Personal Injury Law

Whenever someone acts carelessly, and another person is hurt as a result of their carelessness, the injured party may have the right to recover money from the party that acted carelessly, or negligently, in a personal injury lawsuit.  If you have been injured in just about any way, your injury may have been caused or exacerbated by the negligent or careless act of another person or company. By enlisting the services of a skilled San Diego injury lawyer, you maximize your chances of recovering money from a negligent person.

In addition to cases of car accidents or slip and falls, there are virtually limitless circumstances under which it may be possible to recover money in connection with personal injury claims. For example, a battery is a harmful, unconsented touching. There is a cause of action for battery. It is possible to sue a person who has engaged in a harmful touching that was not consented to. Even when there is a lawsuit in circumstances such as these, it may be advisable to also allege negligence. The reason why it might be advisable to do so is because negligence is kind of a catchall tort. A tort is really a claim by one person against another for having caused injury or economic or other damages that is not a criminal case, advised a San Diego personal injury lawyer.

A criminal case is brought by a prosecuting agency, such as the city attorney or the district attorney. In criminal cases, the prosecuting agency is representing the people. In reality, it doesn’t exactly make sense to say that the prosecuting agency is presenting the people because many people may disagree with the decision to file a prosecution in any particular case. In any event, this concept is important because the district attorney does not represent any individual person. Therefore, there is no way to force the district attorney to bring a criminal case on your behalf, and prosecuting attorneys do not file personal injury cases. Sometimes the only way to obtain any recourse is by filing a civil case. For example, Nicole Simpson, OJ Simpson’s former wife, is widely believed to have been murdered by her former husband. The prosecuting attorney filed a criminal case against Mr. Simpson, but that case was lost.

Nevertheless, the surviving heirs of Nicole Simpson brought a case for wrongful death against Mr. Simpson. Similarly, if someone has been harmed by another person, and the prosecution has refused to bring a criminal case against the individual who caused the harm, the injured party may decide to bring a case for personal injury against the individual who harmed them.

The burden of proof any personal injury case is different from the burden of proof in a criminal case. In a criminal case, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. In contrast, in a civil case, such as a personal injury case, the plaintiff (the injured party) must only show by a preponderance of evidence that the defendant is liable for harm suffered by the plaintiff. This makes the job of a San Diego injury attorneys substantially easier than the job of a prosecutor, and makes it much more likely that an injured party in a civil case can prevail. Defendants in a civil case may take issue with the burden of proof in a civil case. That is, defendants may believe it is unfair that the plaintiff only needs to prove that it is more likely than not that the defendant did wrong. If you have been harmed, and you are a potential plaintiff in a San Diego personal injury case, rest assured that there may be the possibility of recovering money to compensate you for your injuries even if the prosecution was unable to prevail in a criminal case against the person who caused you harm.

By Douglas Gilliland