Kentucky Personal Injury Law Overview

Personal injury law is a vast area of law that covers cases in which someone was injured or killed due to someone else's negligence or wrongdoing. Most of the personal injury cases that are heard in Kentucky involve medical malpractice, defective products, vehicle accidents, or premises liability. Financial and emotional injuries are also included in personal injury. Examples would be identity theft (financial) and defamation of character claims (emotional).

Statute of Limitations

One very important aspect of personal injury law in Kentucky is the statute of limitations, which is your time limit for filing a lawsuit. You have less time to file a personal injury suit in Kentucky than in most states - only one year. Statute of limitations laws can be confusing because in some types of cases the clock starts running as soon as the act which caused your injury occurred, while in others your time limit begins when the injury is discovered.

Compensation

In the state of Kentucky, you may be able to receive compensation for:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost wages, including time missed from work to attend medical appointments
• Lost earning capacity
• Disability
• Disfigurement
• Emotional distress
• Interference with family relationships
• Property damage
• Other expenses incurred as a direct result of your injuries

Liability

In Kentucky, the doctrine of "several liability" is followed. This means that if multiple parties are responsible for your injuries, then they each have to pay you a certain amount of money. If one party cannot pay his share, the other parties are not responsible for paying what the other party owes.

If you have been injured by a defective product in Kentucky, the following elements must be present:

• The product was defective making it unreasonably dangerous
• You used the product properly
• The defect caused your injuries
• You suffered damages

If you live in Kentucky and feel you may have a valid personal injury claim against another party, please contact an experienced Kentucky personal injury attorney in your area.