Logan County, AR Personal Injury Lawyer
While the hope is to go through life without suffering injuries, sometimes negligent individuals cannot be avoided. If you have been the victim of another’s carelessness, our lawyers can help you get the compensation you deserve in a lawsuit.
People’s negligence takes many forms, so you will want to work with a personal injury law firm with vast experience in different areas of injury law. Our attorneys can help you no matter if you were injured in a car accident, on another’s property, by a defective product, or at work. We can also help you get compensation for the ultimate loss, the death of a loved one, by filing a wrongful death action. Proving these claims requires different evidence. For instance, we will usually use police reports to help prove liability in a car crash, while we typically need expert testimony to establish how a product was defective. You can focus on your recovery knowing that a skilled legal team is preparing your case.
Call our personal injury attorneys at (479) 316-0438 for a free and private case review today.
Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit for a Car Accident in Logan County, AR
Car accidents are one of the most common reasons individuals in Logan County need to file a personal injury lawsuit. After a car crash, the first priority should always be to seek medical attention. Once your health is addressed, it is important to contact our experienced Arkansas personal injury attorneys to help you pursue compensation from the driver responsible for the accident. Car accidents can be traumatic experiences that often feel over in an instant, leaving you uncertain about what truly happened. While your memory of the event is valuable, our team has the resources to investigate the crash thoroughly.
This typically involves interviewing witnesses, obtaining surveillance footage, acquiring your police report, and sometimes getting a professional accident reconstructionist to piece together the sequence of events leading to the collision. Our injury lawyers handle these claims daily and know where to find the evidence needed to prove your case.
We will also negotiate with the insurance companies in your car accident claim. Most of us know that dealing with insurance companies can be quite frustrating. Claims adjusters are primarily focused on minimizing their company’s payout rather than paying you a fair settlement. Even a casual remark could give insurers a reason to lower or outright deny your claim. Our lawyers have years of experience working directly with insurance firms. Many car accident cases settle before they ever make it to trial, but having skilled legal representation on your side can significantly enhance your chances of securing the compensation you deserve.
However, you must know the value of your claim before settling. Our team will thoroughly assess your damages, including your medical expenses and lost wages. This assessment covers your current medical treatment, any future care you might need, and the income you would have earned had you not sustained an injury.
Along with evaluating your damages, our office will examine the strength of your case. If the evidence supports it, the insurance company will likely pay a fair settlement to avoid the risks and costs of going to trial. Only after you understand what your claim is worth and its chances of winning can you make a well-informed decision regarding any settlement offers.
Suing for Personal Injuries Caused in a Logan County, AR Premises Liability Accident
When someone is injured on the premises of another because of their negligence, victims can file a premises liability lawsuit. These accidents can occur in numerous ways, but slip and falls, stairwell accidents, and falling objects are among the most common reasons for personal injuries. Property owners and managers with a legal duty to keep the premises safe must protect guests from known and likely dangers. What is reasonable under the circumstances will depend on the property. For instance, a grocery store and restaurant should have procedures in place to routinely inspect for spills and wet surfaces.
If a private property owner invites people onto their premises, they should be made aware of any known dangers, like a poorly lit stairwell in the house. However, property owners typically do not owe a duty to trespassers, so you usually must have a legal right to be there to file a claim for damages. That is, unless the victim is a child drawn to an unprotected swimming pool. Property owners with swimming pools have a duty to reasonably secure the area from local children who might want to swim there, as a pool constitutes what is legally known as an “attractive nuisance.”
Proving liability can be challenging in premises liability claims even when the property owner is known. Our team must gather evidence that the defendant either owned or controlled the property at the time of the accident and that their maintenance of the property was negligent. In some cases, the defendant might claim that you assumed the risk, sustaining your injuries after learning of the danger and risking it anyway. Or, they might claim that you failed to take reasonable steps to protect yourself. Our team can help fight claims that you were comparatively negligent in the accident.
How to Recover Compensation for Personal Injuries in a Product Liability Claim in Logan County, AR
Many other personal injury lawsuits are filed over negligently designed and manufactured products. The greatest challenge in a premises liability claim is determining where the negligence occurred in the production process.
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing defects happen during the construction or assembly of a product. An error in the assembly process can transform an otherwise safe product into something hazardous. Thankfully, manufacturing defects only impact a small fraction of the products that reach consumers. If the error did not occur in the manufacturing process, we will trace it back to the initial design for the flaw.
Under the principle of strict liability, a manufacturer in Logan County can be held responsible for defects they cause during the assembly, construction, or production of a product, even if it took reasonable precautions throughout the manufacturing process. To succeed in a product liability case centered on a manufacturing defect, the victim only needs to demonstrate that the product was flawed when it left the factory and that it caused their injuries.
Design Defects
Design defects arise from flaws in the original blueprint or design of a product. Unlike manufacturing defects, which stem from errors in production or assembly, a design defect is inherent to the product itself and affects every unit produced by the manufacturer. For example, if there is a flaw in the design of an airbag system, every consumer with that particular airbag installed in their vehicle will be at risk of injury.
When evaluating a potential design defect, our injury lawyers typically ask three key questions. First, was the design inherently dangerous before the product was manufactured? Second, could it reasonably have been anticipated, or should it have been known that the product’s design might pose a risk to the user? Finally, was it possible to create a safer design that would not only be economically viable but also maintain the product’s intended function? If any one of these conditions is found to be true, you will have grounds for a product liability claim.
Lack of Adequate Warnings
Some products carry unavoidable risks. For instance, cleaning products can be harmful if misused or ingested. This danger exists even without any manufacturing mistakes or design flaws. Moreover, a product liability claim can arise when a manufacturer fails to inform consumers about a product’s potential dangers adequately. Further, any participant in the distribution chain, like retailers, could be held accountable if a warning label or clear instructions could have helped prevent a foreseeable injury.
To assess whether a warning label is adequate, our attorneys will usually evaluate several factors. First, we will consider if the product poses a potential risk of harm. Next, our team will examine whether the victim used the product as intended. We also need to take into account the severity of any injuries sustained.
We must also determine how aware of the risks involved you were. The effectiveness of warning labels often hinges on the product’s complexity and the expertise required to use it safely. Did the label assume a certain level of knowledge and experience from the consumer? Your case will also likely be successful if we can show that the label was unclear or difficult to understand.
Filing a Claim After a Workplace Accident in Logan County, AR
One of the most challenging situations in which you need to recover compensation is when your personal injuries occur at work. How you will cover these damages will depend on who caused your injuries while on the clock.
Unfortunately, injured workers might not be able to file a lawsuit automatically since Workers’ Compensation is designed to be the sole remedy for injured workers in Logan County and throughout Arkansas. Workers’ Compensation benefits will cover expenses like medical bills and lost income without you having to prove fault beforehand. Our team only needs to show that your injuries are work-related when filing your claim, so be sure to report your accident to your employer and go to every medical appointment.
However, Workers’ Compensation has a few drawbacks. For starters, it will not cover all your economic losses stemming from the accident. In most cases, only 66.6%, or two-thirds, of your lost wages will be compensated. Further, you will receive no compensation for non-economic damages, like pain and suffering and mental anguish. You can only claim these losses in a lawsuit, but Workers’ Compensation specifically bars injured workers from suing their employer or coworkers for their negligent acts. Unless your employer or coworker intentionally caused your injuries or your employer failed to carry coverage when they were legally obligated, you will typically be limited to Workers’ Compensation benefits.
These restrictions do not apply, however, if a third party caused your workplace personal injuries. For instance, perhaps you work on a busy construction site with several deliveries a day. If a delivery driver for another company injures you, you can file a personal injury lawsuit like it was any other type of accident. In fact, we can likely sue the negligent worker’s employer for its employee’s negligence under the legal theory of “vicarious liability.” While you might still be able to claim Workers’ Compensation in these cases, it is best to cover all your losses in a lawsuit.
Suing for the Wrongful Death of a Loved One in Logan County, AR
Fewer personal injury claims are more difficult for those involved than lawsuits for wrongful death. When a person causes the death of another through a negligent, willful, or otherwise wrongful act, they can be held liable in civil court. Our attorneys can help by explaining how your lawsuit will likely proceed and what damages you can pursue.
While wrongful death lawsuits are for the benefit of surviving family members, like spouses and children, they are not actually the ones legally empowered to file these claims. Instead, the deceased’s personal representative, or “executor,” must file the claim. They are typically a close family member or friend. In cases where the deceased left behind a will, the personal representative will usually be named in it. If there is no will, the court can name a personal representative to manage the estate and file the appropriate claims. Since the personal representative can technically be anyone, our team can argue for you to be appointed.
Certain family members can usually recover compensation for the damages their loved one’s death has caused. For instance, spouses and children can be compensated for losing support, guidance, companionship, and the education the deceased would have provided had they survived. Had the victim survived the accident, they would likely have had a valid legal claim. Personal representatives could claim damages for losses the deceased could have sued for in a personal injury lawsuit if they lived.
Regardless of Your Accident, Contact Our Logan County, AR Personal Injury Lawyers Today for Help
To get a free case assessment today from our personal injury lawyers, call us at (479) 316-0438.