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calendar    Mar 18, 2019

What is Personal Injury?

Have you had an injury at work? Has a friend been a victim of medical negligence? Have your parents had issues with financial advice? Have you considered that if you have found yourself in a situation like this, you have a claim for personal injury?

Have you had an injury at work? Has a friend been a victim of medical negligence? Have your parents had issues with financial advice? Have you considered that if you have found yourself in a situation like this, you have a claim for personal injury?

Personal injury covers all injury of the body or mind, as opposed to property. This area of law provides compensation for people who have been injured wrongfully. If the victim wins their case, they receive ‘damages’ which is financial compensation for their injury in a lump sum. Damages assist the victim in getting to the position they would be in if the incident did not happen. The damages can also act as a deterrent for the wrongdoer, that they would avoid incidents in the future.

Personal injury covers both intentional and unintentional harm.

A claim can be made if there has been an intentional interference with the person to inflict harm such as bullying, family violence or child abuse. If someone has ever directly made a threat to injure you, this is known as assault and if they follow through and act on the threat, it is known as battery. Other kinds of harm include sexual, workplace and other harassment, invasions of privacy, and infliction of mental distress. For example, if someone in the workplace, whether it is a manager, co-worker or a director, subjects an employee to repeated unreasonable behaviour such a physical assaults or threat, verbal abuse and name calling, you may have a claim against them. A person can seek civil compensation for the wrong and gain some kind of vindication.

A claim can also be made for an unintentional incident, known as negligence, and is the most common type of personal injury lawsuits. Negligence is seen as the failure to take reasonable care. This type of personal injury requires: the defendant to owe the plaintiff a duty of care; the duty must have been breached; and the breach must have caused damage to the plaintiff. For example, if someone slips and falls resulting in injury, the person may have a claim, as the owner of the premises has a duty to maintain the premises and minimise risk of injuries. Every driver on the road has a duty of care for other motorists and to avoid injuring other drivers and pedestrians. If a motorist accidentally collides with someone on the road, they could be found negligent. Negligence can extend to anything from relying on bad advice from a professional, being misdiagnosed or given failed treatment by a doctor or a breach by a public authority such as the council or government for not maintaining roads or footpaths.

Personal injury cases can be complex. Typically, the person or institution responsible for the injury is held directly liable. However, it is not always the case. For example, if a teacher has assaulted a student, that student can litigate against the school for a breach of duty of care on the basis that the school be held vicariously liable for the teacher’s conduct. The purpose of holding the school responsible for the conduct of the teacher who assaulted the student is to ensure that the school has the right protocols and safety checks in place to ensure that a student can not be assaulted in the first place.

If you have further questions please contact us at frank@franklaw.com.au.

This is not legal advice. 

frank law-16

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