When you sustain injury, the first thing you want to do is recover and get on with your life. But if that pain lingers, causing you financial and personal loss, you may have a personal injury case on your hands. Robert Wells of The Wells Law Firm tells us what qualifies as a personal injury case in the Kansas City area.
In personal injury cases, if you sustain an injury due to someone else’s negligence or action, then you can make a claim for damages. A “personal injury” is a legal term that refers to an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to personal property. Common types of personal injury cases include automobile and truck collisions, accidents while at work, injuries caused by the negligence of a property owner or landlord, medical malpractice, and injuries due to defective products.
“If you can prove that another person was negligent, and that you were injured due to that negligence, you can file a civil claim for damages,” says Wells. “We just have to prove someone is at fault.” In Kansas, says Wells, your personal injury attorney must prove that the other person was more than 50% at fault and that the other party’s negligence caused the injury. In Missouri, it is different in that you only have to prove that the other person was at fault in some percentage in order to recover, so it is important to understand where your state places the legal burden of proof.
Wells says that with each case, he first looks at liability for the injury-that is, was someone negligent or at fault, and can you prove it? If he can’t prove that another is at fault, then he will be unable to obtain a recovery for damages. Secondly, he looks to see if the person was injured as a result of the negligence. Finally, he makes sure that he can prove the damages being claimed.
Proving the damages is extremely important part of the case. Some personal injuries are more difficult to prove than others. While it is easy to prove that a person broke a bone in his leg as a result of an automobile collision, it can be difficult to prove what is known as “soft tissue” injuries, which are legitimate injuries to the muscles and tissues in the neck and back that don’t show up on x-rays or MRI’s. These injuries can be permanent and can cause pain for the rest of a person’s life, and all doctors will agree that they are legitimate and exist, but if you don’t have a lawyer who knows how to prove these injuries, you will not get a fair recovery in your case. Wells, however, has written articles about issues regarding soft tissue damage in auto cases and how to prove them to a jury.
Wells says that those three things are the important elements in deciding whether you have a personal injury case. Since it costs money to take a case to trial, it’s important that the money you recover is balanced with the cost of making the claim. It takes money to call experts to trial to prove that a truck was traveling over the speed limit, or to retain a doctor to help show how another doctor was negligent. Wells represents his clients on a “contingent fee basis,” which means that his fee is a percentage of the settlement or verdict obtained for his clients. In other words, he only gets paid if he obtains a settlement or verdict, so if he takes a case, he does so because he has confidence that he can recover damages for the client or clients involved.
In personal injury cases in Kansas and Missouri, having an attorney is essential, especially when cases become extremely complex. Attorneys such as Wells will help you determine if you do have a case, the appropriate amount of damages you should seek, and how to build the case so that you obtain a successful result.
If you have suffered an injury due to the carelessness or neglect of another person, you should not have to accept responsibility for the costs associated with the injury, from lost wages to medical bills and repair or replacement of damaged property. Hire a personal injury attorney in order to reduce the burden you may feel after an accident.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.