Personal injury law is about torts – civil wrongs recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. These wrongs result in an injury and are the basis for a claim by the injured party. The basic principle of tort law is to provide relief for the damages incurred by the injured person and deter others from committing the similar harms. The injured person may sue for damages he or she has endured.
Florida personal injury law: Some general provisions
Personal injury law is a state law created through judges and by legislatures. The law recognizes three general types of torts: intentional torts, negligent torts, and torts based on strict liability.
Intentional torts are those torts for which the defendant intends the consequences of an act. Assault is an example of intentional tort.
Negligence torts, on the other hand, comprise most of the cases under this law. In general, the law imposes a duty on every citizen to behave at least as carefully as a reasonable, ordinary, prudent person in a similar situation. This is known as the reasonable person standard. If the defendant’s actions fall short of the reasonable person standard, then the defendant can be found negligent.
If a plaintiff sues under the theory of strict liability, he or she contends that the defendant is liable regardless of fault. The issue of the defendant’s negligence is irrelevant. The defendant is liable if the defendant’s activity in any way caused the plaintiff’s injury.
Florida personal injury law: Other provisions
There are three other personal injury laws. One of them is medical and professional malpractice law, which deals with unprofessional or unethical conduct by professionals. In the United States, medical malpractice lawsuits comprise the majority of the malpractice lawsuits.
The other type of personal injury law is the “product liability law,” which gives the right to a person injured by a defective product to sue the manufacturer of the product. The third type is the “transportation law,” which deals with automobile, maritime, railroad, and aviation accidents.
Some people believe that personal injury law has increased the amount of frivolous lawsuits. The main aim of these lawsuits is to get fast money. Whatever may be the case, the law gives an injured person his or her day in court.