The term personal injury is used to describe a lawsuit in which an injured plaintiff seeks to recover compensation for harm done to the person and property by the negligent acts of another. The Law Offices of Mauro Fiore, Jr. represents plaintiffs in negotiations with insurance companies and personal injury lawsuits in court when people are involved in motorcycle accident injury due to the negligence or wrongful conduct of another. Attorney Howard Kornberg practices personal injury throughout Southern California from his Los Angeles law offices.
Negligence
A personal injury lawsuit is based on the theory that every person owes a duty to every other person to behave in a reasonable manner, measured by the behavior that is to be expected of an ordinary, average person in the same or similar circumstances. When someone breaches that duty by behaving negligently or recklessly, that person is liable for any injuries caused to another person as the result of that behavior.
Comparative Negligence
California is a pure comparative negligence state. This means that a person’s contributory negligence will not prevent that person from suing another person or entity whose negligence also contributed to the accident. Even if a person was 90% responsible for causing an accident, that person may still recover damages from the defendant who was 10% responsible.
In motorcycle and scooter accidents, police or the courts may be quick to assign blame to the motorcycle operator. In many cases, accidents do not involve collisions but are caused when negligent driving forces a rider off the road. In these situations, there may be no direct evidence that an automobile or other motor vehicle was at fault. Given the serious impact that the comparative negligence doctrine can have on your recovery, it is very important to have an experienced attorney in your corner fighting to have the blame not unfairly apportioned.
Damages
Damages are the different types of compensation an injured plaintiff can seek to recover from a negligent defendant in a personal injury case. Damages are classified as either economic or non-economic. Economic damages are items such as property damage, present and future medical expenses, and lost wages from missed work and decreased earning capacity. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering, emotional distress, and mental anguish.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations is a rule that defines how long after an accident or injury a person may wait before filing a lawsuit. After the statute of limitations has passed, an injured person is no longer able to file suit. It is very important to contact an attorney as soon as possible after an accident to make sure that important deadlines such as this are not missed. In most situations, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the accident or injury, although this timeframe can be significantly shorter in cases of wrongful death or cases involving government or public authorities.