When recovery for injury or loss is legally available, the law aims to compensate the victims as fully as possible.
Accidental death and serious injury happen all too often. When you or someone close to you is seriously injured, life as you’ve known it stops completely; your ability to feel even simple pleasures comes to a screeching halt, and your awareness of having to meet your personal, professional and financial obligations, earn a living and take care of your dependents, suddenly becomes urgent, overwhelming, even despairing.
When an accident could have been prevented, the law holds responsible those whose carelessness brings harm to others.
The law does not provide a remedy for every accidental injury. Accident laws, the remedies they provide, and the procedures that make those remedies available, are complex and vary greatly from case to case, depending on the specifics of the accident, the victims, and the person(s) or entity responsible.
While some accidents could not have been prevented, too many happen because someone was careless. In most cases, the law provides for compensation to victims of such accidents, so that the person whose carelessness caused the harm is held accountable.
AN INJURED PERSON IS ENTITLED TO RECOVER:
1. Compensation for past and future medical expenses;
2. Wages and other earned income lost because of the injury;
3. The reduction in one’s capacity to earn a living;
4. The value of personal and household services that he or she could not perform while injured (or can no longer perform);
and
5. Compensation for pain and suffering of all kinds, past and future.