Other Personal Injury Practice Areas
Learn What All "Personal Injury" Cases Have In Common & Then Learn About Your Specific Case...
Almost all personal injury cases are based on the tort
called negligence. A tort, as defined by Georgia
statute, is "the unlawful violation of a private legal right other than a mere breach
of contract, express or implied" and "may also be
the violation of a public duty if, as a result of the violation, some
special damage accrues to the individual." In other
words, someone did something wrong and hurt someone.
Interestingly, almost all personal injury cases must prove the above things. So no matter if your case is a medical malpractice case, a car accident, or a slip-and-fall, you must prove the negligence elements by a preponderance of the evidence.
Most personal injury attorneys list somewhere between 4-12 "practice areas." A practice area is simply a type of case an attorney likes to handle. You should be very cautious if you are thinking about an attorney who lists practice areas besides personal injury type cases. For example, you often see attorneys advertise criminal and family law (i.e. divorce) along with personal injury. I can tell you from experience that any attorney who does not practice just personal injury and nothing else is usually not as good as an attorney who does just personal injury law. If an attorney is handling both civil and criminal cases, then he/she must know two completely different sets of Rules of Civil Procedure. These are the procedural rules attorneys must follow for a type of case, complete with deadlines and requirements. This is like asking a doctor to do both brain surgery and heart surgery.
So now you should just be looking at attorneys who list only types of personal injuries. All personal injuries are generally based on the same underlying theory of negligence, above. What those other attorneys are really trying to tell you is they know how to handle very specific types of accidents and injuries. The law provides different duties depending on the circumstances. For example, a driver has the duty to maintain a proper lookout, while a shopkeeper has the duty to inspect his/her floors for slippery conditions. A doctor must operate with a reasonable standard of care for his/her profession. The last example brings up an interesting point, who says what the "reasonable standard" is? Experts do. Depending on your type of case, your attorney will hire an expert to review the facts, tell a jury what the standard of care is, and give an opinion on whether the other person failed in that duty. For example, a tire expert may say a car rental company has a duty to make sure all of its tires have at least 2/32" tread on them to be safe and will then measure the tire's treads to see if they failed in their duty.
I stand by my focused practice, my organizational skills, and my strategic abilities to tell you I can help you if you have been injured by another. As I stated above, I think most people use practice areas to try to show you they know how to investigate and work-up certain kinds of cases. My practice allows me the time and attention to work up every case with diligence. Every attorney is required at some point in a case to go off and learn more about a particular subject. That is why medical malpractice attorneys (should) know as much medicine as the doctors, because they learned it during a case.
If I can't handle your case or if you feel I cannot handle your case, I will refer you to an attorney I respect so you may interview that attorney in my place.
For your to win your negligence case, you must prove:
- Duty - the other party owed you a duty of care;
- Breach of Duty - the other party either failed to act or acted in a wrong way such that the other party failed to meet its duty to you
- Damages - the other party's wrong caused you harm; and
- Proximate Cause - the other party's wrong caused your injuries and your injuries were not caused by somebody or something else
Interestingly, almost all personal injury cases must prove the above things. So no matter if your case is a medical malpractice case, a car accident, or a slip-and-fall, you must prove the negligence elements by a preponderance of the evidence.
Most personal injury attorneys list somewhere between 4-12 "practice areas." A practice area is simply a type of case an attorney likes to handle. You should be very cautious if you are thinking about an attorney who lists practice areas besides personal injury type cases. For example, you often see attorneys advertise criminal and family law (i.e. divorce) along with personal injury. I can tell you from experience that any attorney who does not practice just personal injury and nothing else is usually not as good as an attorney who does just personal injury law. If an attorney is handling both civil and criminal cases, then he/she must know two completely different sets of Rules of Civil Procedure. These are the procedural rules attorneys must follow for a type of case, complete with deadlines and requirements. This is like asking a doctor to do both brain surgery and heart surgery.
So now you should just be looking at attorneys who list only types of personal injuries. All personal injuries are generally based on the same underlying theory of negligence, above. What those other attorneys are really trying to tell you is they know how to handle very specific types of accidents and injuries. The law provides different duties depending on the circumstances. For example, a driver has the duty to maintain a proper lookout, while a shopkeeper has the duty to inspect his/her floors for slippery conditions. A doctor must operate with a reasonable standard of care for his/her profession. The last example brings up an interesting point, who says what the "reasonable standard" is? Experts do. Depending on your type of case, your attorney will hire an expert to review the facts, tell a jury what the standard of care is, and give an opinion on whether the other person failed in that duty. For example, a tire expert may say a car rental company has a duty to make sure all of its tires have at least 2/32" tread on them to be safe and will then measure the tire's treads to see if they failed in their duty.
I stand by my focused practice, my organizational skills, and my strategic abilities to tell you I can help you if you have been injured by another. As I stated above, I think most people use practice areas to try to show you they know how to investigate and work-up certain kinds of cases. My practice allows me the time and attention to work up every case with diligence. Every attorney is required at some point in a case to go off and learn more about a particular subject. That is why medical malpractice attorneys (should) know as much medicine as the doctors, because they learned it during a case.
If I can't handle your case or if you feel I cannot handle your case, I will refer you to an attorney I respect so you may interview that attorney in my place.
