The field of personal injury law is designed to compensate innocent victims for the injuries they suffered as a result of another person’s negligence. Popular culture has created an impression that this system is fast and easy to navigate, but the reality is much different. For an injured victim to obtain proper compensation, the services of a skilled and knowledgeable Vienna, Virginia personal injury lawyer are often required.
At Portner & Shure, P.A., our attorneys have been successfully obtaining compensation for injured clients for more than 30 years. Discover the difference that our experience and focus on individualized casework can do by calling today.
What is a Personal Injury Claim?
To hold a negligent person accountable for their actions, the injured victim must prove all elements of a personal injury claim through a preponderance of the evidence. In other words, they must show that the other party was at least 51% responsible for the accident and resulting injuries.
The usual legal elements of a personal injury claim are:
- Duty: The defendant must have had a duty to the plaintiff to not cause them any harm or to reasonably protect them from harm through negligence.
- Breach: The defendant must have breached that duty of care owed to the plaintiff.
- Causation: The breach of that duty must have caused or contributed to an accident or injury.
- Damages: The injuries must have caused real damages like medical bills, lost wages, etc.
What this means without legalese is that the negligent person committed an act of negligence that violated a duty of care that was owed to the victim, which resulted in that victim’s injuries. The mentioned elements are found in nearly every personal injury claim except workers’ compensation claims that do not depend on liability in most cases, as we will explain next.
What is Vienna, Virginia Workers’ Compensation Claim?
In a workers’ compensation claim, the injured victim does not have to prove duty or breach. This is because Virginia workers’ compensation is a form of “no-fault insurance.” To have a viable workers’ compensation claim, an injured victim must have suffered an accidental injury while in the scope of their employment. While there are some exceptions, an injured employee may have caused their own injury and would still be eligible to make a workers’ compensation claim.
Several benefits are available through the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission, which we discuss in further detail on our workers’ compensation page. The Virginia Workers’ Compensation process can be long, complex, and confusing, especially when you need to spend your time resting, not dealing with legal paperwork. We highly advise you to hire our experienced Vienna, Virginia personal injury lawyers to help with your workers’ comp claims as well.
Injuries & Damages in a Vienna, Virginia Personal Injury Case
Incidents giving rise to personal injury claims result in a variety of bodily injuries that frequently require medical treatment. Depending on the severity of the injury, medical treatment requirements may range from physical therapy to emergency medical treatment and surgery. Some injuries warrant more comprehensive rehabilitation such as orthopedic care and occupational therapy. The length and extent of a victim’s medical treatment depend on the severity of their injuries, which could result in chronic pain with no way to treat it. Accident victims with serious injuries may find themselves unable to work due until they fully recover.
Virginia law allows personal injury victims to recover economic and non-economic damages:
- Economic damages are meant to compensate an accident victim for their medical bills, lost wages, and future lost wages.
- Noneconomic damages are meant to compensate a victim for the pain and suffering they endured as a result of their injuries.
Defenses in a Vienna, Virginia Personal Injury Case
Virginia is one of four states that still allow contributory negligence to be raised as a defense to a civil injury claim. Under this defense, a victim is barred from recovering anything if evidence is presented that proves their own negligence contributed to their injuries. If you are even 1% liable for your injuries, then a court could reject your claim for compensation.
Assumption of risk is another defense that can be used to challenge your personal injury claim. Under this defense, a personal injury victim is precluded from recovering compensation if they had knowledge of the risk of potential harm, understood the risk, and voluntarily undertook an action despite the risk of danger. To overcome these defenses, you should seek out the skilled advocacy and representation of a Vienna, Virginia personal injury lawyer.
Why Hire Portner & Shure, P.A. for Your Vienna Injury Claim?
Our award-winning attorneys at Portner & Shure, P.A. have decades of collective legal experience focused on plaintiff personal injury cases. If you have been hurt by a negligent third party, then you can count on us to make things right.
Some of our most common practice areas are:
- Brain injuries
- Car accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Premises liability
- Spinal cord injuries
- Truck accidents
- Wrongful death
- Product liability
- Nursing home abuse
- Motorcycle accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Dog bites
- Defective drugs
- Defective medical devices
- Bus accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Workers’ compensation
Our experience has directly led to the securement of amazing results for our clients. Perhaps more even more importantly, we have been given numerous five-star reviews from our clients who have been thrilled with our legal services. After all, everything we do, we do for the betterment of our clients’ lives.
