Jacobs and Jacobs Personal Injury Law Lawyer
Jacobs and Jacobs Your trusted personal injury law firm. With experienced lawyers dedicated to your case, fight for the justice and compensation you deserve.
Website: https://www.jacobsandjacobs.net
Location: 400 Union Ave SE #200, Olympia, WA 98501
Mail: jacyunion@proton.me
Contact No.: (360) 583-8030
When we hear the word "injury" we think of a physical wound: a broken arm, a concussion, or something else that could send a person to the doctor. The legal definition of injury includes this kind of physical condition, but also includes many other types of harm. In fact, "injury" is a comprehensive legal term that means any kind of harm done to a person. This is because the law views an individual as more than just a body-they are a human being with rights and dignity. Any injury to their personhood is a serious loss, just as physical injuries are.
A legal injury may be:
Damage to someone's reputation
Destruction, damage, or devaluing of their property (or having it stolen)
Violations of their rights
Harm to their health or body
Wrongful death
A combination of any of these
In many cases, the person who caused the injury is considered liable for the harm or loss that they caused. This is true if:
The person caused the injury through negligence (such as distracted driving)
The person caused the injury intentionally (such as robbing someone)
By violating a contract or legal duty (such as not paying a business partner their agreed-upon share of profits)
In these cases, the person who caused the harm-sometimes called the tortfeasor -will have to pay money known as "damages" to help replace what was lost and pay for the full cost of the injury.
Are there times when the person who causes an injury is not legally liable?
Yes. For example, if you fought off a mugger and hurt them in the process, you are not liable because you had a legal right to self-defense. Even if they tried to sue you for their injuries, their lawsuit would fail. Courts do not take these kinds of claims seriously.
However, what the courts see much more often is that the people who are injured really did have their rights violated-even if the other party refuses to admit it. We see this a lot in medical device claims. Imagine that you agreed to have a medical device put in your body but you weren't warned of a serious side effect. Later, when you start to suffer from the side effect, the company that made the device may try many arguments to avoid liability. They may point out that you knew the device was "risky" when you tried it, or that the device cured another condition of yours so it did more good than bad. But these arguments are just a smokescreen. The reality is, you weren't warned of that specific risk and you had a legal right to know all the risks before you agreed to the procedure. The company broke its duty to you and is liable for the injury they caused.
Explore Related Categories
