Who Is Responsible When A Person Is Injured?

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Who Is Responsible When A Person Is Injured?

The law of personal injury is concerned with determining who may be responsible for your injuries and how much they should be required to pay for your damages. Personal injury is part of the law of torts, the legal term that includes all types of injuries to people and their property. There are a number of principles that apply to the law of torts and personal injury. These principles recognize degrees of fault on the part of the person who causes the injury. In general, the degrees of fault can be described as negligence, intentional fault, and strict liability.

The term negligence is essential to tort law. Everyone is expected to take normal ordinary care to ensure that their action or the actions of others under their control, do not cause anyone harm. If they fall below that standard, and someone is injured or their property damaged, then they become negligent. Negligence does not mean that the person deliberately intended to cause harm; it only means that they did not take reasonable care or they did not act when any reasonable person would have. The degree of care varies with the circumstances of each case. A plaintiff likewise has a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances on his own behalf.

Strict liability means that one does not have to prove negligence to recover damages. In the case of product liability, the law now holds that you do not have to prove the manufacturer was negligent if someone is injured while using a product. They only have to prove the product was defective when it left the hands of the particular seller and that was the proximate cause of the injuries. A lawsuit can be brought against anyone participating in the chain of manufacture for that product, from the manufacturer, to the designer to the retail store.

An "intentional tort" refers to a personal injury caused by a person who has the intent to cause harm. It may also refer to injury caused by willful or reckless conduct. Intentional torts include assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, libel and slander, etc.

There may be more than one cause of an injury. When the negligent conduct of two or more parties contributes concurrently as causes of an injury, each party shall be liable to the claimant for the entire judgment, regardless of his degree of negligence.

Other Delaware Personal Injury FAQs

Q: I Was Injured. Can I File A Lawsuit Against The Party That Caused My Injury?
A: You can make a claim against another party or parties if they are more at fault for your injuries than you are. In general, when a person is injured as a result of … More
Q: How Do I Decide If I Need To Hire An Attorney?
A: There are situations where an attorney is unnecessary, such as very small cases. Small claims court in Delaware will handle claims up to $15,000. If your injury is a … More
Q: How Much Will An Attorney Cost?
A: Most attorneys who believe a case has merit will take the case without payment up front. They will take the case on a contingency basis, which means they will receive … More
Q: How Long Do I Have To Hire An Attorney?
A: The law requires that you file a lawsuit within a specified period of time depending on the nature of the claim and the entity that caused your injury. This is … More
Q: How Will My Claim Be Processed?
A: You should be sure not to sign any documents without prior review by an attorney. You need to attend all scheduled doctor appointments in order to document your … More
Q: What Damages Can I Recover?
A: You can recover your actual economic losses such as the costs of reasonable and necessary medical care, property damage, car rental expenses, costs of domestic … More
Q: How Can I Determine How Much My Claim Is Worth?
A: For purposes of settlement, a claim is valued upon an estimate of what a jury would likely believe the case to be worth, taking into account the severity of the … More