Understanding Personal Injury Laws

Understanding Personal Injury Laws

If you’ve been injured in any way, shape or form, you’ll need to act quickly to make sure your legal rights are protected.  A personal injury lawsuit has approximately four elements that a jury must consider before a case goes to trial.  In most cases, there is duty, breach, causation and damages.  There are several different types of injury cases that can occur.  Many people may not even consider certain situations, so it’s important to learn what qualifies as personal injury. 

Bodily injury is a classic example of a situation where a person suffers injury to his or her brain, skeletal system, spine, organs or even suffered from a disease.  This type of case is pretty straightforward and damages can be awarded by the proof of pain and suffering.  Of course, the monetary damages awarded will depend on the severity of the injuries that were suffered.

Economic injury is a bit more complicated.  Certain acts can lead to damages where a person might not actually suffer physical injury.  For instance, if someone’s negligence leads to the devaluation of personal property, this might be considered an economic injury.

Injury to reputation is an area of personal injury law where certain individuals slander another person.  Sometimes these cases are considered economic injury cases, but the inherent breach of duty present is different.  The plaintiff actually needs to show harm to his or her reputation that has led to physical or economic damages in order for this type of claim to be sustained.

Intentional injury is an area of personal injury law where the negligence standard doesn’t need to apply because the defendant has done something wrong with the intention of doing so.  Examples of this type of personal injury could include assault and battery.

So, as you can tell, there are many types of personal injury cases, and these examples above are just the tip of the iceberg.  If you or a loved one has suffered any type of personal injury or damages as a result of negligence, failure to act or intentional damage, then you need to contact an attorney immediately.

Learn more about hiring a personal injury attorney, types of personal injury or filing a personal injury lawsuit or for California and San Diego personal injury lawyer resources visit our legal resource website www.kerrysteigerwalt.com.

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Asbestos fine possible for University

Winona State University faces a proposed fine of $24,500 for seven serious workplace safety violations related to asbestos removal from dormitories and other campus locations this year.

The university repaired or replaced insulation without taking the necessary precautions to protect workers from asbestos, according to the complaint from the state Occupational Safety and Health Division.

James Honerman, an OSHA spokesman, said he could not provide any details about the citations, which the university received last month, because Winona State has contested the allegations and the matter has not been resolved.

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Cristeen Custer, assistant vice president of marketing and communications at Winona State, said the university is cooperating with OSHA. “We take it seriously, and we do believe that we’ll come to a very positive result with our discussions with OSHA,” she said.

When asked whether students may have been exposed to asbestos during any of the repair work, Custer said: “Obviously student safety is of critical importance to us and we would never jeopardize or take liberties with student or worker health. If there was a concern we would have alerted students.”

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Law Firm Video – San Diego personal injury lawyer, describes his online resource for legal help and information.

Law Firm Video
Kerry Steigerwalt, a San Diego personal injury lawyer, describes his online resource for legal help and information.

Personal Injury Video

Settlement Reached in Popcorn Lung Diacetyl Lawsuit

A man from Sioux City Iowa who had filed a lawsuit against International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. after being exposed to diacetyl (a buttery flavoring for microwave popcorn) has reached a settlement.
John Weimer Jr. filed the lawsuit in 2005 in U.S. District Court claiming that his lungs were damaged through exposure to diacetyl which has been linked to a respiratory disease known as popcorn lung. Weimer was exposed to diacetyl while he worked as a manager at the Snappy Popcorn Company plant in Breda, Iowa.
The National Institute of Health has linked exposure of vapors from butter flavoring to lung damage in popcorn plant workers. Health investigators have determined that the flavorings pose no danger to people who eat microwave popcorn.