Maryland Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury cases are a type of civil law, and personal injury cases are often brought forward as a result of any misconduct.

“Tort” is a Latin and French word that means legal “wrong” that causes injury or harm to a person. In civil lawsuits, tort actions do not involve wrongdoers being prosecuted by the government. Rather, such lawsuits generally involve a plaintiff (often a private person) seeking compensation for a harm or injury that has been caused by the wrongful actions of the defendant.

Many cases that involve personal injuries are based on the policy of negligence, which requires every member of society to act in a socially responsible way so that others are not put at risk. This does not mean that negligence will be found anytime a person is injured. In fact, some accidents, under certain specifications, cannot be avoided. In order to establish liability for negligence, the plaintiff must prove that the Defendant did not act in a reasonable manner, and as a result of the defendant’s “negligent” actions, the plaintiff was hurt.

Examples of negligence include car accidents involving a drunk driver or when a driver runs a red light, medical complications caused by the carelessness of a physician, dog bites that occur when untamed or untrained vicious animals are left to roam the streets freely, and so on and so forth. A lawsuit can be filed if the plaintiff receives serious injuries from these circumstances.

Once you establish that negligence was the cause of the accident, and that the exercise of proper care would have prevented the incident, the defendant must pay the plaintiff for all damages and injuries caused by their actions.

Damages

In a personal injury case, there are certain kinds of damages that can easily be measured such as damage of property or medical expenses. For more complicated types of personal injuries, like loss of income, or the capability of generating income in the future, the requirements are more stringent. In the event of particularly intentional, nefarious misconduct and behavior, punitive damages may also be awarded to a plaintiff in order to punish the defendant for his actions that caused the injuries.

When a “tort” action is initiated, it can be particularly difficult to properly identify the defendant. This is due to the fact that the “tortfeasor” – the person who caused direct harm to the plaintiff – often lacks the assets to pay a large judgment in court. In such cases, it is better to use an experienced attorney who is capable of recognizing additional parties who may be responsible for the person’s acts and are liable to the plaintiff for his/her injuries. Sometimes, an employer of a driver or a landlord may be responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries.

Personal injury cases can be particularly hard to deal with without an attorney, because of the legal implications that need to be considered before taking any action.

If you or a loved one has been injured, let the attorneys at Altmark, Rotter & Trock, LLP take care of the proceedings. Please call us for a free consultation at (410) 783-9230, or toll-free outside of Baltimore at 1-(888) 966-5566.