal fees. However, if you do not manage to come to an agreement on your own, you will wait until your case goes to court and a jury makes a final decision about the damages you can be rewarded.
