Plymouth Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal injury law is one of the most popular and important kinds of legal practice in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The reason is simple: personal injuries are very common, and the people who suffer such an injury will need legal aid. The reason is that anyone who experiences a personal injury will need compensation to take care of the various expenses caused by the accident. The injured person will have medical expenses that need to be paid, and if their property was damaged, they will need it to be repaired or replaced.

They might not be able to work while recuperating, so there are lost wages to worry about, not to mention the pain and suffering and emotional and psychological toll caused by the personal injury.

There are a lot of expenses to take care of, which is why the accident victim will need a personal injury attorney. There are many different kinds of personal injury cases, and each one will require various legal machinations that only an experienced personal injury attorney can execute.

If you need compensation after suffering a personal injury in Plymouth, Massachusetts, then you should contact us at the law office of Bernheim, Kelley, Battista LLC. We will set you up with a highly experienced personal injury lawyer to help you with your case. We know how important personal injury cases can be, which is why our attorneys always do their best to help their clients. So be sure to contact us if you have suffered a personal injury.

What Are The Elements of a Personal Injury Case?

There are four elements that need to be present before an accident can be considered to be a personal injury, are as follows:

1. The person who caused the accident owed the victim a duty of care. A duty of care means that someone is expected to behave like a reasonable person would in a similar situation. For example, a driver owes a duty of care to other people on the road by obeying the rules of the road and paying attention while behind the wheel. A store owner owes a duty of care to customers by ensuring there are no hazardous obstacles in their path.
2. The duty of care was breached. This is also known as negligence, and it is the cornerstone of personal injury cases. In the examples given above, a driver breaches the duty of care if they text while driving, and a store owner is negligent if they do not clean up a spill that could cause a slip and fall accident.
3. The breach of duty causes an accident. It is not just that the duty of care was breached; it is necessary that it causes an accident as well. That means the texting driver causes a car accident, or a customer slips on a spill that the store owner does not clean up.
4. The accident victim suffered losses. This means that the person got injured and will have to worry about medical bills, repair bills, or other expenses resulting from the accident.

As you can imagine from the general requirements listed above, there are many different ways that someone can suffer from an injury that qualifies them to seek compensation through a personal injury claim or lawsuit. No two cases are alike, and working with an attorney who is willing to take the time to go through your case and identify the factors that make your case unique is important to ensure that you are fighting for the money you rightfully deserve.

Personal Injury Practice Areas

One of the reasons personal injury cases are so prolific in Plymouth is that personal injury covers a lot of categories, some of which include the following:

Vehicle Accidents

These can include car accidents, truck accidents, and motorcycle accidents. Vehicle accidents are very common in Plymouth, as well as across Massachusetts. While some of them are relatively harmless, the worst can leave the victims with catastrophic injuries requiring extensive medical care.

There were 1,528 crashes reported in Plymouth for the year 2019 (the last year with complete data at the time of publishing), with 3 of those crashes resulting in fatal injuries, 44 leading to severe injuries, and another 224 resulting in minor injuries. This data only tells a small part of the overall story, though, because even “minor” injuries can lead to months or years of ongoing suffering that can significantly impact things like income and a victim’s ability to pursue an everyday life.

Premises Liability

This type of case simply means that a property owner must keep their premises safe for people who are legally allowed to be there. That includes everyone in Plymouth, from a store owner to the owner of a private home. Failure to do so constitutes negligence and means the property owner is liable if an accident occurs because of a hazardous condition on their property. Dog bites are included in premises liability cases because the dog’s owner should keep their pet restrained if they know it presents a biting hazard.

Medical Malpractice

Doctors and healthcare professionals sometimes make mistakes when treating or diagnosing their patients, which could have dire consequences. Common types of malpractice include misdiagnosing a patient’s condition or prescribing the wrong type of medication.

Medical malpractice is a serious and complicated issue. With the support and guidance of your lawyer, personal impacts like trauma, loss of enjoyment, and a wide range of additional “abstract” damages will be included in your claim alongside more measurable impacts such as ongoing medical costs, additional surgeries, and more.

Defective Products

If a person is using a product in the way it was intended and ends up getting injured as a result, they have grounds for a personal injury case. Defective product cases can be complex because you need to find out where the defect occurred, and you may end up having to take on a big corporation, which is why a personal injury lawyer is helpful in such cases.

Assault and Battery

Even though these are intentional and criminal acts rather than accidents, they still fall under the umbrella of personal injury. The reason is that the victim does not receive compensation if their attacker is convicted of a criminal act, so they will need to file a personal injury claim against them to get compensated for their injuries.

Wrongful Death

Wrongful death is when someone dies from an accident that would otherwise have been considered a personal injury. So if someone was seriously injured and then dies because of those injuries, then it is wrongful death, and their family can file a wrongful death claim to get compensation to cover any expenses caused by the death of a loved one.

Is It Worth Getting a Personal Injury Lawyer?

The short answer is yes — there is far too much for one person to do by themself in a personal injury case in Plymouth. Evidence will need to be gathered, the injury claim will need to be filed, and then there is the insurance company of the responsible party to deal with. A personal injury attorney can deal with all of that on behalf of their clients.

Some personal injury cases might lead to a lawsuit, in which case a personal injury attorney will be needed. Their legal advice and representation are vital if the victim wants the best chance of a successful outcome to their case.

What Percentage do Personal Injury Attorneys Get?

It is understandable if someone has reservations about hiring an attorney because they are worried about the fees, but that should not be a concern. Personal injury attorneys tend to offer free consultation, and they work on a contingency basis. That means they do not get paid unless they are successful, in which case, they get a percentage of the settlement amount. That percentage varies based on the lawyer and the type of case, but you can rest assured that the attorney will always make sure that their client has enough money to cover any damages caused by the accident.

Contact our Plymouth office to connect with a top attorney about your situation and learn more about your future as our client. We will be able to go through the many details, such as our contingency fees, examples of past cases we have handled that are similar to yours, and more.

To learn more, schedule a free consultation with us today.

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Common Injuries in Personal Injury Cases

Since personal injury covers such a wide range of topics, the injuries suffered by the victims of personal injuries can also be wide-ranging. Slip and fall injuries tend to cause broken bones, spinal injuries, and head injuries. Car, truck, and motorcycle accidents can cause a lot of damage to the people involved; they can range from broken bones, internal damage, whiplash, concussions, traumatic brain damage, and more.

A concussion is a serious issue and must be addressed immediately. If you recognize any of the symptoms provided above by the Center For Disease Control, contact your doctor as soon as possible.

The injuries in truck and motorcycle accidents are particularly bad because the sheer size of trucks means that they can cause a lot of damage to other vehicles. The opposite is true for motorcycles because their smaller size and lack of protection mean that motorcycle riders are especially susceptible to catastrophic injuries. The injuries in medical malpractice cases depend on the nature of the malpractice since surgical errors, misdiagnoses, and the wrong medication can cause different types of conditions. The same goes for injuries caused by defective products.

Contact Us If You Have Suffered a Personal Injury In Plymouth, Massachusetts

No matter what kind of personal injury you have suffered, you should contact us to get a free consultation about your case. At Bernheim, Kelley, Battista LLC, we can help you with any kind of personal injury you experienced in Plymouth, MA, from slip and fall cases to car accidents to defective products and every other kind of personal injury. We will fight for any resident of Plymouth to get them the compensation they need and deserve. So get in touch with us at Bernheim, Kelley, Battista LLC as soon as possible after you have suffered a personal injury in Plymouth, MA.