Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Injury accidents and death can happen at any time, when you least expect them.
While many people seem to understand the concept behind a personal injury lawsuit, they don’t always associate a death as a result of an accident, as being a personal injury as well. Typically, if someone dies as the result of a fall, they may choose to sue in several modalities, such as a wrongful death or personal injury or even product liability.
It depends on the details of the case, as to which route makes the most sense if it may be going to court. Most often, this decision is made by your Atlanta personal injury lawyer, as he assesses the details of your case during discussions with you.
Consider the case of a young woman who fell down a dumbwaiter shaft and as a result of that fall, sustained multiple broken bones, and extremely severe head injuries. Although she made it to the hospital alive, she died three days later. She was working with the dumbwaiter’s load that day and it suddenly plummeted to the basement, taking the woman with it. It appears there was some kind of mechanical malfunction.
Whether or not the management of the restaurant where she worked was aware of the malfunction, is another question. If they were, this would constitute negligence on their part in not getting it fixed. If the dumbwaiter was poorly maintained, this too could amount to negligence. Cases like this may go in several directions, but the ultimate result was a wrongful death.
In most accidents at a workplace, there is usually a separate investigation conducted by Occupational Health and Safety to see if the business was adhering to the necessary safety rules. There is also a police investigation to determine how the accident happened in the first place.
The point of personal injury cases and/or wrongful death cases is that the victims, or those left behind, have the right to file a lawsuit to recover compensation for their injuries or loss of a loved one. Economic recovery in personal injury cases tends to involve loss of future earnings, medical expenses and any costs for rehabilitation and/or the costs of having to live with a permanent disability. These categories are what is referred to as monetary losses.
Non-monetary losses may also be part of a jury verdict and may include reduced life expectancy, the loss of a body part and pain and suffering. Typically, while there is no set rule of thumb on the amount of damages awarded in personal injury cases, the courts usually assess damages based on the severity and longevity of your injuries.
If you have been in an accident and suffered injuries, make your first phone call for advice to a knowledgeable Atlanta personal injury lawyer. The first consultation is free and the advice you get may well be priceless.
Tim Anderson writes for Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.