Someone working as a personal injury attorney is in a position to handle a wide range of cases. It's not unusual for a practice to be narrowly focused, as you might see with a car accident lawyer or a medical malpractice attorney. However, the field involves a diverse range of issues, and it can be good for clients to learn about the different sorts of cases a personal injury lawyer might tackle.
Slip-and-Fall Incidents
You might argue these are the classic injury cases. Someone falls in a store, for example, and they end up with a compound fracture in their wrist from trying to break their fall. A claim is filed, and the personal injury attorney negotiates with the store's insurance provider to reach a settlement.
Vehicle Accidents
This is another bread-and-butter type of case. Notably, there are so many accidents involving cars, trucks, and SUVs in America every year that a lawyer might have to focus exclusively on being a car accident attorney.
Due to laws that often prohibit large recoveries in certain cases, a lot of the work in this field of injury law centers on proving that the client's injuries were catastrophic. This means the injuries were life-altering, such as something leading to spinal or brain damage, facial disfigurement, nerve or muscle damage, or the loss of a body part. Clearing the catastrophic threshold allows a client to recover more compensation, and meeting this standard is one of the main arguments for hiring a car accident lawyer.
Medical Malpractice
Medical professionals, including doctors, dentists, surgical techs, and nurses, can end up hurting the people they're supposed to help. This can occur due to incompetent surgical techniques, misprescribed drugs, or even the failure to diagnose a problem.
Notably, medical malpractice law centers on the idea that there is a professional standard of care in each branch of medicine. For example, most medical professionals would expect a surgical tech to make sure all sponges and clamps are removed from a patient's body. If they forget one, it can lead to a major infection. That infection would be grounds for suing the hospital for malpractice.
Product Liability
When you use a product, you expect to not be exposed to unreasonable risks. For example, you expect that your blender isn't going to electrocute when used according to the manufacturer's instructions. If a product does harm someone, the manufacturer may be liable to compensation that person for their injuries.
If you have more questions about what cases can be handled by a personal injury attorney, contact a company like Josh D. Tucker, P.C. near you.
