Personal Injury Types in Oklahoma Injury Law

Personal Injury Lawyers serving Oklahoma City, Edmond and cities throughout Oklahoma

Personal Injury Type by Cause

Most often when people are thinking about a type of personal injury lawsuit, they are thinking about what type of accident caused the personal injury. This will divide personal injury lawsuits into categories like:

• Car accidents
• Truck accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Boat accidents
• Train accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Nursing home abuse
• Trip/slip and fall

In each of these cases, the injury is caused by the event named in the case. When selecting a personal injury lawyer, it's important to ask the lawyer about his or her experience handling cases of these types because there are many legal issues associated with establishing negligence and appropriate damages in each of these types of cases. An inexperienced lawyer may not ask for enough damages, or may ask for too much, which can lead to a prolonged fight when you might best be served by a quick settlement.

Personal Injury Lawsuits by Type of Injury

Sometimes, personal injury lawsuits are classified by the type of injury suffered. This leads to personal injury lawsuit types such as:

• Traumatic brain injury
• Spinal cord injury
• Amputation injury
• Burn injury

Again, it's important to talk to your lawyer about his or her experience handling cases of injury of the type you suffered. Evidence requirements and damages in a traumatic brain injury lawsuit are very different from those in a burn injury lawsuit.

Personal Injury: Negligence vs. Strict Liability Cases

Most personal injury lawsuits involve an accusation of negligence. That is, a person's specific action or inaction led to another person's injury. Sometimes, however, a personal injury lawsuit involves an assertion of strict liability. In strict liability, it is asserted that one person or entity had a responsibility to ensure no harm of a particular type occurred. There is no need to point to a specific act or failure to act: the existence of the injury is enough. The most common types of personal injury lawsuits that involve strict liability are:

• Defective product liability lawsuits
• Dog bites/attacks

In defective product lawsuits, strict liability is based on the assertion that manufacturers have a duty to ensure that the products they make are safe for use, and if they are not, they should compensate injury victims. In dog bite lawsuits, most states, including Oklahoma, hold a dog owner strictly liable for attacks by their dog. There are some exceptions for attacks against a trespasser and attacks after a dog is provoked, but in general the dog owner is always responsible for these attacks.

When choosing a lawyer, ask whether strict liability or negligence is a factor in your case, and then ask them about their experience in handling cases of that type.

If you have suffered any type of personal injury and want to seek damages, you need the help of an experienced lawyer. Please contact Self & Associates in Oklahoma City to talk to our lawyers about their qualifications.