Chesapeake Personal Injury Attorneys

Personal injuries come in a variety of forms and can be absolutely debilitating. What makes it worse is when insurance companies try to bully you into accepting lowball offers for long-term or even permanent injuries. The right law firm experienced in handling personal injury cases can make all the difference.

If you have been hurt in an accident in Virginia, do not fight alone. The personal injury lawyers in Chesapeake, VA at the Montagna Klein Camden law firm are ready to fight for your right to full compensation.

Recent Personal Injury Lawsuit Verdicts and Settlements

Our personal injury and accident lawyers have won millions for our clients, including $1 million for a slip and fall accident, $1.9 million for an industrial accident, $995,000 for a truck accident, and $750,000 for a car accident. We practice law for clients across Hampton Roads, including Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Chesapeake.

Unlike large corporate firms, we are an experienced personal injury law firm that puts our clients first in all things. We take a personalized approach to each case. Many of our attorneys are listed among Virginia Super Lawyers for their excellence in personal injury practice areas. Contact us at 757-622-8100 or fill out our online contact form to request a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney today.

What Types of Accidents Fall Under Personal Injury in Chesapeake, Virginia?

Virginia personal injury cases cover a wide range of accident types. Any situation in which you get seriously hurt and it was someone else’s fault can result in personal injury claims. Just a few of the cases that commonly fall under this area of law include:

• Vehicle accidents
• Premises liability
• Industrial accidents
• Wrongful death cases
• Dog bites
• Medical malpractice
• Defective products
• Nursing home neglect and abuse

Auto Accidents, Motorcycle Accidents, and Truck Accidents

Vehicle accidents range from car accident cases to commercial vehicle collisions, pedestrian accidents, and beyond. They can be caused by DUI, distraction, speeding, or just plain recklessness, and the injuries they cause can be catastrophic, including but not limited to broken bones, internal organ damage, and traumatic brain damage.

Premises Liability or Slip and Fall

Most premises liability cases involve falls. They can also, however, involve accidents due to loose pavement, heavy equipment, falling objects, and even animal attacks on someone else’s property. Any time you get hurt on someone’s property due to a danger they should have known about and addressed, it can result in this sort of case. 

Industrial Accidents

Industrial accidents at the workplace can involve poisons, diseases, environmental hazards, heavy equipment failures, and vehicle accidents. Sometimes these accidents fall under worker’s compensation, while other times they become personal injury cases.

Wrongful Death Cases

Wrongful death cases are some of the most tragic a personal injury lawyer sees. They involve situations where you lose a loved one due to the fault of another person. In these cases, besides medical bills up to the point of death, you may be able to collect damages for funeral expenses, burial costs, loss of companionship, lost income and support, and other associated damages from losing your spouse, child, or parent.

Dog Bites

Everyone has a responsibility to restrain their animal. If you are attacked by a dangerous dog and get seriously injured, you might have a case to sue the owner for damages in a personal injury case. An attorney can advise you on how to proceed.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice cases involve situations where a health care professional makes an egregious error that causes major injuries or disability. It could be a misdiagnosis of a critical illness. Sometimes, it involves prescribing the incorrect medication for a specific illness. Other times, malpractice cases involve surgical errors. There have even been rare cases of amputations that did not need to occur, or foreign objects were left inside a person’s body after surgery. 

These cases can be complex to pursue because doctors and hospitals do not like to admit fault.

Product Liability

Product liability law covers cases of dangerous and defective products. Three types of defects exist. The first is design defects, where the core concept behind a product renders it dangerous. The second is manufacturing defects. In these cases, while the conceptual design of the product in question is sound, something happens during the building process that renders it dangerous. The use of cheap batteries that are prone to overheat and explode is an example of a manufacturing defect.

Finally, and most often, product defects come in the form of a failure to warn. This means that either the manufacturer, designer, or seller failed to provide clear instructions on the product’s correct use, or that there was a known risk to using it and the manufacturer, seller, or designer failed to warn you about that risk.

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse

If you suspect that your elder loved one has been the victim of financial, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse or neglect in their nursing home, it is a shocking betrayal. Not only might you be eligible to collect compensation, but the nursing home employee can find themselves on the wrong end of a criminal defense case.

There are three critical steps you must take in this situation. First, get your loved one out of that situation immediately. Second, call the authorities to start an investigation of the circumstances right away. Finally, and as soon as possible, contact a personal injury law firm for legal advice. 

What Is the Difference Between Medical Malpractice, Workers’ Comp, and Personal Injury Claims?

Workers’ comp cases are very different from medical malpractice and personal injury claims. Each has its own procedures and addresses different events.

Workers’ Compensation

When you get hurt on the job during the normal course of your work, this almost always becomes a workers’ compensation claim. Most companies in Virginia are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance under the law. This form of insurance is no-fault coverage. That means it does not matter who caused the accident or how it happened, as long as it happened during work.

You can slip and fall on your way to the bathroom. You might get injured changing the paper in a copier. You could develop a repetitive motion injury that results in disability, or get into a car crash on your way to meet a client. Under workers’ compensation, your medical bills are covered, as is a portion of your wages while you recover. In some cases, if your disability is permanent, you can receive benefits for life. You cannot, however, receive extra compensation for pain and suffering, emotional trauma, or other non-economic damages.

The exact amount you might receive from a workers’ compensation case depends on whether your disability is partial, meaning you can do some work but just not what you formerly did, or is total, meaning you cannot work at all. It also depends on whether it is temporary, meaning you will recover, or permanent, meaning you have reached a point of maximum medical improvement, or MMI.

There are very rare situations where a personal injury claim can be filed in lieu of workers’ comp, but they require proving gross negligence on the part of your boss or company. Your attorney can advise you if this is the case for you.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is a type of personal injury case, but it carries its own standards and burden of proof. Health care professionals bear a great responsibility to do no harm, but mistakes and accidents do happen. It becomes medical malpractice when mistakes are the result of gross negligence and irresponsibility and when they cause severe harm. 

Virginia’s legal code extends the normal two-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases when a foreign object is left inside a patient’s body, when fraud or intentional misrepresentation prevents discovery of the injury for an extended period, or for certain cases involving the failure to diagnose tumors, cancers, or intracranial, intraspinal, or spinal schwannoma.  

Medical malpractice also covers cases of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse by health care professionals. Health care professionals are held to an incredibly high standard due to the impact of their actions. Unfortunately, when medical professionals do injure patients in some capacity, hospitals often fail to admit it when they or their employees make errors of any sort. That means it can be very difficult to prove malpractice.

Not every attorney’s practice areas include the level of experience necessary to handle these sorts of cases. If you think you have been the victim of medical malpractice, tell the attorney upfront during your case review so they can inform you if malpractice is within their area of practice.   

What Are the Legal Procedures for Suing Someone for Personal Injury in Chesapeake, Virginia?

The core factor in every personal injury case is a legal doctrine known as negligence. Negligence in its most basic form means proving that the other party is responsible for what happened. In a more detailed sense, it means we have the ability to prove three essential factors in court.

First, we must demonstrate that the defendant violated a duty of care to act in a responsible manner, that they acted so irresponsibly that no reasonable person would act the same way in a similar circumstance. This is called the “reasonable person standard.” Next, we must prove that their irresponsible, reckless, or malicious action was the direct or proximate cause of the accident. Finally, we must demonstrate that your injury happened as a direct result of the accident.

This gets even more complicated in Virginia because it is one of only four states that still has contributory negligence. This means that if you are even 1% at fault for the accident, you can be barred from recovering damages. Having an attorney who can build a strong case for you, issue a clear demand letter, and negotiate a settlement with the insurance company, even standing for you as a trial lawyer, is crucial. 

If the responsible party is a government agency, special rules apply. You must first put the government on notice in writing with details of the accident. This notice must be sent within six months of the accident for cities and towns, or a year for the state. 

How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Chesapeake, Virginia?

Every state has a statute of limitations, or window of time during which you must file your claim. In Virginia, this time frame is two years after the date of the accident or two years after the date of death in the case of wrongful death claims. 

How Will Hiring a Chesapeake, VA Personal Injury Lawyer Benefit Me?

An experienced attorney will advocate for you in all things. They will represent you to the insurance companies and stand up to bullying adjusters. They will negotiate your settlement and fight for you in court if necessary. They can build a strong, rock-solid case for negligence and give you the best shot at securing full compensation for your injuries. At Montagna Law, some of our injury attorneys are listed among Virginia Super Lawyers. They are ready to fight doggedly for your rights. 

Were You or a Loved One Injured in an Accident in Chesapeake, Virginia?

The law firm of Montagna Klein Camden represents injury victims and personal injury claims all across Virginia, including in Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Chesapeake. Our attorneys have been listed among Virginia Super Lawyers and have years of experience not only with negotiations but also as trial lawyers. Call us at 757-622-8100 or fill out our online contact form for a free consultation today.