Delaware Personal Injury Law Overview

Though personal injury law varies from state to state, the basic principles of this broad area of law are the same. If you were hurt (or killed) due to someone else's negligence or wrongdoing, you may be entitled to collect monetary compensation. Some of the most common cases of personal injury in Delaware involve:

• Medical malpractice
• Vehicle accidents
• Premises liability
• Defective products

To prove negligence, you must determine fault and prove it to the jury or judge. In the state of Delaware, negligence consists of these four elements:

• The person who caused your injuries owed you a duty
• The person failed to uphold that duty
• That failure caused your injuries
• You suffered damages

In the case of defective product personal injury lawsuits, the manufacturer of the defective product may be held responsible under strict liability rather than negligence. In order to prove strict liability, you must prove:

• The product was unreasonably dangerous, even if used properly
• You did, indeed, use the product as it was intended to be used
• The product caused your injury
• You suffered damages

Modified Comparative Negligence

Even if you were partly to blame for your injuries, in Delaware you are still entitled to compensation. Delaware follows modified comparative negligence, which states that if you are 49% or less responsible for your injuries, you can hold the other parties responsible for the percentage of damages equal to their percentage of fault.

Statute of Limitations

All personal injury cases have a time limit for filing. This part of the law can be complicated since, in some cases, the date begins at the time the injury was discovered or should have been discovered (medical malpractice cases) rather than the actual date the injury/accident happened. In Delaware, the statute of limitations for most personal injury cases is two years.

Compensation

In Delaware, you may be entitled to compensation for:

• Lost wages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Permanent disability
• Past, current, and future medical expenses
• Permanent disfigurement
• Emotional distress
• Property damage

Several Liability

When more than one person is responsible for your injuries, then you are to collect money from each individual party. Several liability states that no responsible party will have to pay for another party's share if he is unable to pay the plaintiff.

To learn more about personal injury law in Delaware, please contact a personal injury lawyer in your area today.