Personal injury law covers a lot of ground. Whenever one person alleges that another person or entity caused that person’s injury and seeks to recover damages, that is a case for a personal injury lawyer.  One crucial thing to remember is that, in Georgia, you generally only have two years to file a claim for recovery from your injury.

As with every other state, Georgia has its own rules and guidelines to be followed for a successful personal injury claim.  Their complexity and subtlety mean that you should work with an experienced Johns Creek personal injury lawyer if you think you have a compensable personal injury claim.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle
• Georgia Estate Law
• Contact a Johns Creek Personal Injury Lawyer
• An Injury Lawyer Near Me

Personal Injury Cases We Handle

There are many different incidents that can lead to compensable personal injury. In each type of incident, different standards apply, and different issues arise.  If you have been involved in any of these, you should speak with an experienced Johns Creek personal injury lawyer as soon as you can.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Motor vehicle accidents can involve cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles, and other motorized vehicles.  You may have been operating another motorized vehicle, been a passenger in one, or been a simple pedestrian who got in the way of a vehicle.  In any of these instances, you will have suffered a personal injury.

Drunk Driving Injuries

Drunk driving cases may allow for punitive damages as well as compensation for your injuries.  Also, you can use a drunk driving conviction as evidence of fault in this type of claim, though there does not have to be a conviction for you to seek civil recovery.

Slip and Fall Accidents

Slip and fall accidents happen when you are injured on the premises of another by slipping, tripping, and falling over an existing hazard. Your ability to recover depends on whether you were an invited guest or customer on the property, as well as whether the owner’s negligence led to the slip and fall hazard.

Boating Accidents

Boating accidents are common in Georgia because of our extensive coastline and numerous lakes.  Specific Department of Natural Resources rules govern boating, and these will add to the ordinary negligence standard applied to any motor vehicle accident.  These claims are complicated by maritime insurance rules, which require knowledgeable counsel.

Wrongful Death

In Georgia, all the claims made in a wrongful death case must be directly related to the deceased individual’s injury and death.  Damages suffered by the family due to the death are not compensable in Georgia wrongful death cases.  Generally, what you can recover is:

• Funeral expenses, medical costs, other expenses resulting from the injury or death
• Medical expenses and the decedent’s pain and suffering, and any other expenses occurring between the injury and the death
• The full value of the deceased person’s life, as proven by evidence.

Dog Bites

Georgia is a one-bite state. Generally, this rule means that a dog cannot be put down or its owner found liable for the first biting incident. However, Georgia also modifies this rule by making owners liable if they knew that the dog was vicious, they did not have the dog properly on a leash, or the attack was not provoked by the bite victim.

Public Transportation Injuries

Public transportation vehicles are, under Georgia law, subject to the rules relating to common carriers.  A common carrier is generally someone who owns or operates mass transportation facilities.  A different standard of care applies to common carriers. They are typically presumed to be liable unless the injury resulted from an act of God or by enemies of the state.

Catastrophic Injuries

These are the injuries that leave you permanently disabled and facing a lifetime of rehab and challenging circumstances.  Most often, these injuries relate to the head, neck, back, or brain, and nervous system.  They are characterized by long-term incapacitating symptoms and a long or impossible recovery period.  Other factors may include permanent paralysis or loss of quality of life and the need for constant or live-in care.

Product Liability

Product liability cases are unusual because they don’t always require proof that someone was at fault. In Georgia, a product liability claim can be based on either strict liability or negligence.  Strict liability does not require proof of negligence, but it does require proof that the manufacturer was responsible for making the product, the product had defects, and the defect caused you to suffer injuries.

These cases can involve a defect in the design or in the manufacturing of the product or the maker’s failure to warn users, consumers, or purchasers of a nonobvious foreseeable risk from the normal use of the product.

Georgia State Law on Personal Injury Claims

The success of any of the above personal injury cases is complicated by what is known as the doctrine of comparative negligence that is used in Georgia personal injury cases.  Comparative negligence considers the conduct of all parties to a negligence case and assigns a numerical percentage to their share of the “fault” in the accident.  The value assigned to your level of fault is crucial to your case because, at 49%, you can recover 51% of your damages, while at 50%, you recover nothing.  Because of this, consulting with experienced counsel can be vital to your potential recovery.

Damage caps, set by state law, limit the dollar amount of certain types of damages recoveries in personal injury cases, regardless of the amount of the actual damages.  In Georgia, damages caps in tort cases are mostly unconstitutional under the state constitution.  However, there are some exceptions to this general rule.  Since 2018, there have been no caps on economic or non-economic (e.g., pain and suffering) recoveries in Georgia.  There are still limits on punitive damages, and most of that limited amount must be paid to the state, not the injured party.

Contact a Johns Creek Personal Injury Lawyer Today

As you have seen, personal injury cases cover a lot of complicated ground.  But, if you’ve been injured in Johns Creek, you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer today.  In a free initial consultation, you can find out the merits of your case and receive assistance in achieving the damages to which you are entitled.