Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help You Recover The Damages You Deserve

Were you injured in Virginia Gardens, FL, or anywhere within Miami-Dade County, Florida as a result of the irresponsibility or negligence of another? Call an experienced personal injury attorney at Concepcion Law as soon as possible. We can help!

A personal injury lawsuit is a civil suit filed by a private individual (plaintiff) against another person, business, corporation, or government agency (defendant) typically with the assistance of a personal injury attorney. The suit alleges that a careless, irresponsible, or reckless act by the defendant resulted in an accident or injury that caused the plaintiff harm.

Determining Responsibility For Damages

Responsibility for damages is determined by how much carelessness or irresponsibility each party contributed to the accident or event that caused the injury – proportion of comparative negligence (fault) of each party involved. Every state in the United States and the District of Columbia allocate (apportion) comparative negligence in one of four main ways to determine responsibility for paying damages.

1. Pure Contributory Negligence – no damages are awarded to the plaintiff if his or her percentage of fault is as little as one percent. Alabama, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia are the states that follow this rule.
2. Pure Comparative Fault – the plaintiff can recover damages from the other party minus his or her own percentage of fault, even if the plaintiff was up to 99% responsible for the accident causing the injury. For example, if the damages awarded is one million dollars and the plaintiff is 20 percent at fault, the plaintiff could collect $800,000 in damages from the defendant (one million minus 20 percent). Florida (including Virginia Gardens, FL and Miami-Dade County, Florida) is one of 33 percent of states that follow this law.
3. Modified Comparative Fault – this entails the plaintiff and defendant being held responsible for damages in proportion to his or her own percentage of fault until the bar reaches 50 percent in the states that follow the 50 percent bar rule and 51 percent in the states that follow the 51 percent bar rule. Once the plaintiff’s percentage of fault reaches the bar, he or she is not able to recover damages.
4. Slight/Gross Negligence Comparative Fault – a modified pure comparative fault system followed only by South Dakota. This allows the plaintiff to recover damages from the other party if he/he was either not at fault or only slightly at fault.

Personal Injury Damages

In a personal injury lawsuit, a plaintiff can recover general damages, special damages, and/or punitive damages. General damages compensate for non-economic loss such as pain and suffering. Special damages compensate for out-of-pocket economic costs, such as medical bills, repair of property damage, and lost earnings. Punitive damages are compensatory damages that punish the defendant for negligence or recklessness that caused the accident or event.

If you were injured in Virginia Gardens, FL, or anywhere within Miami-Dade County, Florida as a result of the carelessness or negligence of another, call an experienced personal injury attorney at Concepcion Law now!