Common Kinds of Personal Injury Cases

Personal injury law (also known as "tort" law) lets an injured person get compensation when someone else's wrongful conduct (whether negligence or an intentional act) causes harm.

There are a variety of situations that can give rise to a valid personal injury claim, but it's important to remember that an injury doesn't automatically result in legal liability. Let's look at some of the most common kinds of personal injury cases.

Car Accident Injury Cases

Car accidents lead to most personal injury cases in the United States. When an accident happens, it's usually because someone isn't following the rules of the road, or isn't driving as carefully as they should be. A careless driver can (usually) be held financially responsible for injuries stemming from a car accident, and car insurance typically plays a big role in car accident injury cases.

Slip and Fall Cases

Slip and fall claims are another common type of personal injury case. Property owners and others have a legal duty to keep their premises reasonably safe and free of hazards, so that people who are on the property don't become injured. Of course, not all injuries that occur on the property will lead to liability. The exact nature of a landowner's legal duty varies depending on the situation and the law in the state where the injury occurred.

Learn what you need to prove in a slip and fall case.

Medical Malpractice

A medical malpractice claim can arise when a doctor or other health care professional provides treatment that falls below the appropriate medical standard of care, and a patient is injured as a result. But it's important to keep in mind that getting a bad result in a treatment setting doesn't mean malpractice occurred. Learn more about when it's medical malpractice (and when it isn't) and why medical malpractice cases are tough to win.

Defamation: Libel and Slander

Defamation, whether in the form of libel or slander, refers to an injury to a person's reputation as a result of untrue statements. The exact nature of what a defamation plaintiff must prove will vary depending on who the plaintiff is, and the forum where the statement was made. The average person usually just needs to prove that an untrue negative statement was made and that actual harm (financial loss) came from it.

Celebrities or public figures, on the other hand, usually need to prove "actual malice." This means they need to prove that the untrue statement was made either intentionally or with reckless disregard to the truth of the statement.

Learn more about the legal elements of libel and slander.

Dog Bites

In most cases, the owner of a dog is financially responsible for bites and other injuries caused by the dog. The exact laws on owner responsibility vary from state to state. In some states, strict liability rules exist and the dog owner is going to be liable for dog bite damages even if the dog has never shown any aggression or propensity to bite in the past. In other states, "one bite" rules exist, in which owners only become responsible for personal injury damages once there is a reason for those owners to know their dog is aggressive or prone to biting (like a previous history of bites.) Learn more about "one bite" versus "strict" liability in dog bite cases.

Emotional Distress Claims

Emotional distress can be part of most personal injury cases, in the sense that the injured person might experience emotional harm and other negative mental health effects after an accident. This kind of emotional distress is typically part of the injured claimant's "pain and suffering," a common category of damages in many a personal injury case.

But there are also standalone personal injury claims where the injured person's emotional harm forms the basis for the case. Learn more about:

• negligent infliction of emotional distress, and
• intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Assault, Battery and Other Intentional Torts

Unlike most other types of personal injury claims, intentional torts are not based on accidents caused by negligence or carelessness, but rather on one person's purposeful actions, and the harm they cause to someone else. These cases can overlap with a criminal action against the perpetrator. Learn more about intentional torts.

Do I Always Need a Lawyer For a Personal Injury Case?

No. If you're comfortable handling the injury claim process on your own, and hanging in there during injury settlement negotiations until you get a fair result, it might make sense to represent yourself. That's especially true if you weren't hurt all that badly, and there's no question that the other person was at fault for what happened.

In some situations, it might make sense to get an attorney's opinion about your case, and see if hiring a legal professional might be worth it. Maybe the other side isn't taking your claim seriously, or there's too much at stake to try going it alone. Learn more about how an attorney can help with your personal injury case.