Personal Injury Attorney Serving The Phoenix Area
We offer our clients personal service that you would expect of a small, boutique law firm while having the resources, availability, and experience of a large law firm. Our offices across the Valley including our corporate office in Chandler and offices in Central Phoenix, West Valley, Northwest Valley, Tempe, Mesa, East Mesa, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and Casa Grande, provide our clients what we like to call Community Convenience.
Each of our Phoenix area locations is home to accident injury lawyers, giving us the ability to provide personalized service to our clients. We are able to serve our clients where they are located. When it is necessary, we have experienced litigators available to handle your case in the event it goes to court.
Our personal injury lawyers in Phoenix and across the Valley provide the care and communication you need to make sure you’re compensated for your personal injury including:
Some events that may lead you to file a personal injury claim:
- You are driving on the freeway and another driver crashes into your car while texting and driving. As a result, you are hospitalized for 2 weeks and need reconstructive surgery.
- While riding your bike around the neighborhood, someone is walking their dog without a leash. The dog sees you ride by and begins chasing you, causing you to crash your bike, and then bites you. You have to get stitches as a result of the crash as well as because of the bite.
- One night while grocery shopping, you slip and fall in a puddle of water inside the store, and break your arm. The puddle has been there for several hours and there was no “caution” sign warning you of the water.
The one thing these events all have in common: someone acted carelessly, and as a result, injured someone else. Sometimes the injuries inflicted may cause you to lose wages because you cannot work, and others may cause severe pain and suffering due to the nature of the event or the injury itself.
What Is Personal Injury Law?
Personal injury law is a category of civil law that allows those who have been injured physically, mentally, or emotionally by the reckless actions of others to file claims against the negligent party. When you file a personal injury claim, you are ultimately seeking legal remedy in the form of damages, or payment. This payment is awarded in order to make you whole again and cover any medical expenses, pain and suffering, and/or property damage you may have suffered as a result of the negligent party’s actions.
Personal injuries can take on many different shapes depending on how they occur and what act inflicted them.
What Damages Are You Eligible To Receive For Your Injury?
After suffering a personal injury you are legally entitled to file a claim to compensate you for the harm you have suffered as a result. These damages, or compensation, are meant to assist you in restoring your health to what it was previous to the accident. These are the main types of compensation:
Economic
Economic damages compensate you for explicit, easily-calculated costs, incurred by the injury inflicted upon you. These expenses may include:
- Medical bills, both past and future
- Lost wages, both past and future
- Household services
- Property damage
- Lost earning capacity
- And more
Non-Economic
Non-economic damages compensate you for subjective losses with no clear monetary value that you suffer as a result of the injury. These expenses may include:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of society
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Permanent disabilities and impairments
- And more
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are rare, and difficult to prove. According to Arizona law, punitive damages are only awarded if the defendant is found to have acted with an “evil mind”. That is, if they commit a particularly offensive or outrageous action that purposefully harms another. Punitive damages are meant to punish the wrong-doer and deter others from acting in the same manner.
Comparable Negligence in Phoenix, Arizona
Arizona law dictates that we follow the doctrine of comparative negligence. This means that even if you are found to be partially at fault for the accident you may still recover compensation. The law states that the victim may be up to 99% at fault and still recover compensation.
Arizona Statute Of Limitations
The statute of limitations refers to how long you have after suffering a personal injury to file a claim against the wrong-doer. In Arizona, the statute of limitations is generally two years from the date of the accident. However, there are some exceptions to this rule depending on the incident, the injury, the victim, and the offender.
The two most common exceptions are:
Injuries to Minors (under 18)
If the victim was under 18 at the time of the injury, or found to be of “unsound mind” then the timer on the two-year statute of limitations will not begin running until the injured victim is 18 years old, or until they return to proper mental soundness.
Claims Against Public Entities
It is important to note that a statute of limitations applies to all personal injury cases and filing a claim is a lengthy process full of paperwork and deadlines. The process can be confusing to do alone, especially with little to no legal background.
Don’t go at it alone, contact a Phoenix car accident lawyer at Hastings & Hastings promptly at (480) 706-1100 for a FREE CONSULTATION.
