Should You Sue For Your Injury?
If you become injured, resulting in medical bills and lost wages, one of your first thoughts may be that you should sue for damages. The media often romanticizes personal injury cases, sometimes making it seem like collecting money to compensate for your injuries is as simple as walking into a lawyer's office. But this is not always the case. It's not always possible to sue for your injuries or to win such a lawsuit. Ask yourself these questions to determine whether or not suing is a good idea in your situation.
Who is at fault?
In order to sue someone for damages related to an injury, you must demonstrate to the court that the individual or company you're suing is at-fault for your injuries. Think about how the injury happened. Did someone else' actions -- or lack of actions -- result in the injury? Or was it your own folly that caused the injury? Even if the injury occurred on someone else's property, if it was mostly caused by your actions, the chance of you winning a lawsuit is pretty bleak.
Do you have proof?
Do you have no proof that someone else caused your injuries, that your injuries are real, and that the injuries resulted in some sort of loss to you? (Typically, this loss is in the form of medical bills and lost wages.) These are the three key things you must prove in order to win a personal injury case, so if you do not have proof and don't think you can find it, you may want to reconsider suing for your injuries. For example, if you fell in a parking lot and never told anyone, including your doctor, until five weeks later, you probably don't have much proof of your injury or how it occurred.
Is the compensation worth your time?
If you only missed a few days of work and incurred a few dollars' worth of medical co-pays, it may simply not be worth your time to sue. After all, these cases can take years to move through the court system, and you'll have to take off work for several court dates in the meantime. On the other hand, if you are out thousands of dollars, filing a lawsuit is likely well worth your time.
If you're still not sure whether or not you have grounds to sue for your injury, speak to a personal injury lawyer in your area.
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