Maine Personal Injury Law Overview

Personal injury law is a very broad area of law that includes those cases that result in injury or death due to someone else's negligence or wrongdoing. Some of the most common personal injury cases in Maine are medical malpractice, defective products, motor vehicle accidents and nursing home abuse and neglect.

In Maine, if you are awarded compensation for a personal injury claim you may collect for:

• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost wages and lost earning capacity
• Disability
• Disfigurement
• Pain and suffering
• Property damage
• Other expenses incurred as a direct result of your injuries

In order to prove fault in Maine, you must also prove negligence. Negligence is defined as the responsible party failing to use care, thereby causing your injuries.

Modified comparative negligence

In Maine, you must be 49% or less at fault in order to be entitled to compensation; this doctrine is referred to as "modified comparative negligence."

Liability

Maine law follows the doctrine of "several liability," which states that each party can be held responsible for their share of the damages. If one of the parties fails to pay, the other parties cannot be held responsible for his share.

Statute of limitations

All fifty states have time limits, or statutes of limitations. Maine allows much more time to file personal injury claims than most of the fifty states-six years. Medical malpractice cases and actions against ski areas, however, carry a much shorter time limit. A personal injury lawyer can tell you what the statute of limitations is for your claim.

If you live in Maine and would like to learn more about personal injury law, please contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area today.