Kingman is at the intersection of I 40 with east/west traffic from all across the U.S. plus north/south traffic from all of Arizona to Las Vegas and points north. This amounts to a lot more traffic and with that the pattern of many more auto and truck collisions than is normal for a city like Kingman with a population of more than 33,000 that is growing fast.
Sometimes accidents just happen, and it’s no one’s fault. However, sometimes accidents happen, and there is someone to blame, but personal injury cases are more complicated than just pointing fingers. After a car accident or a slip-and-fall accident, the question becomes which driver is at-fault? However, because Arizona state operates under the comparative negligence theory, which states that an injured party who was partially at fault for the accident can still recover compensation, establishing liability can become challenging. Most aspects of personal injury cases are a lot more complicated than they first appear—this is why injured victims benefit significantly from contacting a personal injury lawyer after the incident that injured them as soon as possible.
A Kingman specialist personal injury lawyer understands the complexities of Arizona personal injury law and can put their expertise, resources, and time towards making sure you have a strong claim to achieve the best possible outcome. Chris Jensen once had a law office in Kingman. Jensen Phelan Law Firm has had many Kingman cases and our lawyers travel to Kingman often. Please call us for a free case evaluation.
Simply being hurt in an accident is not enough to have legal grounds to pursue a personal injury claim. To understand the validity of your case, consult a personal injury attorney who can assess the circumstance of your injury and help you determine whether you have grounds for a personal injury claim. Issues such as to who is at fault and how much, application of laws, available proof of the facts, insurance issues, lien claims that can reduce your recovery and jury appeal all factor into our evaluation of you case’s value – which we will share with you for free.
To understand the validity and learn the value of your injury or wrongful death claim, case, consult an experienced and proven personal injury attorney who can assess the circumstance of your injury and help you determine whether you have grounds for a personal injury claim. While a Kingman personal injury lawyer will have a better idea of whether you have a valid case, you can still have a general understanding that helps you better understand your legal options.
Having a personal injury case means that the accident or incident that caused your injury resulted from negligence. Negligence refers to a party’s careless, reckless, or even malicious actions (or inactions) that contributed to or directly caused of someone else suffering physical, emotional, or financial harm. To build a case on the theory of negligence, the circumstance of your accident must meet the following four elements.
The first and fundamental element of a personal injury case is the legal concept of duty of care. Duty of care is the legal theory that nearly everyone owes others a certain duty of reasonable care to prevent harming them. In practice, this means that the party who you file the claim against (the defendant) had a legal obligation to act the way a reasonable person would in the situation to avoid causing you harm.
For instance, every driver, pedestrian, motorcyclist, and anyone else who may be on the road owe one another a duty of reasonable care. Other common examples of individuals or entities that owe a duty of care (to avoid negligence causing harm) include:
Duty of care is vital to personal injury claims. Without it, there is generally no legal relationship that can be used to hold the defendant liable for the claimant’s injury or death.
Once a duty of care is established, a legal relationship ties both parties together. The defendant owed the claimant a duty of care. Therefore, they can be held liable for a breach of duty. Breach of duty is the defendant’s failure to exercise reasonable care to ensure your safety. This breach of duty is where negligence takes place. Negligence might involve reckless, careless, or malicious behavior that differs from how a reasonable person would have acted under similar circumstances. Common examples of negligence are:
Proving that the defendant breached their duty of care or even just establishing that a duty of care is owed can require extensive and time-consuming investigation. You cannot get the evidence you need in a large damages case without subpoena power, etc. Partnering with a skilled and determined, Kingman personal injury attorney is the best ways to ensure that you have everything you need to obtain the evidence necessary to build a strong case and establish a clear duty of care and breach of that duty
The third element in building a personal injury case is the idea of causation. Causation refers to the link between the negligent action or breach of duty and the claimant’s injury or subsequent harm. Under causation, the defendant’s actions don’t necessarily have to be the direct or only cause of the incident which caused you harm, but they do need to have contributed.
In practice, this means that your injuries would not have occurred had the defendant behaved differently. Looking at a car accident, once again, what causation refers to is that you would not have been injured had the other driver not been drunk, speeding, or otherwise breaching their duty of care.
The final element of a personal injury is damages. Damages can refer to the physical, emotional, or financial harm you’ve suffered and to the monetary compensation you may be able to receive because of your injury. To prove that you’re entitled to damages means fathering evidence that details the financial losses you’ve incurred because of the harm you sustained during the accident. In a personal injury case, you may be eligible for the following damages:
Some of these damages are quantifiable and easily calculated with the collection of receipts and bills. However, others such as pain and suffering are inherently more difficult to calculate because they are subjective and malleable. Determining the accurate value of damages is critical to a successful claim. Knowing the accurate value helps ensure that you or your Kingman personal injury attorney can fight to recover maximum compensation and not accept any settlements that offer less than what you are owed.
At Jensen Phelan Law Firm, our specialist personal injury attorneys have years of experience helping injured accident victims obtain the compensation they deserve. We understand what it takes to build a strong personal injury case that can result in the most favorable outcomes. Choosing your lawyer plays a key role in the success of your claim, and our goal is to ensure you feel confident in your choice. We work tirelessly to protect your right to compensation, obtain maximum compensation on your behalf, and ensure you feel supported throughout the process.
For a free evaluation and assessment of your case and explanation of your rights, contact us today by filling out our contact form or calling (928) 778-2660.