When someone suggests you need to hire a personal injury attorney, many people may think personal injury claims are just a remedy for car accidents. The truth is, car accident claims are just one type of personal injury claim. Every day, people are injured due to someone’s negligence, defective products, animal bites, etc. If someone else or business is responsible for your injuries, then you have a personal injury claim.
Here is a look at some of the more common types of personal injury claims in Lancaster:
Products Liability
Products liability cases involve dangerous and defective products. These can cause serious injuries to people and can be in public places, at work, or in your home. Products that lack sufficient warnings or operating instructions can also lead to someone being injured. Products liability cases can involve children’s products, food, toxic materials, medical devices, and more.
Premises Liability
Premises liability cases involve a defective or dangerous condition on someone else’s property. They can happen almost anywhere, from your neighbor’s home to a gas station across town. Common locations for premises liability claims are swimming pools, malls, grocery stores, restaurants, sidewalks, etc. Accidents that fall under the category of premises liability include swimming pool-related injuries, dog bites, and slip and falls. Depending on the circumstances, the property owner may owe a different duty of care. For example, the property owner would have a higher duty of care to someone invited onto the property versus someone who was trespassing.
Workplace Injuries
Getting injured on the job is common. If you’re injured at your workplace, you can file for workers’ compensation benefits. In situations where you are denied benefits or are not compensated what you deserve, it’s possible to retain a Lancaster workers’ compensation attorney. There are also limited situations where you might be able to file a third-party claim against someone other than your employer if they were negligent and caused you to be injured at work.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice claims typically involve serious injuries and, in many cases, death. These can be very complex cases, especially if there is a wrongful death claim involved. It’s important to speak with a South Carolina medical malpractice attorney right away as these claims are very time sensitive. Medical malpractice claims don’t have to be as serious as a mistake during surgery; it can also be something like improperly prescribed medication.
Defamation
Personal injury claims aren’t necessarily always physical injuries. In defamation claims, the harm is to your reputation. Libel is written defamation while slander is verbal defamation. In these cases, you need to show that the statement was not true and it caused you harm. For example, if someone said something that caused you to lose your job, you could have a viable defamation claim.
Retaining a South Carolina Personal Injury Attorney
The aforementioned are only some of the injuries that fall under the broad category of personal injury claims. If you suffered injuries and/or a financial loss due to someone else’s negligence, contact the Elrod Pope Law Firm at 803-599-3080 to schedule a consultation.
