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Personal Injury Lawyer in Chesapeake Virginia

Virginia Personal Injury Attorney Assisting Injury Victims in Chesapeake

Serious and debilitating accidents can happen quickly and without warning. From traffic crashes to routine medical appointments, people suffer preventable injuries every single day. When another party’s negligence results in your injuries, it is important to hold that party financially accountable for your losses. By filing a personal injury claim, you may be able to receive damages that can help to compensate you for medical bills, lost wages, and even your pain and suffering. An experienced Chesapeake personal injury attorney can analyze the facts of your case today and can begin working on your claim.

Learning More About Personal Injury Law in Chesapeake, VA

There are many different types of insurance claims and civil lawsuits that fall under the broader category of personal injury law. In most types of Virginia personal injury claims, the case is brought according to a theory of negligence. In other words, the personal injury claim arises out of a situation in which one party’s negligence (a careless or reckless act or omission) resulted in the accident in which the plaintiff got hurt.

Common elements of most claims based on negligence include the following:

  • Defendant owed plaintiff a duty of care;
  • Defendant was negligent, thereby breaching the duty of care;
  • Plaintiff suffered injuries; and
  • Defendant’s breach of the duty of care was the primary cause of the plaintiff’s injuries.

Our Firm Handles a Wide Variety of Chesapeake, Virginia Personal Injury Claims

The dedicated team at Breit Law PC handles many different kinds of personal injury claims, including but not limited to the following:

  • Motor vehicle accident cases, including trucking accidents, car crashes, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents;
  • Medical malpractice claims, including surgical errors, diagnostic errors, medication mistakes, hospital-acquired infections, and birth injuries;
  • Product liability lawsuits, including dangerous drug claims, and defective consumer products lawsuits;
  • Premises liability claims, including slip and fall accidents;
  • Railroad accident claims, including mass transit accidents, workplace injuries, and freight train derailments;
  • Maritime law and related issues, including admiralty claims and longshoreman claims;
  • Filing and appealing insurance claims; and
  • Wrongful death lawsuits.

We are committed to providing aggressive yet compassionate representation to each client in a personal injury case. Our team tailors its strategies to fit the needs of your case, and we have a history of winning lawsuits and settlements for a wide variety of personal injury plaintiffs.

Insurance Claims Versus Lawsuits After Injuries in Chesapeake, Virginia

Depending upon the specific facts of your case, you might begin seeking compensation by filing an insurance claim. For example, if you were injured in a motor vehicle crash, you might initially seek compensation by filing an auto accident claim. An experienced Chesapeake personal injury lawyer can assist you with this claims process or with appealing denied benefits.

If you are unable to get the amount of compensation you deserve by filing an insurance claim, the next step may be to file a personal injury lawsuit. Again, depending upon the particular facts in your case, you may be able to file a lawsuit against more than one defendant. For example, in truck accident lawsuits, both the truck driver and the owner of the truck may be liable. Or, for instance, in a medical malpractice lawsuit, both a physician and a hospital may be responsible for your injuries.

How Much Time Do I Have to File a Chesapeake, VA Personal Injury Claim?

Virginia law (Virginia Code § 8.01-243) has a statute of limitations of two years on most types of personal injury lawsuits. What does this mean for someone who is considering filing a claim? Your lawsuit must be filed within two years from the date of your injury. If you do not file your lawsuit within this two-year time window, then your claim will become a time-barred claim. Once a claim is time-barred, a plaintiff cannot obtain compensation through a civil lawsuit.

With the statute of limitations, the “clock” on your time window typically begins “ticking” as soon as you get hurt. For example, with a car accident claim or a slip and fall accident, the clock would begin ticking on the day of the accident. Then, you would have two years to file a lawsuit. However, there are some situations in which the statute of limitations may be longer than two years.

In some medical malpractice cases where a plaintiff could not have reasonably known that she was injured on the date of the injury, the clock on the statute of limitations may be extended. For example, when a foreign object (like a sponge) is left inside a patient after a surgery, or when a patient is wrongly diagnosed, the patient may not even know about the injury until some time later. In most of these types of cases, the clock will begin “ticking” on the date that the plaintiff discovered—or reasonably should have discovered the injury. Then, the plaintiff will have one year from that point to file a claim.

Contributory Negligence in Your Chesapeake, Virginia Personal Injury Lawsuit

If a defendant successfully argues that the plaintiff is partially at fault for the accident, the plaintiff can be barred from recovery. Virginia follows what is known as a pure contributory negligence rule. This means that whenever a plaintiff is even one percent responsible for an accident or for her injuries, the law says that the plaintiff is barred from recovering damages. As such, it is very important to have a Chesapeake personal injury lawyer on your side who can show that you bear no responsibility for the accident.

Contributory negligence is a defense that the defendant can use in order to avoid paying damages in a personal injury case.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney in Chesapeake, Virginia

Nobody expects to get hurt because of someone else’s negligence. However, personal injury cases arise for a variety of reasons and in many different contexts. If you were injured as a result of another party’s careless or harmful behavior, an experienced  personal injury attorney in Chesapeake, Virginia can discuss your options for seeking financial compensation. Contact Breit Law PC to learn more about how we can assist you.

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