PERSONAL INJURY AND WRONGFUL DEATH

Motor Vehicle Accidents

If you've been hurt in a car or truck accident that wasn't your fault, you may be entitled to recover money damages.

Or, if your child, husband, or wife was killed in a car or truck accident that wasn't his or her fault, you may have a claim on his or her behalf for money damages.

The amount of compensation, if any, depends on many factors. Here are some of the questions that your lawyer will consider:

• Is there a dispute about who was at fault in causing the accident?
• Were you wearing your seat belt?
• What are your injuries from the accident?
• Are your injuries temporary or permanent?
• Did the accident aggravate preexisting injuries?
• How have your injuries affected your ability to engage in normal daily activities?
• Will your injuries affect your ability to engage in normal daily activities in the future--and if so, to what extent?
• What treatment have you had for your injuries?
• What treatment will you need in the future, according to your doctors or other health practitioners?
• What are the total charges for the medical treatment you have had so far?
• What is the anticipated cost of treatment you will need in the future?
• Have you missed any work because of your injuries?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your lost wages?
• Has your ability to work in the future been destroyed or impaired by your injuries?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your projected lost income?
• Was the conduct of the person at fault so bad that punitive damages are a possibility?
• Does the person at fault have automobile insurance that includes liability for your accident? Kentucky law requires that every car-owner have at least $25,000 of this type of insurance, but some people don't abide by this law.
• If the person at fault does not have insurance or does not have enough insurance, do you have automobile insurance that includes uninsured/underinsured motorist motorist coverage--and if so, what is the maximum amount?
• If there is not enough insurance coverage available from all sources to cover your damages, does the person at fault have assets that could be collected?

• whether you, your witnesses, the person who was at fault, and his or her witnesses appear to be telling the truth,
• whether your injuries are outwardly visible, and
• whether your family has suffered because you are injured.

Falls

If you've been injured in a fall on someone else's property, you may be entitled to recover money damages.

Or, if your child, husband, or wife died because of a fall on someone else's property, you may have a claim on his or her behalf for money damages.

Most of the time, you are not entitled to damages for a fall. If you fall on ice, water, or some other substance that you knew was there before you fell, you probably do not have a case. If you fall in a store on a substance that you didn't know was there, but the store couldn't reasonably have known about it and cleaned it up or put warning signs up before you fell, you probably have no case. If you simply stumble and fall, you probably have no case.

The amount of compensation, if any, depends on many factors. Here are some of the questions that your lawyer will consider:

• Is there a dispute about why you fell?
• Is there a dispute about whether your injuries were caused by the fall?
• Could the property owner or manager or their employees reasonably have known about the substance that caused you to fall and cleaned it up or placed warning signs up before you fell?
• What actions, if any, did the property owner or manager or their employees take?
• What are your injuries from the fall?
• Are your injuries temporary or permanent?
• How has your ability to engage in normal daily activities been affected?
• Will your ability to engage in normal daily activities in the future be affected--and if so, to what extent?
• What treatment have you had for your injuries caused by the fall?
• What treatment will you need in the future?
• What are the total charges for the medical treatment you have had so far?
• What is the anticipated cost of treatment you will need in the future?
• Have you missed any work because of your injuries caused by the fall?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your lost wages?
• Has your ability to work in the future been destroyed or impaired by your injuries caused by the fall?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your projected lost income?
• Does the person or company responsible for the substance that caused the fall have insurance, and if so, how much?

• whether you, your witnesses, and the witnesses for the other side appear to be telling the truth,
• whether your injuries are outwardly visible, and
• whether your family has suffered because you are injured.

Defective Products

If you've been injured by a defective product, you may be entitled to recover money damages.

Or, if your child, husband, or wife died because of a defective product, you may have a claim on his or her behalf for money damages.

A product can be "defective" because its design was unreasonably dangerous, because of an error during its manufacture, or because it comes with no warnings, or only inadequate warnings, of the risks of using it. Not every product that causes an injury is "defective." There are risks in using most products.

The amount of compensation, if any, depends on many factors. Here are some of the questions that your lawyer will consider:

• Is there a dispute about whether the product was "defective" (there almost always is)?
• Is there a dispute about whether your injuries were caused by the product?
• What are your injuries?
• Are your injuries temporary or permanent?
• How has your ability to engage in normal daily activities been affected?
• Will your ability to engage in normal daily activities in the future be affected--and if so, to what extent?
• What treatment have you had for your injuries caused by the product?
• What treatment will you need in the future?
• What are the total charges for the medical treatment you have had so far?
• What is the anticipated cost of treatment you will need in the future?
• Have you missed any work because of your injuries caused by the product?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your lost wages?
• Has your ability to work in the future been destroyed or impaired by your injuries caused by the product?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your projected lost income?
• Does the company responsible for the defective product have insurance, and if so, how much?

• whether you, your witnesses, and the witnesses for the company responsible for the product appear to be telling the truth,
• whether your injuries caused by the defective product are outwardly visible, and
• whether your family has suffered because you are injured.

Medical Malpractice

If you've been harmed by the medical malpractice--also called medical negligence--of a doctor, nurse, or other health care practitioner, you may be entitled to recover money damages.

Or, if your child, husband, or wife died because of medical malpractice, you may have a claim on his or her behalf for money damages.

Medical malpractice does not mean just that there was a bad outcome. Medical treatment can have a bad outcome--complications, even death--without any medical malpractice. Medical malpractice means medical care that is below the standard of care--below what a reasonably prudent medical practitioner of the same type would do in the same or similar circumstances.

The amount of compensation, if any, depends on many factors. Here are some of the questions that your lawyer will consider:

• Is there a dispute about whether there was medical malpractice (there almost always is)?
• Is there a dispute about whether the possible malpractice actually caused the injury in question?
• What part of your body was injured?
• Is the injury temporary or permanent?
• How has your ability to engage in normal daily activities been affected?
• Will your ability to engage in normal daily activities in the future be affected--and if so, to what extent?
• What medical treatment have you had because of the injury?
• What treatment will you need in the future?
• What are the total charges for the medical treatment you have had so far?
• What is the anticipated cost of treatment you will need in the future?
• Have you missed any work because of the possible malpractice?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your lost wages?
• Has your ability to work in the future been destroyed or impaired by the malpractice?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your projected lost income?
• Does the doctor or other health care practitioner have professional liability insurance?

• whether you, your witnesses, the health care practitioner, and his or her witnesses appear to be telling the truth,
• whether the harm caused by the possible malpractice is outwardly visible, and
• whether your family has suffered because you are injured.

Other Negligence

If you've been injured by someone else's carelessness, or negligence, you may be entitled to recover money damages.

Or, if your child, husband, or wife died because of someone else's carelessness, you may have a claim on his or her behalf for money damages.

Certain all-too-common situations involving someone else's negligence are discussed separately above--motor vehicle accidents, falls, defective products, and medical malpractice. But other situations can involve negligence too, for example:

• negligent shooting or poisoning
• negligent coaching in sports
• negligent maintenance
• negligent installation

• How strong is the evidence that there was carelessness, or negligence?
• Is there a dispute about whether your injuries were caused by the negligence?
• What part of your body was injured?
• Are your injuries temporary or permanent?
• How has your ability to engage in normal daily activities been affected?
• Will your ability to engage in normal daily activities in the future be affected--and if so, to what extent?
• What treatment have you had for your injuries?
• What treatment will you need in the future?
• What are the total charges for the medical treatment you have had so far?
• What is the anticipated cost of treatment you will need in the future?
• Have you missed any work because of your injuries?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your lost wages?
• Has your ability to work in the future been destroyed or impaired by your injuries caused by the product?
• If so, what is the dollar amount of your projected lost income?
• Does the person or entity responsible for the negligence have insurance, and if so, how much?

• whether you, your witnesses, and the witnesses for the other side appear to be telling the truth,
• whether your injuries are outwardly visible, and
• whether your family has suffered because you are injured.

How Long Do I Have To File A Lawsuit?

Your lawyer may try to negotiate a settlement for you before filing a lawsuit. If you and your lawyer decide to file a lawsuit, it must be filed by the legal deadline.

The deadline is different for different types of claims:

• Motor Vehicle Accidents: 2 years from the date of the accident or the date of the last PIP payment
• Falls: 1 year from the date of the fall
• Defective Products: 2 years from the date of injury or the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury and the responsible party
• Medical Malpractice: 1 year from the date of malpractice or the date you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury and the responsible party
• Other Negligence: 1 year from the date of injury

• A child who is injured has until one year after his or her 18th birthday to file a lawsuit (and longer if he or she is mentally disabled).
• The deadline is later for someone who is mentally incompetent at the time of the injury.
• The deadline may be later when a death is involved, depending on when a personal representative of the estate is appointed by the court.

Please note: This is general information only and does not cover all aspects of the law that applies to the deadline to file suit. Determining the deadline to file suit can be very complicated, and it is critically important. If you miss the deadline, it does not matter how good your reason is for missing the deadline. Consult a lawyer as soon as possible after the event that caused injury or death.