Accidents happen every day. When someone is harmed because of someone else’s negligence, however, there may be grounds for legal action. Thomas Law Offices represents accident victims in and out of Louisville. If you’re looking for legal representation, a Covington personal injury lawyer from our office can examine your situation and determine how you should proceed based on your unique circumstances.
When you work with Thomas Law Offices, we’ll fight to ensure you receive the compensation you need to recover. This could include monetary awards for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. In addition to your personal financial recovery, filing a claim also conveys the gravity of the situation to the negligent party.
The Relationship Between Personal Injury Law and Negligence
Personal injury claims are generally brought forward on the basis of negligence. If a driver was talking on the phone when they hit a pedestrian or a nursing home employee struck a resident and caused head trauma, those individuals can be held accountable for their actions through civil court.
Kentucky follows a comparative fault rule when it comes to determining liability for a personal injury claim. Essentially, this means that a victim’s compensation can be reduced if they’re deemed at fault for a percentage of their accident. So, if a person is found 10 percent at fault for an accident valued at $10,000, they’ll only be eligible for $9,000 in compensation.
Proving negligence is a four-step process. First, your lawyer will need to establish the defendant owed you a duty of care. The second step is to show how that duty of care was breached. Then, it needs to be shown how the breach resulted in the accident. Finally, your lawyer needs to prove you were harmed as a result of the defendant’s actions. Harm can be physical, financial, or psychological.
Personal Injury Claims in Covington
When someone’s actions directly contribute to another person’s injuries, personal injury law allows the victim to file a claim. While there are many different areas of personal injury law, the majority of our clients come to us after having been in a traffic accident or injured in or by a medical facility or professional.
We’ll discuss those common areas of litigation below. If, however, your accident is unrelated, you should still consider reaching out to our attorneys. We have extensive experience dealing will all types of personal injury claims and we’ll be able to determine if we can help you.
Car Accidents
Car accidents happen every day. Fortunately, the majority results in minor property damage and bumps or bruises. When a more serious crash happens, however, a Covington car accident lawyer from Thomas Law Offices can help the victim seek compensation for their losses.
When negligence plays a role in an accident, it’s likely a driver was distracted, texting, intoxicated, or disobeying the rules of the road. It only takes a split second for a driver to hit another car or cause a crash when their mind, eyes, or hands aren’t focused on the task of driving.
In Covington, the majority of collisions happen between two or more moving vehicles outside of a parking lot. When accidents occur on highways where speed limits are faster, it’s more likely for the incident to result in potentially fatal injuries.
The Kentucky State Police regularly investigate fatal collisions. If you’ve lost a loved one, the police report will play a significant role in your attorney’s own liability investigation. With the right evidence, you can prove the other driver was negligent and the crash never should have happened.
Truck Accidents
While tractor-trailers and truck drivers deliver goods and services across the country, accidents involving them can have catastrophic, if not deadly consequences. The severity of a truck crash is often associated with the sheer size difference between a semi and a standard passenger vehicle.
Occurring in both urban and rural areas, over 10,000 trucks were involved in collisions in Kentucky in 2018. According to the Kentucky Traffic Collision Facts report, 1,590 of the total truck crashes resulted in non-fatal injuries and 116 were fatal.
Truck accident claims require a thorough investigation to prove negligence. This can be a challenge because of the number of parties that could be at fault—including the truck driver, trucking company, or truck manufacturer. As such, you’ll improve your chances of receiving the compensation you deserve when you work with a Covington truck accident lawyer.
Nursing Home Abuse
When your family makes the decision that it’s time for your loved one to move into a nursing home, you expect the facility to provide your family member with the care they need and deserve to live as high a quality of life as possible. When a facility or an employee neglects or abuses a resident, a Covington nursing home abuse lawyer can provide legal guidance and representation.
Unfortunately, nursing home abuse is not uncommon; however, instances are often unreported. This has to do with some residents not wanting to come forward for fear of embarrassment or retaliation and other residents not having the mental capacity to convey what they’ve been through.
When a resident is abused, it may be physical, emotional, sexual, or financial. If you notice significant behavioral changes, unexplained injuries, or missing property, you’ll want to alert the facility as quickly as possible. This is why it’s important to regularly visit your loved one. The more often you see them, the more likely it is that you will notice if something wrong is going on.
Depending on the facility’s response and what your loved one has suffered, you may be able to take legal action to hold the facility accountable and ensure your loved one has access to the compensation they need to recover.
Medical Malpractice
Whether you’re heading into the hospital for a planned procedure or you need emergency medical attention, you put your trust in the doctors and medical staff that care for you. When that trust is breached and you are injured, you may be able to take legal action.
Doctors are supposed to practice under the standard of care. This means they act in a way that other doctors in the same specialty would act in any given situation. When a doctor fails to do this and a patient is injured, that is often grounds for a med mal claim. Common claims involve surgical errors, medication mistakes, and diagnostic failures.
In the event you’ve been harmed by a physician and you believe negligence played a role, it’s important to get in touch with a Covington medical malpractice lawyer. Med mal claims are among the most complex in regard to personal injury litigation, so you’ll want to be backed by an experienced and reliable attorney.
The City of Covington, KY
Located an hour and a half northeast of Louisville, Covington is known for its relaxed taverns, bistros, and waterfront hotels. While Covington began in a small park that today commemorates the legendary George Rogers Clark, it was a fully-fledged city by the mid-1830s. With half of the city located on the Ohio Riverside, the area is filled with elegant townhouses, villas, and parks.
As beloved as Covington is, it doesn’t change the fact that accidents do happen here. Whether a Covington resident is in a car accident, is hurt by a doctor, or is harmed another way, it’s important for injured victims to understand their legal options.
While we recognize that a 90-minute drive for seeking legal counsel may seem far for some, we strive to provide our clients with the best legal representation possible—in and out of Louisville. Whether you come to us, we come to you, or we meet in the middle, we’re ready to review your case and help you determine if you’re eligible for recovery.
Kentucky Statute of Limitations
It’s important to note that part of filing a successful claim involves doing so on time. In Kentucky, the statute of limitations for most personal injury claims is one year. If you fail to file within the one-year window, it’s likely your case will be dismissed without review and you’ll be ineligible for compensation. Depending on the circumstances surrounding your claim, the specific timeframe for you could be different. Your Kentucky attorney will know exactly how long you have to file.
Contact Thomas Law Offices
Sustaining injuries or losing a loved one in an accident is devastating. In order to secure your financial future and help your family move forward, filing a personal injury claim with the guidance of a Covington personal injury lawyer can help.
It’s important to understand that the personal injury claims process takes time. While we’ll do everything we can to get you and full and fair settlement through negotiations, we won’t hesitate to take your case to trial to seek an official verdict.
The sooner you get in touch with our law firm, the better your chances are of receiving the compensation you need to cover your accident-related losses and focus on recovering physically and mentally. To learn more about the process or to schedule a free case evaluation, contact us today.
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