Personal Injury Law:
Claims, Settlements & Your Rights.

What Is Personal Injury Law?

Personal injury law (also called "tort law") allows a person who has been harmed by another's negligence or wrongful conduct to seek compensation from the responsible party. The foundation of most personal injury claims is negligence — proving that someone owed you a duty of care, breached that duty, and that the breach caused your injuries and losses.

Sources: RunSensible Legal Statistics 2025; SetCalc Settlement Data 2025; Insurance Research Council

The Four Elements of Negligence

To win a personal injury case, you must generally prove all four elements:

• Duty: The defendant owed you a legal duty of care (e.g., all drivers owe a duty of reasonable care to others on the road)
• Breach: The defendant violated that duty (ran a red light, failed to fix a hazard, etc.)
• Causation: The breach directly caused your injuries — both "but-for" causation and proximate causation must be established
• Damages: You suffered actual, quantifiable harm as a result

Most Common Types of Personal Injury Claims

• Motor vehicle accidents (52%): Car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle accidents — the single largest category of personal injury claims
• Premises liability (17%): Slip and fall, trip and fall, inadequate security, swimming pool accidents, dog bites — injuries on someone else's property
• Medical malpractice (15%): Surgical errors, misdiagnosis, medication errors, birth injuries — claims against healthcare providers
• Product liability (5%): Defective vehicles, appliances, medications, or consumer products that cause injury
• Workplace injuries: Construction accidents, industrial injuries — may involve both workers' comp and a third-party personal injury claim
• Wrongful death: When a personal injury results in death — the estate and/or family members may bring a wrongful death claim

What Damages Can You Recover?

Economic damages (quantifiable losses)

• Medical bills — past and future (hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, prescriptions)
• Lost wages — time missed from work due to injury
• Loss of future earning capacity — if the injury affects your ability to work long-term
• Property damage — vehicle repair or replacement, damaged personal property
• Out-of-pocket costs — transportation to medical appointments, home modifications, in-home care

Non-economic damages (subjective losses)

• Pain and suffering — physical pain experienced as a result of the injury
• Emotional distress — anxiety, depression, PTSD following the incident
• Loss of enjoyment of life — inability to participate in activities you previously enjoyed
• Loss of consortium — impact on your relationship with your spouse or partner
• Disfigurement and permanent disability

Punitive damages

Available in cases of egregious, malicious, or reckless conduct — drunk driving causing injury, knowingly selling a defective product, etc. Available in most states but capped in many (e.g., California caps punitives in some cases; Texas caps punitives at 2× economic + $750,000).

Average Settlement Amounts by Injury Type (2025–2026)

• Whiplash / soft tissue: $10,000–$25,000 (average: $18,950)
• Broken bones / fractures: $20,000–$100,000
• Herniated disc: $50,000–$200,000 depending on severity
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI): Average $850,000; severe cases $1M–$5M+
• Spinal cord injury: Average $1.2 million; paraplegia/quadriplegia $3M–$10M+
• Wrongful death: Average $500,000–$2 million depending on state and circumstances
• Burns (severe): $200,000–$1M+ depending on extent and permanence

Sources: SetCalc Settlement Statistics 2025; TrustAnalytica Settlement Survey 2025; Insurance Research Council

Statute of Limitations by State

Do not wait. Missing the statute of limitations permanently bars your claim:

• California: 2 years (6 months for claims against government entities)
• New York: 3 years (90 days notice of claim for government)
• Texas: 2 years (6 months for government)
• Florida: 2 years (reduced from 4 years by HB 837, effective March 2023)
• Illinois: 2 years (1 year for government)
• Pennsylvania: 2 years
• New Jersey: 2 years
• Washington: 3 years

Comparative vs. Contributory Negligence

If you are partially at fault for the accident, the amount you can recover depends on your state's fault rules:

• Pure comparative negligence (CA, NY, WA, FL): You can recover even if 99% at fault — your award is reduced by your percentage of fault
• Modified comparative negligence — 50% bar (CO, GA, SC): You can recover if you are less than 50% at fault
• Modified comparative negligence — 51% bar (TX, IL, PA, most states): You can recover if you are 50% or less at fault; 51%+ bars recovery
• Contributory negligence (MD, VA, NC, DC, AL): Even 1% fault bars recovery entirely — very plaintiff-unfavorable

How Personal Injury Attorneys Charge

• Contingency fee: Standard is 33% pre-trial, 40% at trial — you pay nothing unless you win
• Case expenses: Filing fees, medical record fees, expert witnesses — typically advanced by the attorney and deducted from the final recovery
• No win, no fee: If you lose, you owe no attorney's fees (clarify cost reimbursement policy before signing)
• Free initial consultation: Standard practice for all personal injury attorneys