Personal injury lawyers can help almost any kind of accident victim to recover compensation for their losses. Just seven types of accidents, however, make up the majority of personal injury cases. If you’ve been injured by one of the following seven common accidents in Cody, Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming, or Casper, Wyoming, consider hiring a local personal injury attorney to handle your claim.
What Types of Accidents Are Typically Handled by Personal Injury Lawyers?
Motor Vehicle Accidents
The most type of common personal injury case by far is motor vehicle claims: predominantly car accidents, motorcycle accidents, commercial truck accidents, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents. If you’ve been in a motor vehicle accident caused by another driver, you can pursue compensation for your medical expenses, property damage, lost income from missed work, and other damages.
To build your case, your vehicle accident lawyer will investigate the accident scene and gather evidence such as the police report, eyewitness accounts, photos and videos from the scene, surveillance camera footage, and more. If the other driver was guilty of reckless, drunk, or distracted driving, or any other kind of negligence, your lawyer will need to prove their liability. And as with any other kind of personal injury claim, they’ll also need to prove the full extent of your damages.
Premises Liability
All property owners have a legal duty to properly maintain and manage their premises to ensure the safety of any visitors. If the owner neglects this duty and a dangerous condition in their property causes an accident, the injured victim may seek compensation with a premises liability claim.
The most common premises liability cases are slip-and-fall accidents resulting from hazards such as broken railings or wet floors. Such accidents are most common among elderly people, who can become seriously injured by such a fall. To win fair compensation in any premises liability case, your lawyer will need to prove that the property owner acted negligently and that you didn’t contribute to your own accident. This can sometimes be challenging to prove.
Medical Malpractice
Unfortunately, medical errors are a major cause of wrongful injury. If you’ve been injured by a medical practitioner, and you believe that your injury or sickness was caused by the physician’s negligence, then you can file a medical malpractice claim against them. With medical malpractice, negligence means the physician failed in their duty of care toward you. They failed to provide the standard of care and competence that another doctor would reasonably be expected to provide under the same conditions.
Examples of such negligence might include misdiagnosis, incorrect treatment, improper prescription, improper anesthesia, post-surgical negligence, and many other errors. Medical malpractice cases are usually the hardest to prove. A mountain of evidence is often required to prove that the physician acted with negligence and that your injury wasn’t the result of simple misfortune or other causes. It usually takes an experienced medical malpractice lawyer to handle and win these cases.
Workplace Injuries
If you’ve been injured while working at your job, your medical bills and lost wages are likely to be covered by your workers’ compensation insurance. It’s often important to hire an attorney for worker’s comp claims to ensure that your payout covers your losses in full, especially if you have a serious injury with ongoing medical treatment stretching into the future. Otherwise, you may find that the compensation you receive runs out while you still have medical bills to pay.
There are a few other reasons to hire an attorney for a workers’ comp claim. If your benefits are in any way denied or disputed, you’ll need a lawyer to fight your corner. Likewise, if you had a pre-existing injury or medical condition or your employer falsely claims that to be the case, a lawyer will often be needed to work it out. If your employer disagrees about your ability to work, a lawyer can also often help.
Wrongful Death
When a loved one passes away, the grief and trauma of loss are often compounded by funeral costs and also medical expenses from the deceased individual’s final treatments. If someone’s negligence was responsible for the death, you may be able to seek financial compensation with a wrongful death claim.
In addition to the economic damages of funeral and medical expenses, you may also be able to seek compensation for non-economic damages such as emotional distress, loss of supporting relationships, and loss of enjoyment in life. It will often take an experienced personal injury attorney to thoroughly investigate the facts of the accident to prove the defendant’s liability while also calculating and proving the full value of your damages.
Dog Bites and Animal Attacks
The most common type of animal attack is being bitten by a dog. Not only can these attacks be extremely physically damaging, often leaving scars, but they can also cause a great deal of emotional distress and trauma, especially when the victim is a child. The owner of the dog is considered responsible for properly training and raising their pet, so if you’re unlawfully bitten by a dog, you may be able to seek compensation from the owner.
Dog Bite Laws in Cody, Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Casper, Wyoming
Wyoming is a “one-bite state,” meaning that every dog is given the chance for one bite, and the owner can only be sued for subsequent attacks. Some consider this to be an unfair rule, as it shields the owner from responsibility for the first attack. But despite this rule, it’s often possible for the victim to recover compensation for the first bite as long as the dog has demonstrated an aggressive disposition and willingness to attack people in the past.
Product Liability
If you’ve been caused injury by a defective product, you may be able to recover compensation from the manufacturer and business owner. To win a settlement, your attorney must prove the existence of a manufacturing defect, defective design, or failure on behalf of the manufacturer to provide proper instruction for safe usage or to warn customers of a potentially hazardous aspect of the product.
Product liability cases are quite rare compared to motor vehicle accidents. But they tend to be very large in scope when they occur, as they often involve thousands of injured customers. The payouts can also be correspondingly large. And due to the amount of money involved and the complexity of proving negligence, they also tend to be drawn out and challenging cases to win: once again, you’ll need an experienced lawyer to handle and win these kinds of cases.
The Benefits of Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer
Whatever type of accident and injury you’ve suffered, it’s rarely wise to pursue compensation without legal representation. An experienced personal injury attorney can explain your legal rights and investigate your accident. They can calculate the full value of your claim and gather evidence to prove your damages.
Your lawyer can handle the insurance company and negotiate for the best possible financial outcome. They can also represent you in court if needs be. And perhaps above all, your attorney can provide support throughout the stressful period following an accident and they can take the burden of the personal injury claim off your shoulders.
If you need the assistance of an experienced personal injury attorney in Wyoming, contact Ochs Law Firm today for a free initial consultation.
