Each of these elements must be present in order for you to recover on a personal injury claim: - Duty ¿ A duty is responsibility one has for the safety of another. A duty may be created by a law, or it may result from a ¿standard of reasonable care¿ that the law holds we all owe toward each other. Here are some examples:
- Drivers have a duty to not cause danger to the other cars on the road
- The owner of a store has a duty to provide a safe place to shop
- Dog owners have a duty to make sure their dogs don¿t hurt people
- Toy companies have a duty not to make dangerous toys
- Where there is no duty, there is no liability. For example, while a store may have a duty to protect you from danger in their parking lot, they don¿t have a duty to protect you once you are on your way home.
- Breach of Duty ¿ You must also show that that duty was breached. In a car accident, you must show that the way the other person was driving put you in danger. In a slip and fall, you must show that the store owner did not maintain a safe floor. Sometimes this is easy, because the duty is also a law, like the duty not to run a red light. But it might also be common sense, like a driver should make sure no one is walking in front of them when they are driving forward. It might not always be very clear, for example where a store keeps their floors so clean and free of debris, that it is actually too slippery.
- Causation ¿ There must be a causal link between the breach and the damages. It is not enough that you were in an accident that caused damages and that it was someone else¿s fault. You must be able to show that the damage you incurred was caused by the other person¿s breach of duty. For example, let¿s say that you bring a claim against a mug maker for making a mug with a faulty handle. You show that the handle is faulty (breach of duty), and you show that you were injured when your hot tea burned you. But it turns out that your friend broke and glued back together the mug and that is actually why the handle fell off, you can¿t recover.
- Damage ¿ There must actually be an injury. If you are in a car accident, but the accident does not damage your car or your person, there will be no way to collect money for the fault of the other person. If a new toy stops working as soon as you get it home, you may be able to get your money back for the toy, but you won¿t be able to recover for product liability unless you can show that you suffered an injury because of the broken toy. Keep in mind, however, injury doesn¿t always have to be a physical injury. Emotional distress and financial injuries are also grounds for a personal injury claim.
- Statute of Limitations ¿ All states have limited the amount of time that can pass between the incident and the filing of your claim. This time limit, called a statute of limitations will vary by type of injury and by state. Your legal counsel will be able to tell you if any statutes of limitation apply to your case.
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