What Is Considered Personal Injury?

A ‘personal injury’ is any harm or damage caused to your body, mind, or emotions rather than your property. This is a legal term used in civil cases in which someone (plaintiff) seeks compensation from the party that caused them the injury.

So, if you’re involved in an accident and you want to file a personal injury claim, your personal injury attorney can help you determine what qualifies to be a personal injury. This is why you should hire the best personal injury lawyer Scottsdale can offer, such as those at Gage Matthews.

The key questions to ask your attorney include: How long do personal injury cases take to settle? Are personal injury settlements considered income? Are personal injury settlements marital property? Above all, your lawyer should be able to review your injuries and medical records to decide if you have a personal injury case.

Common Types of Personal Injuries

There are many types of personal injuries you may have a case for, including:

Physical Injuries

These include injuries like fractures, cuts, contusions, blisters, or other types of bodily damage. These injuries can happen due to car accidents, slip-and-fall incidents, medical malpractice, and workplace accidents.

You can also get physical injuries from broken products like hand tools, machinery, skincare products, etc. Although these injuries qualify for a personal injury claim, the type of settlement you get for each one can vary. 

Intentional Harm

This includes any form of harm that another person meant to do to you. It includes intentional acts like physical assault, verbal abuse, battery, and defamation. Anything done to harm you qualifies as a personal injury.

Psychological Harm

Psychological harm encompasses problems like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and other types of emotional distress resulting from traumatic events. For example, a car accident, physical assault, or emotional abuse might cause you to suffer a traumatic experience that leaves you with serious psychological injuries. 

Damage to Reputation

Although personal injury claims that come from reputation damage aren’t too common, you might still be compensated. They include harm to your reputation through defamation.

Defamation occurs in two main ways: libel and slander. ‘Libel’ refers to attacks on your character through written words, while ‘slander’ refers to an attack via spoken words. So, if someone says or publishes hurtful, incorrect things about you, you can sue them for damages.

Economic Losses

Economic losses result from injuries such as lost wages, medical expenses, and loss of ability to earn money. Although economic losses don’t cause direct harm to your body or mind, they can affect your quality of life. Therefore, you can claim economic losses in your personal injury case, especially if the losses come from physical, psychological, or reputation damages caused by the defendant.

Negligence

You can claim negligence in your personal injury case if you suffered harm because of the defendant’s carelessness. For instance, if a driver hits you because they weren’t paying attention, a property owner fails to fix a harmful condition, or a healthcare provider makes a critical error during treatment, you can sue them for personal injury damages.

The Takeaway

You must gather enough evidence to prove your personal injury claim before you file it to improve your chances of winning the case. In a personal injury case, the plaintiff bears the burden of proof. This means you have to show that the injury was caused by the defendant’s actions, recklessness, or negligence.  

Need help with your case? The team at Gage Mathers can help guide you along the way. Give us a call today to see what compensation you could receive!

About the Author

Joseph D'Aguanno

Guided by the belief that being a highly skilled specialist in a narrow field is better than being ordinary in everything, Joseph “JD” D’Aguanno leads Arizona’s best personal injury law firm in Phoenix, AZ. Having extensive cross-training in pre-litigation negotiations and trial lawyer skills, with decades of experience, JD strives to provide clients with the most valuable legal services a personal injury lawyer can provide. Under his direction, Gage Mathers Law Group is an award-winning personal injury law firm providing aggressive representation to victims of a car accident, medical malpractice, dog bite, motorcycle accident, and other injurious events. Gage Mathers is trusted by thousands of lawyers and clients throughout the country because of their reputation for getting clients the maximum compensation they deserve.

Years of experience: Over 24 years
Bar number: 020421
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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