San Antonio Personal Injury Attorneys

San Antonio Personal Injury Lawsuits

Personal injury law is a body of rules that dictates when someone is entitled to compensation for their injuries. If the law determines you are entitled to monetary compensation for injuries you sustained in an accident, the wrongdoer is legally obligated to pay the ordered amount. Generally, this obligation is satisfied through the wrongdoer’s insurance provider. This is the very reason we have insurance.

How a Trained Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help

You may be hesitant to work with a personal injury lawyer because you are unsure how the process works, what you will need to do, how much it will cost, or how the lawyer will provide you with any value. This is especially true when your insurance provider seems reasonable and willing to pay for the out-of-pocket costs associated with your accident. While it is true that there are situations where a personal injury lawyer’s service may not be needed, when your injuries affect your day-to-day life, it is usually in your best interest to consult a personal injury lawyer for help.

When you are injured in an accident of any kind, your injuries will have a material impact on your life, and unfortunately, unlike money, health is not something you recapture. However, with the help of a trained lawyer, you can receive compensation for the suffering you have endured because of your injuries. The cost of your suffering is often significantly greater than the out-of-pocket expenses paid to doctors and other providers.

Different Personal Injury Claims Available to Injured Victims

Personal injury is a body of that law that encompasses many claims for recovery. While each claim is different in the way it is proved, the ultimate purpose of each claim is the same: help you recover the compensation you need to pay for your medical costs and receive fair compensation for the pain and suffering you have endured in the process.

Personal Injuries Based on Negligence

Negligence is the most common and widely understood personal injury claim. Negligence is a type of personal injury claim that allows you to recover monetary damages for injuries caused by another’s actions that fall below a standard of reasonable care. In a negligence claim, the law focuses on the wrongdoer’s conduct that caused the injury.

Society has deemed certain standards of care necessary for ordered liberty. For instance, people are to obey traffic signals to ensure all motorists know when and how to act in the vicinity of other motorists. When this basic standard of care is neglected, accidents occur, and innocent people are injured. The law has broken the concept of negligence into three elements that must be satisfied before a person can recover monetary damages for their injuries:

• The plaintiff is owed a legal duty
• The defendant’s conduct breached that legal duty
• The plaintiff suffered harm because of the defendant’s breach

A skilled personal injury lawyer can identify negligent behavior in challenging situations. For instance, you may be injured after rear-ending a parked 18-wheeler and think you are at fault; however, a skilled lawyer may prove the truck’s presence on the roadway was negligent, allowing you to recover for your injuries.

Personal Injuries Based on Premises Liability

Premises liability is a type of personal injury claim that allows you to recover for injuries you sustained while on another person’s property. Unlike negligence, a premises liability claim focuses on the relationship between the landowner and the injured entrant and recognizes that all entrants are not created equal. Thus, the legal duty a landowner owes an entrant depends on why the person was on their property at the time of the injury.

Premises liability categorizes entrants into three categories:

• Licensees: A person with consent to enter the property for their own benefit.
• Invitees: A person invited to enter the property for the mutual benefit of the landowner.
• Trespassers: A person that enters the property without legal authority or consent.

If you were injured while on another person’s property, whether shopping, attending a social gathering, or walking to the park, a trained personal injury lawyer can help you determine whether you have a premises liability claim against the landowner for your injuries.

Our San Antonio personal injury lawyers are prepared to fight for you. Call us at (281) 801-5617 or contact us online to see how we can help you.

Personal Injuries Based on Product Liability

Product liability is a type of personal injury claim that allows you to recover for injuries sustained while using a defective product. Unlike a negligence claim that focuses on the wrongdoer’s conduct, a product liability claim will enable you to recover regardless of the defendant’s conduct if the product is, in fact, defective. Thus, the focus of a product liability claim is the condition of the injury-causing product.

Generally, a product liability claim is brought against the manufacturer of the product. These complex lawsuits require trained professionals with the resources necessary to hold sophisticated corporations responsible.

Fatal Injuries Resulting in Wrongful Death Claims

Wrongful death is a type of personal injury claim available to family members whose loved one is killed wrongfully. For instance, if a husband and wife are involved in a car accident, and the husband is killed, the wife can bring a wrongful death claim against the other driver for her husband’s unexpected passing.

Unlike other personal injury claims, the plaintiff in a wrongful death claim is not physically injured. Instead, a wrongful death claim is designed to provide surviving family members monetary compensation for the intangible harms, such as pain and suffering, caused by their loved one’s passing.

Personal Injury Claims Working Together

Personal injury claims can become confusing very quickly. Often, a skilled lawyer will bring multiple claims against multiple parties to ensure the injured victim receives all compensation they are entitled to under the law. For instance, suppose an SUV’s airbag fails to deploy after being hit by an 18-wheeler, and the front seat passenger smashes into the dashboard and is killed. In this scenario, a trained personal injury lawyer will likely bring claims against the following parties:

• Negligence against the truck driver for running into the SUV
• Negligence against the trucking company for employing a negligent driver
• Negligence against the manufacturer for designing the vehicle
• Product liability against the manufacturer for a defective airbag
• Wrongful death for the pain and suffering caused by a loved one’s unexpected passing

The purpose of a personal injury claim is to recompense injured victims by holding all responsible parties accountable for their actions. This requires trained advocates who can identify all wrongdoers and hold the appropriate parties responsible.

Proving Liability in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Holding a wrongdoer responsible for their actions depends on how you were injured. The law has carved out specific elements that must be satisfied to effectuate the recovery process. Generally, every claim requires the injured party to prove that their injury was caused by something the wrongdoer did or did not do. The exact parameters of the defendant’s actions depend on the claim brought, which depends on the facts and circumstances of your case.

While the elements required to hold a defendant liable depend on the type of claim, the actual process of holding the defendant responsible is generally the same. After you are injured and consult a personal injury lawyer, the lawyer will contact the defendant and provide notice of the pending lawsuit. Once a lawsuit has been filed, your lawyer will work with the defendant to resolve your case without going to trial. During this process, both sides will offer evidence concerning liability and damages. In most scenarios, the lawyers will agree on liability and reach a fair settlement. However, if both sides are confident in their position, the case may need to proceed to trial, where a neutral fact finder, generally made up of the local community, will determine which party is liable and award damages according to the injuries suffered by the wrongdoer’s actions.

Compensation Available to a Personal Injury Victim

When you are injured by a wrongdoer, you are entitled to compensation for all harm caused by the wrongdoer’s actions. This includes both physical injuries caused by their actions and the mental and emotional suffering resulting from your physical injuries. This is an important concept to understand. When you are seriously injured in an accident, your injuries are not just physical; your injuries will affect every aspect of your life. Paralysis is an easy example to help understand this concept. When you lose your ability to walk, every part of your life changes, from your relationship with your family to the activities you can participate in.

While this is an extreme example, your injuries will have a meaningful impact on your life, and it is important to recover the compensation you will need to deal with these unexpected changes.

When you are injured, you have a right to hold the party responsible for both the immediate out-of-pocket expenses associated with your injuries—such as medical care and expenses—and the future intangible costs related to your injuries—such as losing the opportunity to run with your children.

At The Ammons Law Firm, we help clients recover compensation for all types of injuries. The following are examples of common injuries we handle:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Burn injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Neck and back injuries
• Vision loss
• Amputation
• Broken bones

If you have suffered an injury that has severally impacted your life, a personal injury attorney can help you identify the damages you have sustained and help you secure the monetary compensation you are entitled to.

Hiring a San Antonio Personal Injury Attorney

You may be hesitant to consult a personal injury lawyer because you are unsure how you can afford legal services when you are out of work and have mounting medical bills. However, a personal injury attorney is essential in these situations. A personal injury lawyer will work with your creditors during the litigation process and help you recover all out-of-pocket expenses from the defendant to ensure you are not stuck with unpaid bills.

Further, at The Ammons Law Firm, we represent clients on a contingency fee basis, allowing them to receive first-class representation regardless of their current financial position. Under a contingency fee agreement, our fee is tied to your ultimate recovery, meaning you never pay any out-of-pocket costs for our services. If we cannot recover compensation from the defendant on your behalf, we are not paid for our services.

Contact our San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers Today

Contacting a personal injury lawyer to help you receive the medical and financial help you need following an accident can be intimidating. However, it doesn’t need to be. Finding a skilled advocate to represent you against a large corporation will provide peace of mind knowing your rights will be protected and your injuries adequately compensated. At The Ammons Law Firm, we have represented clients throughout San Antonio for over thirty years and have helped thousands of clients across the country receive fair compensation. We are here to help you.

Our San Antonio personal injury lawyers are ready to fight for you. Call us at (281) 801-5617 or contact us online to learn why clients trust us with their claims.