The Difference Between a Personal Injury Claim and a Lawsuit

If you or a loved one have been injured – you may be wondering about the difference between a personal injury claim and a lawsuit. Let’s take a look at the key differences between these two situations in this post from the Award-Winning Personal Injury Lawyers at Sawan & Sawan.

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Personal Injury Claims

If you’ve been injured or lost a family member due to someone else’s carelessness you’re likely wondering whether you have a personal injury claim to pursue. While all personal injury cases are different, and very fast specific, in general in order to recover monetary compensation you must prove three basic requirements.

That the party that injured you or your loved one was negligent. Negligence is a term in the law That refers to careless behavior.
That the carelessness what is the cause of the personal injury you’re complaining of. The key is to be able to tie the injuries to a specific accident in a way that makes a causal connection. There are many circumstances in which an expert is required to accomplish this.
That the injury caused by carelessness lead to specific harm. Even in situations where somebody was careless, if he did not cause any damage the law provides no recourse in most cases.

What is establish that you have a viable personal injury claim, the next step is to attempt to negotiate or resolve the matter between the parties. Often times this means bringing in all involved insurance companies. The vast majority of personal injury claims resolve themselves in settlement prior to a lawsuit being filed. Of course, there are always situations in which settlement is not possible and litigation is necessary.

Personal Injury Lawsuits

After an injury, you may be wondering if you will need to file a lawsuit against the party responsible. The short answer – it depends. By a large, most personal injury cases do not result in the filing of a lawsuit. Lawsuits are incredibly expensive and time consuming, and litigation should be reserved for only the most serious of matters. However inevitably situation is present them selves that require more aggressive approach. In some circumstances, a careless party might ignore correspondence seeking settlement, or may act unreasonably and fail to accept any responsibility. Other times, several parties may argue amongst themselves about who is responsible.

In any of these complicated situations, and orderly court process can help the parties understand their relative roles and accept their relative relative responsibility. In many circumstances the mere filing of the lawsuit is sufficient to facilitate a resolution. In other circumstances, many years of litigation and a difficult jury trial or bench trial is required. Wow it’s not always simple to determine from the beginning of a case which route a case will take, there are some factors that a skilled and experienced personal injury attorney knows to look for. In general, situations involving serious injuries, disputed liability, or several parties tend to result in litigation more often.