Serious personal injuries can be life-changing. Even less serious injuries can cause pain, discomfort and interruptions to your everyday life. If you’ve recently had an injury, you may have expensive medical bills. Or perhaps you’ve lost wages because you’ve had to take time off of work. If you were injured due to the fault of another, you deserve compensation to help you recover from pain and suffering and the expense of medical bills.
No matter your situation, The Cochran Firm Cleveland personal injury attorneys are here to help you get the compensation you need. Here we have provided information about personal injury claims, and how our personal injury lawyers in Cleveland, Ohio can support your case.
What Makes a Personal Injury Claim?
Accident and injury victims often have a difficult time deciding how to move forward in the wake of a serious personal injury. This is not surprising, considering how a debilitating injury can impact every facet of a person’s life. Fortunately, the law allows the victims of negligent personal injuries to seek compensation from the responsible party.
Requirements for an Ohio Personal Injury Claim
In order to make a successful personal injury claim, your case must be able to demonstrate these facts:
- Negligence or carelessness of the defendant.
- The defendant caused you actual harm due to their negligence.
- Proof of recoverable damages.
- The case must be filed within the time limit of two years from the accident, as established by the Ohio statute of limitations.
What is the Process for Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
1. Consult with a Cleveland Personal Injury Attorney
Because personal injury cases will vary greatly from case to case, filing a case is a highly detailed and technical process. Not every case can win, so as a plaintiff, your first step should be to meet with an experienced personal injury attorney in Cleveland, Ohio to determine whether or not you have a solid case. At the Cochran Firm Cleveland, we offer FREE legal consultations to help you evaluate your case.
2. Filing a Personal Injury Complaint
The next step after evaluating your case is to file a complaint in civil court. Should you choose to hire one of our attorneys, we will organize and file this document on your behalf. The document will outline the circumstances of your accident and injury.
Once the complaint is filed with the court, our attorneys will serve the complaint against the defendant. In layman’s terms, this means they will be notified that you’re filing a claim and it will be recorded. They will then have a chance to file a response in court and hire their own attorney. Insurance is also typically involved in the discussions at this stage.
3. Discovery Period
The discovery period typically lasts for several months. During this step, we will establish the facts of your case through investigations, depositions and communication with the other side. Our attorneys will handle any necessary communications with the other side to ensure your case has the best chance of succeeding.
Towards the end of this phase, the defendant may motion for the judge to reject the case. However, judges typically allow cases to proceed to court.
4. Trial and Verdict
Once your case has reached this phase, you will have several days of court proceedings before the verdict is determined. At this phase, you case will most likely be settled. Remember, there is no guarantee, but our attorneys are committed to aggressively defending your rights with the highest standards of conduct.
In the event that your case succeeds, the judge will determine what type of damages you will be awarded. Usually these damages will be either compensatory damages, economic damages, non-economic damages or punitive damages.
5. Post Trial
After a verdict is reached, you or the defendant may appeal the decision. Appeals will extend court proceedings for months and possibly years. Not every case will face an appeals period. If the defendant is a larger organization, you may face a lengthy appeals process. No matter what the result our profession attorneys will fight by your side to help you receive compensation.
Types of Personal Injury Cases in Cleveland
At The Cochran Firm Cleveland, our personal injury Cleveland lawyers have helped hundreds of innocent victims obtain the justice they deserve in many types of cases. To help you better understand our expertise, we have provided the following list of practice areas that our personal injury law attorneys are experienced in.https://www.youtube.com/embed/9cE06Hcg6uA?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&wmode=opaque
Burn Injuries
These are some of the most painful injuries you can experience. The recovery to a burn injury can be lengthy depending on the severity of the burn.
Third-degree burns are the most damaging, and usually require skin grafts in order to heal. Some second-degree burns take longer than three weeks to heal. Most burn injuries heal within two to three weeks without scarring. If the blister is bad, it may take the burn longer to heal.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Typically, these injuries occur when a victim suffers some type of head trauma. They can cause symptoms that range anywhere from a mild concussion to loss of motor function or cognition. Identifying and treating brain injuries can be expensive, and you deserve compensation if the injury was caused by the fault of another party.
Construction Site Accidents
When a worker gets injured or has sustained damages, as a result, to build, improve, clean, repair and tear down/demolish or even construct that takes place in a specific place or building. The accidents normally are all different and depend on the person and injury to know the time of how long a construction worker can be out due to a construction-related accident
Defective Product Injuries
There are 3 different types of product defects that can result in product liability cases. The defects are defined as manufacturing defects, design defects, and marketing defects.
Dog Bite Injuries
4.5 million dog bite injuries occur in the US. Most dog bites result in bleeding, bruising, pain or soreness and scarring. They need to be treated as soon as you are bitten.
Worker’s Compensation
During this difficult time in your life, it is vital to retain a skilled and aggressive personal injury attorney as soon as possible, so that your legal rights are protected. If you don’t act quickly, important evidence that is vital to proving your case could disappear or be destroyed. Even your own memory could become less reliable over time, so it’s important that an attorney start investigating and documenting your case now.
Additional injury types include spinal cord injuries and slip and fall accidents. But no matter what kind of personal injury you sustain, the lawyers at The Cochran Firm Cleveland will do everything in their power to get you fair compensation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cleveland Personal Injury Cases
How are damages assessed in a personal injury case?
As mentioned earlier, there are three main types of damages that can be awarded in a personal injury case. Namely, economic damages, non-economic damages and punitive damages. For economic damages, the amount awarded will be determined by the reported financial losses you experienced due to your injury. For example, economic damages may include lost wages, medical expenses and auto repairs.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are assessed based on emotional pain and suffering. In the cases where the accident leads to the wrongful death of a loved one, a spouse may also be awarded damages for loss of consortium.
Finally, punitive damages are assessed and awarded only in rare cases. Punitive damages are reserved only for cases where the defendant’s fault is so egregious and damaging that the court decides they must be punished with further fines.
Do personal injury claims usually settle before a lawsuit is filed?
Most lawsuits do settle before they reach court. Court proceedings are expensive and the defendant or their insurance may offer an acceptable settlement during negotiations. However, if you have the choice, you should work with a personal injury attorney to ensure you are not paid below what you need.
How high are personal injury lawsuit settlement amounts?
The Cochran Firm Cleveland attorneys have won several multi-million dollar lawsuits. Naturally, the maximum compensation amount will depend on your injury and your case. With that said, our expert attorneys are committed to fighting for the compensation you deserve.
Legal Help for Personal Injury Victims
If you have recently had a personal injury due to the negligence of another, now is the time to start your claim with a personal injury attorney in Cleveland. Working with a personal injury lawyer from The Cochran Firm Cleveland office will give you legal support close to you.
Furthermore, working with one of our trial lawyers will help you sort through the nuances of a personal injury claim. Working with a competent personal injury lawyer will give you invaluable access to legal knowledge when handling the paperwork involved in a claim. And finally, they will help you accurately to paint the full picture of the pain you endured. Our law firm in Cleveland has the expertise to guide you and represent you so your case the best chance to succeed.
Additional Personal Injury Expertise
Personal injury cases often cover overlapping practice areas. Our law firm in Cleveland draws resources from a large network of experienced lawyers who are familiar with all areas of personal injury. This way, even if you’re in a motor vehicle accident and your case includes aspects of premise liability, car accidents, trucking accidents, medical malpractice, or even wrongful death, we have the experience to put a great legal team on your side.
In fact, that’s our commitment to you and to the legacy of our founder, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. He dedicated his life to defending victims of injuries, regardless of background or situation.
You can find our Cleveland office at the One Chagrin Highlands building in Beachwood, Ohio. We’re just down the road from University Hospital on Auburn Dr.
We offer FREE consultations and legal evaluations with no obligation. Give us a call to schedule an appointment today with a personal injury attorney in Cleveland.