What Is A Personal Injury Lawsuit?

A personal injury lawsuit is a legal action that a plaintiff (injured party) commences against a defendant (wrongdoer). The plaintiff files and serves a summons and complaint against the defendant, alleging in the complaint that the defendant did not meet certain legal duties as a result of which the plaintiff suffered damages.

A successful personal injury action requires four basic components:

(1) Liability. A plaintiff must prove the defendant breached a legal duty or was causally negligent. For example, a motorist fails to stop at a stop sign and collides with your vehicle.

(2) Damages. A plaintiff must prove he sustained damages such as injuries requiring medical treatment, suffering pain, incurring loss of earning capacity.

(3) Collectability. If the defendant is uninsured or is bankrupt, a plaintiff will collect nothing even if he gets a judgement against the defendant.

(4) Timeliness. The law requires a personal injury action to be filed within a certain period of time. The statute of limitations in Wisconsin for most personal injury actions is three years. However, if you think you have a personal cause of action, consult with an attorney as soon as possible. Any delay may make liability and damages harder to prove, and often there are other filing deadlines, especially in medical malpractice actions and actions against governmental entities.

If you have questions on worker’s compensation, personal injury, or social security disability, please feel free to call the Previant, Goldberg, Uelmen, Gratz, Miller & Bruggeman law firm at 414-271-4500 or toll free at 1-800-841-5232 (Milwaukee) or 1-877-863-3500 (Green Bay).