Personal Injury

A personal injury is the legal term used to describe an accident or injury that occurs as a result of someone else’s negligence.

Personal injuries concern physical damage to an individual’s health, as opposed to their property or their reputation.

For a personal injury claim to be brought against someone, not only must you prove that their actions constituted negligence – you must also show that their negligence directly caused or exacerbated your accident or injury.

If, for example, it is proven that your own actions were ultimately the primary cause of your injury, it may be difficult to attach blame and legal responsibility to another party.

Our specialist personal injury solicitors have experience of dealing with legal proceedings involving all kinds of accidents and can guide you on whether or not your case is likely to qualify as a viable personal injury claim.

In all cases that involve negligence, there are two things you are fundamentally required to prove:

With a personal injury case, these facts can often be relatively easy to establish.

If, for example, you suffer a road traffic accident as a result of another party driving recklessly, it can be shown that the individual owed a duty of care to other drivers, passengers and pedestrians on the road.

If their driving was the result of your accident, you can then show that their breach of care contributed directly to your injury, and you may have the basis for a compensation claim.

There is no definitive list of personal injuries that can be exhausted by specific accidents, but there are personal injury cases that arise more frequently than others.

Some examples of personal injury claims include:

A road traffic accident can involve a driver, passenger or pedestrian – if you suffer an injury on the road as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may have the basis for a claim.

Road traffic accidents represent the most common type of personal injury claim, covering a wide scope of incidents that can cause major damage to a victim’s health.

Some road traffic accidents that tend to occur include:

Negligence at work can be attributed to fellow employees as well as employers. If your accident happened at work and it was not your fault, you may be able to claim compensation.

Some common types of workplace accident claims are:

Owners of buildings and properties that house public spaces bear a responsibility to members of the public known as premises liability or occupiers’ liability.

If a personal injury occurs in a government building, a business or any type of public property, the owner may be held responsible and a personal injury claim may be filed.

Examples of accidents that can occur in public spaces include:

Exposure to asbestos can have a hugely negative impact on your health – diseases associated with asbestos inhalation include lung cancer, asbestosis, mesothelioma and scarring of the lung lining.

Asbestos can become relevant to personal injury claims when, for example, an employee is exposed to the mineral fibres and falls ill as a result.

Fatal injuries are a hugely delicate area of the law. Naturally, the emotional distress involved in a fatal injury makes legal proceedings very difficult, but sometimes there is a need for recourse following a death and you may want to seek the help of personal injury solicitors.

Many of the accidents already mentioned could hold the potential for a fatal injury, and a loved one may want to seek compensation for a death that was caused by another party’s negligence.

Fatal injuries claims can revolve around the psychological distress of losing a loved one as well as a loss of dependency in cases where an individual may have been financially dependent on the deceased party.

These legal cases can be initiated by dependents of the deceased, i.e. family members.

With brain injury claims, it is likely that the person who suffered the personal injury will not be capable of initiating a legal case due to the physical damage they have endured.

Given these circumstances, a personal representative, usually a family member or loved one, may need to be appointed in order to bring a claim forward.

Brain injuries that occur due to negligence can command high compensation fees given the severity of the injury and the impact it can have on a victim’s standard of living.

Spinal injuries can result from all manner of personal injuries and, depending on the severity of the damage, they can have a huge impact on a victim’s day to day life.

A road traffic accident can often be the root cause of a spinal injury and a claim may be required if the injury was suffered due to another party’s reckless driving.

If a child suffers a personal injury as a result of another party’s negligence, they cannot file a claim themselves until their eighteenth birthday.

Should they wish, a minor can wait until that date and, upon turning eighteen, their two-year time window in which they may file a legal claim for compensation will begin.

Alternatively, a parent or legal guardian can bring forward a personal injury claim immediately on behalf of the minor.

This is more common as, the more time that passes after an accident, the harder it become to gather the evidence needed to attach blame to the negligent party.

The vast majority of personal injury claims are settled outside of court and do not end up going to trial.

Usually, the PIAB will offer their independent legal advice and recommend a compensatory fee for the victim of the personal injury.

If you are unhappy with the settlement that is being offered, you can take the case to court and let a judge rule on the amount of compensation that is owed.

If the party that bears responsibility for your accident is keen to settle outside of court, you may also attend a meeting with them alongside your solicitor to negotiate a compensation fee.

Ultimately, it is rare for a personal injury case to end up in the courts, but our legal team at Hughes & Associates Solicitors will prepare your case diligently with court proceedings in mind.

The initial role of personal injury solicitors is to assess the merits of your case and decide whether or not there is a basis for a legal claim.

Once they have decided that a duty of care was owed to you and that, in breaching that responsibility, the negligent party caused or impacted the extent of your personal injury, they can inform you of your options moving forward.

It can be very difficult to establish blame by yourself – the criteria involved require an extensive knowledge of Irish law and personal injury litigation, and an experienced personal injury solicitor can be useful in explaining that process to you.

They can also assist you by gathering evidence that supports your case – again, can be helpful to have personal injury specialists who understand what type of evidence will best aid your claim.

Ultimately, they will have a good idea of whether or not you have the basis for a successful claim and, if you make the decision to pursue legal action, they can liaise with the other side and submit your case to the Public Injuries Assessment Board.

Down the line, personal injury solicitors will also have the experience to secure the correct amount of compensation you should receive from a successful claim.