South Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers
Personal injuries can occur in a variety of situations that allow victims to pursue legal options for recovery. If you slipped and fell on someone else’s property, got into a car accident with a reckless driver, got hurt while on the job, or were injured in any other sort of accident because of the actions of someone else, you may be able to seek justice through a personal injury lawsuit.
To win your lawsuit, you will likely have to prove the four elements of negligence: duty, breach of duty, causation, and injury. The consequences of your injury will be assessed to determine damages, which is how you get the compensation that you deserve. However, you will not be able to attain this compensation if you fail to file within the three-year statute of limitations.
For a free case review, contact our personal injury attorneys at Burriss & Ridgeway at (803) 855-1040.
Common Types of Injuries Suffered in South Carolina
Personal injury cases come in many types, but a few kinds are responsible for the most common injuries sustained in South Carolina. Car accident injuries arguably make up the bulk of personal injury cases, but injuries can be suffered in the workplace, on another person’s property, or involve the death of the victim. Our personal injury attorneys can help you get justice for your injuries no matter the accident they were caused in.
Car Accident Injuries
Car accidents are one of the most common causes of injuries in South Carolina. Car accident injuries come in countless forms, ranging from whiplash and soft tissue injuries to more severe injuries, like paralysis and even death. The severity of your injuries will depend on several factors, including the speed you were traveling and the type of vehicles involved.
Workplace Injuries
Workplace injuries can occur virtually anywhere, including construction sites, manufacturing plants, warehouses, and office buildings. Many workplace injuries are caused by slips or trips, falls from heights, dangerous equipment, defective products or tools, and exposure to hazardous materials. Some of these injuries happen instantly, but others can take years to develop. If your employer, coworker, or third party on the job site caused your injuries, you deserve to be compensated.
Slip and Fall Accident Injuries
Slip and fall injuries can be caused by many factors, including poor lighting, poorly maintained surfaces, lack of adequate drainage systems, and icy conditions. Tenants and landlords can also be held liable for injuries caused by poor ventilation, slippery substances like spilled food or oil on floors, and a lack of warning signs around unsafe areas. While slip and fall accidents are mistakenly seen as “no big deal,” they can cause serious injuries. Many slip and fall victims suffer severe ligament and muscle injuries, which can require multiple surgeries to repair.
Wrongful Death
In the worst personal injury cases, a loved one is taken from us wrongfully by another person’s negligent or willful acts. While nothing can replace the person lost, victims can recover compensation for the wrongful death of a family member. These cases are often complex and emotionally charged. Our personal injury attorneys can provide legal advice and support if you need to file a wrongful death claim to recover damages.
What to Do Immediately Following an Accident in South Carolina
To improve your chances of recovering compensation later, you can take several steps that will help gather evidence and start your case off strong, even before speaking with our personal injury lawyers. By taking the steps listed below, you will be well on your way to recovering compensation quickly.
Seek Medical Attention
The first and vital step is to get medical care immediately. Even if you consider your injuries minor or feel fine, if another person caused your injuries, you should get medical treatment as soon as possible. This is best for your health, as a medical exam could turn up injuries that you were not aware of.
In a legal sense, the record of your case starts with medical treatment. Records will be made of the treatment you received, the likely cause of your injuries, and prescriptions for future treatment. Our personal injury attorneys will use those records to prove your damages later in your lawsuit.
Document Evidence
While on the scene of your accident, and if your injuries permit, document as much evidence as you are able. This can easily be done with your smartphone. Take photos and videos of any physical evidence you notice, like damage to a vehicle, a spill on the ground, and anything else you might think will be useful in your case. Also, document your injuries, as this will preserve how they appeared just after your accident.
Consult with a South Carolina Personal Injury Lawyer
After you have seen to your health, speak with our personal injury attorneys. We can take the photos and videos you captured and use them to begin building your case. We will also gather medical records and other documentation necessary to prove each element of your case. Our team will negotiate with the insurance companies involved and fight your case at trial if a fair settlement offer cannot be reached. Our personal injury attorneys will handle every aspect of your claim while you recover from your injuries.
Elements of a Negligence Claim in South Carolina
Most personal injury lawsuits operate under a legal theory of negligence. Negligence is when one party fails to behave reasonably, resulting in harm to someone to whom the at-fault party owes a duty of care. You will need to prove the four critical elements of negligence, which are as follows: duty of care, breach of that duty, causation, and compensable injury.
Duty of Care
In any negligence claim, the defendant (or the responsible party getting sued) must have owed the plaintiff (the injury victim who filed the lawsuit) some kind of legal obligation to prevent foreseeable harm. This duty is created based on the defendant’s relationship with the plaintiff, such as a doctor-patient or teacher-student relationship. Restaurant owners have duties to customers, and drivers have duties to others on the road.
Breach of Duty
If you can establish the existence of a duty, you must also show that the defendant breached that same duty under the circumstances by failing to meet the standard of care. The standard of care is defined in most situations by industry standards or what a reasonable person in the defendant’s shoes would have done under the circumstances.
Causation
It is not enough to show that the defendant breached their duty. You must also prove that the defendant’s breach was the cause of your injuries. Always seek medical care immediately after your injury to make the line between breach and cause as direct as possible.
Injury
The goal of a personal injury case is to win compensation for the harms that the victim suffered. The compensation is based directly on the injuries sustained and their consequences. Your injuries must be compensable in order to recover. You can use your medical records to attest to the severity of your injuries and their prognosis.
Calculating Damages for a Personal Injury Lawsuit in South Carolina
There is no way to predict what a case is worth without taking into account the victim’s background, the effects of their injuries, and the nature of the accident that caused them. Each of these factors and others will go into a court’s awarding of damages. The best way to get a proper estimate of what your personal injury lawsuit may be worth in South Carolina is to speak with an attorney about the specifics of your case. If successful, you could receive compensation for both the economic and the non-economic consequences of your experience.
Economic Damages
Economic damages could include medical expenses, such as necessary surgeries, hospital stays, specialist appointments, emergency procedures, and physical rehabilitative services. They may also include lost income as a result of missed time at work if your injuries prevented you from meeting the requirements of your job.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify. These damages are based on the physical and emotional pain and suffering that you have and will likely experience as a result of your injuries or the requirements to treat them. If your injuries had a sizeable impact on your day-to-day functioning, personal relationships, or ability to engage in recreational activities as you had previously, your compensation package will account for these losses.
Punitive Damages
While rarely awarded in a South Carolina personal injury case, your injuries might demand a claim for punitive damages be made. Punitive damages are reserved for injuries caused by reckless or wanton behavior and are intended to punish the defendant. Thus, it is not considered compensatory, like the other types of damages that can be awarded. For instance, you will likely recover punitive damages if a drunk driver caused your injuries. Our personal injury attorneys can review your claim to determine if punitive damages can be sought.
South Carolina Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Lawsuits
Filing a personal injury lawsuit in South Carolina is a time-sensitive task. In order to get your day in court, you will need to formally file within three years of the date that the cause of action accrues. In most cases, the cause of action accrues on the date of the accident itself. If you fail to file your formal complaint with the appropriate state court clerk in the allotted three-year period, the defendant will file a motion to dismiss the case and the court will quickly grant it. For this reason, it is important that you act quickly.
There are certain exceptions to this rule, known as the “statute of limitations,” but you should not rely on these to delay the filing of your case. The only reason for delaying the filing of your claim is to get a better idea of what your injury prognosis will entail. Even then, it is never too early to get competent legal assistance to assess your situation and evaluate your options. You should speak to one of our diligent South Carolina personal injury lawyers as soon as possible to avoid missing the deadlines on your case.
Benefits of Hiring a South Carolina Personal Injury Lawyer
It is hard to overstate how valuable it is having our personal injury attorneys work on your behalf to recover compensation. Our firm has years of experience representing our clients in a wide variety of cases, fighting for their rights all the way through trial, if necessary. Let our personal injury attorneys bring that level of expertise to your case.
Extensive Legal Expertise
No matter how your injuries were caused or who was responsible, our personal injury attorneys can bring their years of legal knowledge to bear on the liable parties. From gathering relevant evidence to questioning witnesses, our team knows how to navigate each case based on its particular circumstances.
Fighting on Your Behalf
We are proud to aggressively represent South Carolina victims against insurance companies that typically have much more legal power than they do. Working with our personal injury attorneys helps level the playing field with large insurance companies and their defense attorneys. Our team will fight for the best settlement offer possible, taking the fight to the courtroom if an agreement cannot be reached.
Injured in South Carolina Due to Negligence? Call Burriss & Ridgeway Today
Call our personal injury attorneys at Burriss & Ridgeway at (803) 855-1040 today for a free case consultation.
