The Utah Basics of Personal Injury Attorneys
A personal injury case is when someone is injured and wants to hold another person or company responsible for that injury. A personal injury lawyer is who will listen to all the issues of your case and build you the strongest argument possible.
A little Vocabulary
The injured person is called the plaintiff
The person who is accused of causing the injury is called the defendant. The defendant can be an individual person as in a car accident or an entire company as is product defect.
The carelessness of the person is called negligence and so negligence is said to cause the injury.
Settlement Negotiations is how most cases are resolved and can occur before or after the lawsuit is filed in the courts. It is when the defendant’s lawyer and the plaintiff’s lawyer come to an agreement that both the defendant and the plaintiff will accept.
Civil Court judgment is what will occur if a negotiation is not reached and the trial has to go to court before a judge and jury who will decide how justice will be carried out.
Statute of limitations is the amount of time the injured has to file a lawsuit before the right to sue is lost. In Utah when you are seeking a personal injury lawyer it is important to know these numbers in relation to when you were injured. Each state has their own laws as to the specific numbers so these numbers are only for Utah.
- Professional Malpractice- 2-4 years depending on the situation
- Personal injury- 4 years
- Wrongful death- 2 years
- Fraud- 3 years
- Libel/Slander/Defamation- 1 year
- Injury to Personal Property- 3 years
- Product Liability- 3 years
- Contracts – Oral- 4 years, Written- 6 years
So it is always a good idea to contact a lawyer sooner than later so that you don’t lose your right to sue for your personal injury do to the statute of limitation rule. Also when you do contact your lawyer it is a good idea to first know the answers to these two questions.
What exactly happened? As detailed as you can possibly be. When the injury occurs if you think it is at all possible that you might need a lawyer take down or have a loved one take down as many event details as possible. The more you are able to tell your personal injury lawyer the better they will be able to help you. Also it will help you later go back and review whether or not you truly need an attorney.
What kind of harm resulted? What kind of physical, emotional or perhaps even social damage occurred? And how is your life affected because of it? These are important to be able to convey completely to your lawyer because that can define at times what type of case you have but it also helps to determine the compensation that will be needed.
Whenever you have personally injured and before you seek a lawyer know your situation and at least a little of how it fits into Utah’s laws.
Filed Under Utah Personal Injury Lawyer, utah personal injury
Tagged With Personal injury Lawyers, Utah Attorneys, Utah personal injury attorneys
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