Personal injury law covers a wide range of situations. Often the first thing people think about is a slip, trip or fall or perhaps a car accident. These are the most common types of personal injury, but there are lots of others too.
Let’s take a look at some of the different categories of personal injury.
1 – Accidents
As already noted, the most common examples of personal injury are usually accidents. This includes car accidents and slip, trip, and fall injuries. The latter will often fall under the heading of premises liability as the slip or fall usually occurs on someone else’s property, thus leaving the property owner responsible for personal injury and other losses that may be suffered.
2 – Dog Bites
People often dismiss dog bites as something different, but legally if you are bitten or otherwise injured by another person’s dog, then it does fall under personal injury. The dog bite statute in Tennessee is a little more complicated than in some other states as it includes a mixture of strict liability and ‘one-bite liability.’ Strict liability finds the dog owner liable for injuries if the victim was in a public place or lawfully in a private home. However, the so-called ‘one-bite’ law applies if the incident occurs in private residences or non-commercial property owned or rented by the dog owner. Under these circumstances, the injured party needs to prove that the owner should have known the dog would act aggressively.
3 – Defective Products
Manufacturing defects, unsafe designs, and inadequate warnings can lead to a personal injury involving defective products of all types. Consumers do not expect to be injured by a consumer product, so if they are, then the manufacturer would be held accountable for the injuries. This category could also include medical devices and prescription drugs.
4 – Environmental & Toxic Torts
In some cases, a personal injury or illness could be caused by environmental factors such as the presence of a harmful substance or contamination of water supplies. These are known as environmental & toxic tort claims. You have probably heard about asbestos-mesothelioma lawsuits, which are likely the best-known example of this type of personal injury lawsuit.
5 – Intentional Acts
Personal injury is most often associated with accidental injury, but in some cases, it can be as a result of intentional acts. If someone deliberately sets out to cause harm to someone else then their actions are considered intentional acts. Some examples of intentional acts include acts of vandalism, domestic violence, elder abuse, police brutality and even non-violent types of harm like fraud.
The categories above are by no means an exhaustive list of the various types of personal injury, but they are among some of the more well-known areas. There are other types, including sporting and recreational related injuries and even more complex situations such as legal liability in suicides.
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Butler, Vines and Babb is a leading law firm in Knoxville, TN, with extensive litigation experience in Medical Malpractice Law, Birth Injury Law, Trucking Accident Law, Personal Injury Law, and Business Law. Contact us today at www.bvblaw.com or call 865-637-3531.
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