Yell County, AR Personal Injury Lawyer

To make yourself whole again after an accident, both financially and emotionally, our lawyers can help you seek compensation by filing a lawsuit against an at-fault party.

Though victims file injury lawsuits for many reasons, a major one is auto accidents, whether they involve passenger cars, large trucks, or pedestrians. We can help you quickly initiate a claim against a negligent driver after a car crash, just as we can if you sustain injuries due to medical malpractice or another negligent act. For most injury lawsuits, the filing deadline is three years, and our attorneys can confirm if that is true in your case so that you do not miss the window of opportunity. If victims sustain fatal injuries during accidents, our lawyers can help their survivors seek compensatory damages in wrongful death claims as well. Regardless, we must prove certain elements to establish a defendant’s, such as duty of care, breach, causation, and real damages.

Call (479) 316-0438 today to discuss your case for free with our personal injury lawyers.

Bringing Injury Claims for Auto Accidents in Yell County, AR

Auto accidents cause some of the most serious and expensive injuries to victims. Whether injured by passenger cars or trucks or hurt as pedestrians, victims can file claims against liable parties for compensation. Our lawyers can help initiate and support these lawsuits with the evidence necessary to prove a negligent driver’s fault.

Car Accidents

Collisions between passenger cars are the most common type of auto accident. After an accident with another driver, get their insurance and personal information and give those details to our personal injury lawyers. We can quickly begin reconstructing the accident to confirm the other driver’s negligence and determine the sequence of events. If you reported the accident to the police, which is mandatory in many instances, our attorneys can also help you obtain the report from law enforcement when it becomes available.

Truck Accidents

Accidents caused by semi trucks and other large vehicles have a higher risk of causing serious injury, even during low-speed accidents. A truck’s sheer size compared to a passenger car could make the smaller vehicle rollover after impact, worsening a victim’s injuries. In truck accident injury claims, the negligent driver’s employer may be financially responsible, and our lawyers can confirm this before filing your case, as this could lead to a larger recovery.

Pedestrian Accidents

Pedestrians hit by negligent drivers are likely to sustain severe or near-fatal injuries. Because pedestrians have no larger structures protecting them from impact, they could suffer shattered bones, traumatic brain injuries, or paralyzing spinal cord damage. Those struck while riding their bicycles or motorcycles could sustain similarly debilitating injuries, and we can help such victims bring compensation claims against negligent drivers soon afterward.

Suing for Injuries Caused by Medical Malpractice in Yell County, AR

Few expect their doctors and physicians to be negligent when treating them, but unfortunately, medical malpractice is a relatively common cause of personal injuries to victims.

Medical negligence could affect victims differently, depending on the circumstances. For example, negligence during delivery could lead to birth injuries in infants, like traumatic brain injuries, for which doctors and hospitals may be liable.

Victims could be injured due to negligence during surgery, requiring them to get corrective surgery or other treatments to address complications. Our attorneys can also help victims file injury claims against negligent surgeons and hospitals in such situations, during which we can seek compensation for all additional medical costs due to malpractice.

Your medical records from the negligent provider will be of interest in your case, and our lawyers can obtain these documents and have experts also review them. Medical experts can explain how a treating doctor’s actions were outside the realm of generally medical accepted care and how they led to the victim’s injuries or worsened medical condition.

If you suspect injuries due to medical malpractice, prioritize seeking confirmation from separate physicians, as this will generate additional medical evidence for your case.

Following the Filing Deadlines for Personal Injury Lawsuits in Yell County, AR

For personal injury lawsuits in general, the statute of limitations is three years under Ark. Code. § 16-56-105. The clock begins to count down on the date of accrual, typically the date of injury. It is important to note that if you were hurt by medical malpractice, we may have just two years to file your lawsuit in court, according to § 16-114-203. If a victim’s injuries are due to a foreign object being left behind during surgery, they would have one year from the discovery date to sue.

Additional complicated rules surround the tolling of the statute of limitations for minor victims in general personal injury and medical malpractice claims, and our lawyers can explain these exceptions if they apply to your case.

Identifying the statute of limitations for your lawsuit may determine the timeline by which we investigate, obtain, and organize evidence and ultimately file your lawsuit in court. Unnecessarily delaying claims could harm compensation requests, as defendants might question why victims did not seek damages sooner, especially if their injuries require it. We can proactively prevent these questions from affecting your case by filing it soon after an accident in Yell County.

Missing the statute of limitations blocks victims from getting compensation from defendants, even if they could prove their liability if the case were allowed to proceed. We can avoid this consequence by paying close attention to the filing deadline for your case and prioritizing your financial recovery.

Filing Lawsuits for Fatal Personal Injuries in Yell County, AR

Particularly serious personal injuries might turn fatal shortly after an accident due to negligence, entitling a victim’s survivors to compensatory damages, which our attorneys can help recover.

Generally speaking, the statute of limitations for wrongful death due to fatal personal injury is also three years, according to § 16-62-102(c)(1), with exceptions for cases involving defendants convicted of criminal murder charges. A victim’s personal representative can bring a claim in their stead, and the compensation awarded in the case will be for the victim’s surviving spouse, children, parents, or siblings.

Personal representatives may only file wrongful death claims if victims would have had reason to file personal injury claims had they lived. Compensation in these cases may include damages for lost income due to the victim’s death, lost companionship, funeral and burial expenses, and medical damages related to the victim’s hospital expenses before death.

One of the largest causes of fatal personal injuries in Arkansas is car accidents. High-speed, T-bone, and head-on accidents can be catastrophic, with victims suffering deadly traumatic brain injuries, internal injuries, or spinal cord injuries. Confirming your right to recovery as a survivor following these fatal accidents is essential, particularly if the victim’s death has had a significant economic impact on you and your surviving family.

Proving the Four Elements of Yell County, AR Personal Injury Claims

Regardless of the reason you are suing for injuries, like a car crash, slip and fall, or act of medical malpractice, you must prove four specific elements. Our attorneys can build your case to prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care, which they breached, causing your injuries and damages. Without satisfying these elements of their injury lawsuits, victims cannot prove liability or get compensatory damages from negligent parties.

Duty of Care

The first step of a personal injury claim is showing the defendant had an existing duty of care to the plaintiff. Generally speaking, a duty of care is one’s responsibility to act according to certain guidelines and rules or with care for others’ safety, depending on the situation. For example, all drivers owe others on the road a duty of care, which requires them to follow traffic rules. Doctors also owe their patients a duty of care, which requires them to comply with standard medical treatment and procedures. Property owners have a duty of care that requires them to consider guests’ safety when visiting their properties. We can identify the duty present during the accident and corroborate it with eyewitness statements and other case-dependent evidence.

Breach of Duty

The second step of an injury lawsuit is showing how the defendant breached the duty of care. In short, we must identify what they did that was irresponsible, reckless, or negligent. A defendant’s negligent act differs from case to case. For example, in a car accident lawsuit, the defendant might have been negligent because they were distracted, speeding, or driving under the influence. In a product liability lawsuit, the defendant might have been negligent for failing to check a product for efficacy before distributing it, resulting in an explosion or malfunction. By closely reviewing your specific accident’s facts and all accessible evidence, we can determine the defendant’s breach of duty and prove it in court, like with witness testimony, photos, and video footage.

Causation

Next comes proving causation. Showing that the defendant was negligent is not enough to meet the standard of proof for your personal injury lawsuit; we must show how the defendant’s negligence caused the accident and your injuries. For example, if you were hurt in a falling accident in a restaurant, our personal injury lawyers might interview fellow patrons who were present. During these interviews, we will ask detailed questions about what they saw, including what made you fall, such as a broken floorboard in the walkway. Similar to eyewitnesses who can give useful statements, expert witnesses may also help prove causation with their testimony, particularly accident reconstruction experts who can piece together a car crash by reviewing accident reports, debris patterns, photos, and other information.

Damages

Finally, to cement a defendant’s liability for your damages, we must prove you have incurred them. This involves continuous tracking of victims’ likely losses after suffering personal injuries, like hospital expenses and missed income. Victims’ medical costs can quickly become overwhelming, and we can continuously monitor hospital bills as they come in so that victims do not lose track of their expenses or underestimate their damages.

Medical experts can testify as to whether or not victims can work at their previous earning capacity. If not, we can request compensation for lost wages based on your previous income and employment information.

Some of the most deeply felt damages are the intangible harms victims suffer from negligence. For example, serious physical injuries and intense medical treatment could cause depression in victims, who might also be dealing with general pain and suffering after an accident.

Arkansas does not cap non-economic damages in personal injury claims, meaning juries can award any amount they see fit after finding defendants liable. Non-economic damages are also recoverable in out-of-court settlements, though defendants typically only concede these damages after aggressive negotiations.

Call Our Accident and Injury Lawyers in Yell County, AR for Help

Call (479) 316-0438 for a free case evaluation from our personal injury lawyers.