Personal Injury

What Are Punitive Damages in California?

California law allows injured people to seek financial compensation when they suffer injuries from another party’s reckless, careless, or intentional and wrongful acts. Typically, this compensation means money for losses such as medical bills, missed wages, reduced earning ability, property damage, pain and suffering, and emotional distress.

However, there are cases where the negligent party’s actions are so despicable that a judge or jury decides extra punishment is appropriate. When this happens, an injured party can receive punitive damages as additional compensation.

Types of Damages in Personal Injury Cases

After suffering an injury, you could face costly medical bills, damaged property, and many other losses. An injury could even take you out of work when you need income the most. That can mean huge amounts of stress when you’ve already got enough on your plate. But don’t give up. If someone else is responsible for your injuries, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses, and the right lawyer could help.

What is Personal Injury Law?

Most people want to know: What is personal injury law? Personal injury law covers any and all injuries which include someone’s body, mind, or emotions due to the negligence of another. Personal injury law also includes wrongful death and other serious situations in which injury proves fatal.

A personal injury case will generally begin when the injured person (the plaintiff) sues the person or business (the defendant) who caused their injuries. A personal injury suit claims that the defendant caused the injuries that the plaintiff is suffering from. This means that the plaintiff is seeking compensation in the form of a monetary payment.

How Will I Know if My Lawyer is an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney?

Choosing an experienced personal injury attorney is absolutely vital to the successful outcome of your case. We know that it can be a challenge because there are so many out there nowadays.

How to Begin Your Search

Word of mouth is probably one of the most common ways people find their personal injury; someone knows someone who knows someone who has used a personal injury attorney.

Another way personal injury attorney’s are found is through just a simple Google search of personal injury attorneys in the area.

How Long Can it Take for My Case to Settle?

As a personal injury attorney, we see cases that differentiate in the amount of time it takes to settle. The more detailed the case, the longer it will take. Of course, if you want to settle your case quickly, you are looking at a lower sum of compensation that you will receive. Here, we will look at why it takes a little bit longer to settle certain cases.

There are three main reasons why your case is taking longer to settle, they are:

Which Cases Are Not Considered Personal Injury?

Here at Silverthorne Attorneys, we cover many different types of cases. However, there are parameters on the types of cases we take on; this is merely because these cases require an attorney who specializes in these areas of the law. Here is a list of cases that are not considered to be personal injury:

• battery/assault
• defamation
• libel
• slander
• medical malpractice

Personal Injury Law - Infographic

When you are injured or in an accident, what are you supposed to do next? Here at Silverthorne Attorneys, your next step starts with us. We are a Personal Injury law firm that helps clients get back on their feet with the means they deserve. Here is some more information on Silverthorne Attorneys, and just what Personal Injury Law actually is.