As a Seattle personal injury attorney, I get the question asking me ‘what is a personal injury case’ a lot. I figure that this because almost everybody gets injured at some point in their lives, but seeking legal action because of the injury is not nearly as common. In general, if somebody has been injured as a result of someone else’s action or inattention, then there is a potential personal injury case. There are three main aspects that make these cases up, and every personal injury case must have all of them to be viable.

1) Negligence: In order for you to have a claim, someone else must be at fault for the accident. There are two ways this can happen; either someone did something they shouldn’t have, or did not do something they should have. Individuals can be negligent, as can groups of people or businesses. An example of individual negligence would be somebody that t-bones a car by running a red light – they obviously did something they shouldn’t have. An example of business negligence is a restaurant causing food poisoning by serving out-dated meat or poultry. In either case, injury or harm is being caused by someone else’s wrongdoing.

2) Damages: You must lose something as a result of the accident. If somebody t-bones your car, but by some miracle, your car is not damaged and you are not injured, then there is nothing to sue for. You have to have some kind of harm incurred upon you so you can seek damages from the negligent person. Damages can come in many forms, but are usually related to physical injury, property damage, and pain and suffering. Using the same car accident example, if your car was crushed and you suffered broken bones as a result, you have every right to sue to claim money to pay for your car and medical bills.

3) Causation: The burden of proof for personal injury cases lies in the connection between the negligence and the damages. Some cases are pretty straightforward, while others are much more complicated. If someone comes up to you and hits you in the arm with a baseball bat and your arm breaks, the causation of the break is very clear. In something like a serious car accident where you suffer whiplash or deep tissue injuries, it is difficult to both prove that the injuries are real and that the pain is directly a result of the accident. The negligence has to always have caused the damage in a personal injury case, and oftentimes this is the most difficult and time consuming part of the whole process.

If you believe that you deserve damages as a result of someone else’s negligent action, do not hesitate to give contact our Seattle personal injury law firm. We offer free initial consultation, so there is nothing to lose by reaching out to us, and we will be able to let you know if you have a viable case.

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