Under the law, an injury is any damage that results from a violation of any legal right that leads to a legal action. Personal injury is the phrase applied to separate physical, emotional and or psychological damage to an individual from the damage inflicted on property. If you are, for example, in a vehicular accident in Urbana, IL, you may receive personal injury and property damage. To recover compensation for either, you may seek help from a firm of personal injury lawyers.
Damages and the Law in Illinois
If you suffer from injuries because of someone else’s negligence, you may be able, under Illinois law, to recover damages. These can take the form of two specific types. Under tort law, you can claim special and/or general damages. Special damages are those damages that are quantifiable or tangible. General damages are those that are intangible and not easy to measure.
What Do Special Damages Cover?
As noted above, special damages are those that are readily quantifiable. You can measure them. You can translate them easily into a money value. Personal injury lawyers can easily itemize special damages and translate them into financial terms a court and/or insurance company can effortlessly understand. Examples of special damages are:
- Past, present and future lost wages or earnings
Items lost - Any expense related to the repair or replacement of damaged property
- Expenses arising from the victim’s attempts to lessen their own liability
- Expenses associated with the injury associated medical expenses. This includes, but is not limited to, medication costs, hospital bills, therapy
- Any additional costs for domestic work or caretaking
What Do General Damages Cover?
Unlike special damages, it is not easy for personal injury lawyers to quantify general damages. If you were hurt in Urbana, the result may cause emotional pain and suffering. These are not easy to calculate in monetary terms. The same applies if the incident causes you to lose your reputation or your spouse or companion leaves you because of your personal injury.
Seek the Help of Personal Injury Lawyers
If you suffer from a personal injury accident in Urbana, any damages you seek in a personal injury claim are awarded with one purpose – of making the victim whole again. Under Illinois law, you can seek both general and special damages. In order to be successful in such a case, make certain you seek the help of specialists in this area. Only personal injury lawyers such as those at Woodruff Johnson & Palermo, really know how to take this type of case and lead it to a positive resolution.