Idaho Personal Injury Law Overview

Personal injury law is a very broad area of law that encompasses a wide variety of cases including medical malpractice, defective products, premises liability and vehicle accidents.

Fault

In the state of Idaho, in order to prove fault, you must prove negligence. Negligence is simply the failure to use reasonable care, and there are three elements that must be present in order to prove negligence:

• The responsible party owed you a duty which they failed to uphold
• That failure caused your injuries
• You suffered damages

Modified Comparative Negligence

Idaho law follows the doctrine of "modified comparative negligence," which means that if are 50% or more at fault for your own injuries, you cannot collect compensation from other responsible parties, but are 49% or less responsible for your injuries, you can collect from other responsible parties.

Liability

Idaho law also follows the doctrine of "several liability," which means if multiple parties were responsible for your injuries then each party is responsible for his share of the damages. If one party cannot pay, the plaintiff cannot try to collect his share of the damages from other responsible parties.

Statute of limitations

All fifty states have certain time limits that are allowed to file a personal injury lawsuit; this time limit is called the statute of limitations. For most personal injury cases in Idaho, the statute of limitations is two years.

Compensation

In Idaho, you may be entitled to the following compensation:

• Medical expenses including future expenses
• Lost wages
• Loss of earning capacity
• Property damage
• Permanent disability
• Emotional distress
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of companionship
• Loss of enjoyment of life

If you live in Idaho and feel you may have a personal injury case, please contact an experienced Idaho personal injury attorney today to schedule a confidential consultation.