San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer

The term ‘personal injury’ is a term that takes into account the law practice of representing Plaintiffs for injuries they have suffered through the negligence of another. By itself, that term means injuries you may have suffered because of a car collision, truck collision, bus collision, bike accident, pedestrian accident, medical malpractice, products liability and more. There are few firms that work well and knowledgeably in all these areas. We are one. We know injuries, medicine and issues having to do with accident causes and analysis. We have been doing all of it for more than 30 years and have the reputation to back it up. If you have an injury caused by the fault of another, no matter what the cause, contact us.

Common Types of Personal Injury Accidents

Personal injury law addresses injuries sustained in accidents that are caused by other people’s negligence. While there are many kinds of accidents under the personal injury umbrella, there are some types of accidents to which personal injury law more commonly applies. These include every manner of transportation accident – car, truck, bus, trolley, cable car, bike, motorcycle, scooter and pedestrian – crossing and slip and fall accidents that occur in public stores and restaurants, at schools, in parks, and in private residences.

Damages Suffered

Every personal injury case concerns injuries unique to you and your family. Briefly, we often see cases causing:

• Physical injury: most of our cases involve physical injury which in our office, is usually severe.
• Medical expenses are compensable. Often, even if you are insured your insurer, will place a lien or request for reimbursement on your case because your injury was negligently caused by a third party. At the conclusion of your case, it is our job to help you negotiate and reduce those liens in order to maximize your recovery in the case.
• Loss of wages can reduce or eliminate the ability to earn. Each case is unique and loss of earnings can be long term. For example, if you happen to have a job requiring work with your hands and can no longer use one or the other of your hands you may have lost the ability to work for life. If you suffer a brain injury, that may impair your ability to work. The same is true because of pain, impaired mobility or impairment of many bodily functions.
• Pain and suffering is shorthand for all of the emotional components of an injury. These can include the value of past pain, expected future pain, disfigurement, anxiety,  which can include emotional distress, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life, and more.

Compensatory Damages:

These above areas of damages are all considered compensatory damages because they are intended to put you back to where you were before the injury- to compensate you for your losses.

Punitive Damages:

When the at-fault party’s negligence is determined to be especially egregious or despicable, however, you may also be awarded punitive damages, which are intended to punish the negligent party rather than to compensate you.

Comparative Negligence in California

If you believe that you shared some of the fault in the accident that caused you to be injured, tell us that and we likely will still be able to help you. The State of California addresses this issue with the concept of comparative negligence. If you were not paying attention for example and failed to recognize the sidewalk had a hole that was deep and in need of repair when you fell in it, the jury may determine that you share responsibility for your own injury. You may still recover but the compensation you are awarded will be reduced by that percentage rate. You still may have the right to significant recovery in any event.

If You Are Hurt By the Fault of Another, Contact This San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer Today

Personal injury cases can be lost or damaged inadvertently by what you may say to someone else taken out of context or misinterpreted, by the loss of evidence and by too much time passing.  If you’ve been injured due to another’s negligence contact the experienced personal injury lawyers at The Law Office of Scott Righthand in San Francisco right away.  For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.