Personal Injury Basics
Start here. What a personal injury claim is, how negligence and fault work, whether you have a case, how settlements and contingency fees work, and the deadline to file. Rules vary by state.
All Personal Injury Basics guides
- What Is Gross Negligence?
Gross negligence is reckless disregard beyond ordinary carelessness—here's why it matters for punitive damages and waivers.
- Statute of Repose vs. Statute of Limitations
A statute of repose is an absolute deadline from a product's sale or a building's completion that can bar a claim before you're ever hurt.
- What Is a Personal Injury Claim? A Plain-English Guide
A plain-English guide to personal injury claims: the negligence framework, fault rules, common claim types, and how compensation works.
- Comparative vs. Contributory Negligence: How Shared Fault Affects Your Claim
How comparative and contributory negligence rules can reduce or completely bar your injury claim, and how to protect yourself.
- What Is Proximate Cause?
Proximate cause limits liability to harm that was a reasonably foreseeable result of someone's careless act. Here's how it works.
- Negligence Per Se: When Breaking a Law Proves Fault
How violating a safety law can automatically prove fault in an injury case, what it doesn't prove, and steps to take.
- What Is Tort Law?
Plain-English guide to tort law: negligence, intentional torts, strict liability, and how a civil injury claim differs from a crime.
- Assumption of Risk Explained
Assumption of risk can bar or reduce an injury claim, but waivers and "known danger" defenses have real limits and vary by state.
- What Is Vicarious Liability?
Vicarious liability explained: how employers can be held responsible for an employee's negligence, and why it matters for your injury claim.
- How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
How medical bills, lost wages, and pain/suffering combine to value a personal injury claim, plus what raises or lowers it.
- A Parent's Claim for an Injured Child's Medical Bills
Parents can claim a child's medical bills separately from the child's own injury claim — with different deadlines and a court-approval step.
- How Long Does a Personal Injury Case Take?
Personal injury cases can take weeks to years. Learn the stages, what MMI means, and what actually slows a case down.
- Do I Need a Personal Injury Lawyer?
How to tell when a minor injury claim is a do-it-yourself job versus when serious injury, disputed fault, or big bills call for a lawyer.
- What Is Negligence in a Personal Injury Case?
Negligence means someone owed you a duty of care, broke it, and caused your injury. Here's how the four legal elements work, in plain English.
- How to Choose a Personal Injury Lawyer
How to pick a personal injury lawyer: relevant case experience, fee terms, communication style, trial readiness, and the questions to ask in a free consult.
- How Personal Injury Lawyer Fees Work (Contingency Fees Explained)
Plain-English guide to how personal injury lawyer contingency fees work, including typical percentages, costs vs. fees, and liens.
- Do I Have a Personal Injury Case?
You likely have a case if someone's carelessness hurt you and caused real losses. Here's how to check the four legal elements yourself.
- What Is Duty of Care?
Duty of care is the legal obligation to act reasonably — learn how courts decide it exists and why it's the first element of a negligence claim.
- Res Ipsa Loquitur: When the Injury Speaks for Itself
How res ipsa loquitur lets a jury infer negligence from the accident itself when direct proof is missing, with classic examples.
- What to Do After an Injury: A Step-by-Step Guide
Step-by-step guide to what to do after an injury: medical care, documentation, evidence, deadlines, and avoiding common settlement mistakes.
- Personal Injury Statute of Limitations: How Long You Have to File
How long you have to file a personal injury claim, why it varies by state, the discovery rule, minors, and shorter government-claim deadlines.
- How Personal Injury Settlements Work
Most injury claims settle before trial. Here's how demand, negotiation, the release, and payout actually work, and what gets deducted first.
- Intentional Torts and Civil Assault and Battery Claims
Hurt by a deliberate act? Learn how civil assault/battery claims work, how they differ from criminal cases, and why insurance may not pay.