COVID And Personal Injury Cases

The year 2020 saw the widespread infection of the virus known as COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes it as a novel coronavirus, meaning it is coronavirus (a type of virus) that was not previously seen and first identified in late 2019. Declared a pandemic, it has had a worldwide reach and has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Within the area we serve, the state of Minnesota has had over 378,000 cases with 4,400 deaths, while Wisconsin has had over 436,000 cases, and 4,000 deaths. This lead to both states taking public health measures including Minnesota’s Executive Order 20-81 requiring masks be worn in businesses and public indoor spaces, and Wisconsin issuing Emergency Order #1, mandating the same. This is in conjunction with state and federal guidelines issued to citizens and businesses to help stop the spread of COVID-19 through the measures of best-practices to keep both customers and fellow employees safe.

However, life still happens, and people still suffer injuries and losses as a result of someone else’s negligence. If you already have a personal injury case in the court system or need to file a personal injury claim as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may wonder how COVID impacts personal injury cases. If you suffered any injuries as a result of the recklessness or negligence of another person or entity, you still have legal rights. Contact an experienced personal injury attorney at Tyroler Leonard Injury Law at (651) 259-1113 and ensure your legal rights remain protected.

Elements of Personal Injury Cases

In order to have a strong personal injury case, a victim must prove four elements:

1. Duty – First, there has to be a duty of the negligent party to protect you from injury. For example, other drivers have a duty to follow the traffic laws and drive in a safe manner. Your place of business has a duty to not expose you to a toxic chemical. Medical practitioners have a responsibility to follow the established medical standards of care.

2. Breach of Duty – Second, it must be shown that the negligent party who had a duty to protect you failed to do so. In our examples above, this might include a driver running a stop sign, a workplace releasing a toxic chemical through a leaky pipe or a doctor that operated on an incorrect part of the body.

3. Causation – Third, a direct link must be shown that the negligent party’s breach of duty directly caused a victim to suffer injuries. Continuing the above examples, if you had the right of way, they would be the sole responsible party with respect to the accident. If the toxic chemical leak was due to the company not following proper protocols to inspect chemical lines, their negligence directly caused your injuries. If a medical practitioner failed to operate on a correct body party, their negligence directly caused your physical harm.

4. Damages – Finally, a victim must prove that they suffered physical, psychological, or financial harm.

These are the four elements of any personal injury case. If someone else’s negligence directly caused your physical, psychological or financial harm, you have the legal right to pursue justice and compensation.

COVID and Personal Injury Cases

Victims of injuries and losses that result from another person’s negligence still have the legal right to pursue justice and compensation through the courts. However, given the fact that COVID is now a global pandemic with little signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future, the impact has affected our entire society, including courts in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

COVID Impact on Courthouses

Every court in every different jurisdiction has created its own rules regarding how cases will be handled. Some courts have determined that a great majority of a case can be dealt with electronically through paperwork, or even through video meetings of all the parties. With the ever-changing state laws governing when businesses can remain open, the courts have attempted to ensure that justice still continues even through these difficult times. If you already have a personal injury case in the court system, make sure to visit with your attorney to ensure that you do not miss any online or virtual deadlines. If you are considering filing a personal injury case, contact our experienced personal injury attorneys at Tyroler Leonard Injury Law in order to help you determine your legal options during this challenging time.

COVID and Personal Injury Attorneys

At Tyroler Leonard Injury Law, we want to let all of our current personal injury clients, as well as any potential clients, know that we are still here for them and will ensure that they receive access to justice under the law. We can meet with any client or potential client by phone or through a video call, and a great deal of the paperwork for your personal injury case can be handled electronically. Do not let the COVID pandemic prevent you from considering filing a claim in order to receive compensation for your injuries and losses resulting from someone else’s negligence.

Contact an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney

Even though the United States is dealing with a pandemic, it is important to understand that you still have the legal right to pursue compensation for your injuries and losses if your accident was the result of someone else’s negligence. If you experienced a car accident, trucking accident, slip and fall accident, dog bite injury, nursing home abuse, medical negligence, motorcycle accident, or any other injury related to the negligence or recklessness of another person or entity, you have the legal right to pursue both justice and compensation for your injuries. You may have the legal right to receive compensation for your medical bills, future medical bills, lost wages, future loss of wages, damage to property, pain and suffering or even punitive damages. While COVID impacts personal injury cases, contact an experienced personal injury attorney at Tyroler Leonard Injury Law at (651) 259-1113 today to learn more about your legal rights and ensure they remain protected.

Attorney Isaac Tyroler

Attorney Isaac Tyroler has been a strong advocate for injured people his entire legal career. He has a passion for righting wrongs, and he deeply cares about representing injured clients who may feel overwhelmed or uncertain about how to navigate the legal system. He is compassionate toward clients and aggressive with insurance companies and defendants. He is on the elected Board of Governors of the Minnesota Association of Justice (MAJ), the top personal injury lawyers’ group in Minnesota. And is currently the chair of MAJ’s legislative committee. [ Attorney Bio ]