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Rhode Island Injury & Tort Law Attorney
Rhode Island Personal Injury Law covers a broad spectrum of issues when one has been physically or emotionally injured, and this often includes personal property that has been damaged. In legal circles, personal injury law is also known as "tort" law, the French word for "wrong." Personal injury or "tort" law is the body of law that allows one to be compensated in the event that someone's carelessness, recklessness or intentional misconduct injures or damages you (or your personal belongings).
In the legal sense,
Rhode island Personal Injury
is a type of tort or civil wrong where harm is caused to one
individual because another individual failed to use reasonable care.
Personal injury law overlaps quite a bit with Rhode
Island Litigation Law. The law recognizes a tort as grounds
(legal reasons) to sue the offender in order to recover for losses
caused by an injury or other type of harm, including psychological.
This is referred to as recovery for damages and may involve expected
future losses in addition to actual present losses. Some of the
damages one may sue for are reasonable medical expenses, property
damages, pain and suffering, loss of earnings capacity, emotional
distress, loss of consortium or companionship, and legal costs and
attorney fees. The main goal of Rhode Island Tort Law to make
the injured party whole again and to discourage others from
committing the same offense.
With personal injury law, liability is a key factor. Liability is
determined by showing that the individual who caused the harm did so
because of a failure to exercise reasonable care. Further, it must
be shown that it was foreseeable that this failure could result in
the injury or harm that did occur to the other party. A finding of
reckless or negligent action may result in a judgment of liability.
There are various defenses to a claim of liability. For example, if
the injured party knew that the activity in which he was engaged
when he was injured was dangerous, the other party may assert assumption
of the risk, claiming that the injured party bears all the
responsibility for his injury. Other defenses are pre-existing
condition and intervening
causes.
Rhode Island Personal injury law is extremely complicated and
the subject of much debate. There are many critics actively seeking
tort reform in an effort to decrease these types of lawsuits, as
well as the amount of damages that may be recovered and the
contingency fees attorneys may charge. A contingency fee works on
the principal that the attorney only gets paid if the case is won
and damages are recovered. The contingency fee is based on a
percentage of the recovery, rather than an hourly rate.
Rhode Island Personal Injury / Tort Law generally makes one
think of lawsuits. However, many of these cases never proceed to
court. More frequently an out-of-court settlement is sought to
resolve the issue. This is much more expedient than a lengthy,
costly civil court trial. However, when a settlement cannot be
reached, the parties usually must proceed to a state court, and the
judgment may then be appealed to the applicable appellate courts.
Many jurisdictions have small claims courts which hear personal
injury cases wherein a small recovery amount is sought, which falls
under a set threshold. Although less common, federal courts may hear
some personal injury cases as well. Either federal or state courts
may preside over class action suits.
Contact us today by Email or call us today at (401) 788-0600 to speak with a representative from our firm..