Maplewood Personal Injury Lawyers

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Maplewood Personal Injury Lawyers

Our Maplewood personal injury attorneys have helped many clients who have serious injuries that were caused by negligent actions of others. When you or a loved one is seriously injured in an accident, your whole world is turned upside down. Suddenly life is filled with fear and stress. You may be facing a long hospital stay, mounting medical bills, time off work, and a great deal of uncertainty about your future. The situation is made even worse when your injury was caused by someone else’s carelessness or negligence.

You don’t have to face your difficulties alone. Under Minnesota law, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Our skilled and experienced Maplewood personal injury lawyers can fight for your rights and hold the guilty parties accountable. While money can’t fix everything or replace a loved one who died in an accident, it can help you put the pieces of your life back together and provide comfort and resources for your family’s future needs.

We will fight aggressively on your behalf to ensure you get the best possible outcome in your case. Contact our team today at 651-259-1113 to schedule your free consultation with our personal injury attorneys in Maplewood.

 

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Different Types of Injuries

Regardless of the Cause of Your Injury, Our Maplewood Personal Injury Lawyers Fight for You

Our personal injury lawyers in Maplewood, MN, file legal claims for a variety of injuries.

Several types of injuries fall under the definition of a “personal injury” claim. Personal injury is a practice area in which victims seek financial damages for the harm they’ve suffered because of someone else’s negligence or recklessness. Some of these accidents and injuries include:

  • Car Accident, Truck Accident, or Motorcycle Accident: Car accidents, truck accidents, and other vehicle crashes are some of the most frequent personal injury claims we see. That’s because crash victims frequently suffer significant injuries.
  • Work Injury: Getting injured at work is another common type of personal injury claim. Whether falling from scaffolding, getting crushed by machinery, or suffering chemical burns, these on-the-job injuries can have devastating consequences.
  • Wrongful Death: A wrongful death claim is a type of personal injury in which the victim died due to someone else’s negligence.
  • Slip and Fall Injuries: Slip and fall injuries typically happen when a victim slips on a wet floor, uneven pavement, or cluttered aisle in a store, hotel, parking lot, amusement park, concert venue, or other public location. Falls often result in fractures, concussions, TBI, bleeding, and other injuries.
  • Product Liability: Defective products can result in burns, lacerations, choking, and other harm to consumers. Product manufacturers can be held legally liable for injuries due to defects in the products they make.
  • Brain Injuries: Traumatic brain injuries, severe concussions, and other types of head injuries can have severe, life-altering consequences. Injuries can include damage to brain cells, memory loss, cognitive impairment, loss of speech or hearing, reduced motor skills, and a wide variety of other damage.
  • Dog Bites: Injuries from animal attacks also fall under the personal injury umbrella. Dog owners who fail to properly train or supervise their dogs can be held liable when their canines attack a person, causing injuries or death.

Whether your injuries are moderate or life-threatening, they have clearly interrupted your daily living, caused unanticipated expenses and setbacks, impaired your ability to earn an income, and reduced your quality of life. The legal system has ways of compensating you for all that you have lost.

Choosing the Best Maplewood Personal Injury Attorney

Skill, Experience, and a Track Record of Success Make All the Difference.

Choosing the right Maplewood personal injury lawyer is one of the most important decisions you will make. All attorneys are not created equal. Some have more experience, skill, and determination than others. Our attorneys are among the best and the brightest. They are compassionate with clients and understand that many have been through traumatic experiences. At the same time, he is an aggressive negotiator and fierce litigator.

Isaac and Rachel handle each case personally and is entirely focused on getting his clients the justice they deserve.

He is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with insurance companies to negotiate a favorable settlement or litigate a case in front of a judge and jury when necessary. He will not stop until he has achieved the best possible outcome for every client. To learn more about what his satisfied clients have to say, you can read these client testimonials.

Let Isaac and Rachel take on the insurer to aggressively fight for all the compensation you deserve. Give our team a call today at 651-259-1113 to discuss your case.

Personal Injury FAQs

Personal Injury Attorneys in Maplewood, MN, Answer Frequent Questions

Clients often have similar questions about various aspects of a personal injury lawsuit. These questions can include queries about timing, definitions, dollar amounts, and costs. Following are some answers to frequently asked questions:

What does “personal injury” mean?

A personal injury claim is typically brought when a person suffers actual bodily or emotional harm caused by another party’s recklessness, negligence or malice. Bodily injury can be something like broken bones or something as severe as paralysis. To receive damages, a plaintiff must show that they suffered a permanent injury or disfigurement, or incurred costs or financial setbacks as a result of the defendant’s actions.

What is the average personal injury settlement amount?

Because every case is different, there is no “average” settlement that an injury victim could receive. Each case is heavily fact dependent. Generally, the more severe the injury, the higher the payout. Also, if multiple people are injured, if someone dies, or if there’s evidence of gross negligence where punitive damages are awarded, the settlement, verdict, or award can be higher.

Will I have to testify in court?

Typically, most personal injury cases are settled out of court, long before they wind up being argued in front of a judge and jury. Therefore, injury victims often do not have to take the stand and testify. However, you may want to be prepared to testify if necessary. As a client, you will have the choice of whether to accept a settlement or move on to litigation. Your Maplewood personal injury attorney will advise you about your options.

Who is the defendant in a personal injury lawsuit?

There can be one or several defendants in a personal injury lawsuit. For example, in a truck accident case, potential defendants could include the other driver, their insurance company, the trucking company, and even the truck manufacturer if there’s evidence of a manufacturing defect. In a product liability case, the product manufacturer and, in some cases, the distributor could be defendants. In a slip and fall accident, the property owner – whether it be a retailer, hotel, amusement park, or concert venue – is typically the defendant. Even though in most cases an insurance company is backing the defendant, in some cases you can sue an insurance company directly and they are the defendant.

How long does a personal injury lawsuit take?

Each case is different, depending on how many witnesses need to be interviewed, the amount of evidence to be examined, the complexity of the laws involved, who is at fault, and the willingness of the defendant to negotiate. Often, how long the case takes is a direct result of how long it takes the victim to heal. It is always a good idea to wait to resolve your case until after you know exactly what the injuries are and how long and hard the recovery is. Because of this, cases can take a few months to a few years to reach a settlement or jury award. Settlements often happen faster than trials, but settling can result in less money. Our Maplewood personal injury lawyer will advise you about the potential timeframe for your case.

What are the damages for a personal injury in Maplewood?

Many people assume that damages in an injury claim are like fines in a criminal case. But these things are different. Generally, criminal fines punish wrongdoers and civil damages compensate victims.

If Julius hits his neighbor’s mailbox when he backs out of his driveway, Julius should pay to replace the mailbox.

If Julius hits his neighbor’s car on the way to work, under Minnesota law, he must not only pay his neighbor’s economic losses, Julius is also responsible for noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

Hitting a car and causing injury is a lot more expensive that hitting an inanimate object, like a mailbox. The average injury-related hospital bill exceeds $50,000, and that’s just the beginning. If the victim had to be airlifted to a hospital, the transportation expenses might be higher than the hospital bill. Additionally, victims usually miss additional work as they go through physical therapy. They must often also use medical devices and take prescription drugs.

The available compensation does not reverse the events leading up to the accident. But, quite frankly, injury victims need money to put their lives back together. Our Maplewood personal injury lawyers help ensure that this money doesn’t come from the victim’s own pocket.

What is “pain and suffering” and how do you measure it?

We mentioned pain and suffering above, which is a major component of the noneconomic damages in a personal injury claim. Other components include loss of enjoyment in life, emotional distress, and loss of consortium (companionship).

These things are very difficult to calculate. How does someone put a price tag on something like the inability to take the dog for a walk on a sunny day or push a child on a park swing?

Our Maplewood personal injury lawyers often enlist the help of outside professionals, such as psychologists and accountants, in these situations. Then, based on their opinions, as well as the facts of the case and a few other factors, attorneys usually multiply the economic losses by two, three, or four to determine the amount of noneconomic losses.

The initial calculation of economic and noneconomic damages is a claim’s settlement value. That’s like the sticker price of a new car. As mentioned, most claims settle out of court. Anyone who has ever bought or sold anything knows that such negotiations usually involve some give and take.

How much does it cost to hire a Maplewood personal injury lawyer?

In light of all the accident-related expenses mentioned above, the last thing victims need is another bill to pay. However, the insurance company has no such financial problems. So, the company almost immediately hires a top legal team to defend its interests. If victims face off directly against lawyers, they have almost no chance to win.

So, our Maplewood personal injury lawyers work on a contingent fee basis. We change nothing upfront for our legal services.

As a bonus, attorneys also negotiate with doctors, mechanics, and other accident-related providers. Typically, attorneys convince these providers to defer billing, or at least defer collection, until the case is resolved. This result further eases the financial strain these families feel.

Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims in Minnesota

Injury victims have a limited amount of time to act in Minnesota and all other states. The statute of limitations ensures that tortfeasors (negligent parties) do not have to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders. At the same time, attorneys need time to build evidence-based claims.

A line must be drawn somewhere. Minnesota lawmakers have drawn that line at six years. Victims who wait too long could lose their legal right to obtain the aforementioned compensation for their serious injuries. A shorter statute of limitations applies in some cases.

However, the six-year time limit doesn’t apply in all cases. For example, if the injured victim is under 18, they usually have additional time to file a legal action.

The discovery rule is another example of potential exceptions. Victims, regardless of their age, are under no legal obligation to file actions until they know the full extent of their injuries and they connect those injuries to another person’s wrongful conduct.

This rule often applies in other personal injury cases, such as dangerous drug claims. Chronic illness side-effects, like cancer, might not appear for years or even decades. These individuals still have legal options in most cases.

Workplace injuries are another example. Many victims don’t go to the doctor the moment their knees ache. Instead, they try to “tough it out” for months or years before they see a doctor and a Maplewood personal injury lawyer.

How Minnesota Shared Fault Rules Can Affect a Maplewood Personal Injury Case

If Julius hits his neighbor’s mailbox, Julius is clearly 100 percent at fault. But if Julius hits his neighbor’s car, he might not be 100 percent at fault. For example, Julius might have been speeding at the same moment his neighbor changed lanes unsafely.

These scenarios are extremely common, and not just in car wreck claims. If Julius fell at a grocery store, the store might argue that Julius fell because he didn’t watch where he was going.

Different states address the issues involved in different ways. In many jurisdictions, partial fault torpedoes a negligence claim. But Minnesota is a modified comparative fault state with a 50 percent cutoff. So, in the above example, if Julius was at least 50 percent responsible for the wreck, in the eyes of jurors, his neighbor would be entitled to a proportionate share of damages.

That’s assuming the defense applied to those facts. There’s a difference between speeding 5 mph over the limit and speeding 20 mph over the limit. Slight speeding usually does not contribute to car crashes. Excessive speeding is much different.

If you have additional questions about the particular facts in your case and how fault might be determined, talk to a skilled and experienced Maplewood personal injury lawyer at Tyroler Injury Law.

Proving Negligence in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Negligence basically means a lack of care. There are usually four elements in a Minnesota negligence action:

  • Duty: Most people, including most drivers, have a duty of reasonable care. They must be physically, mentally, and otherwise fit to drive, follow the written and unwritten rules of the road, and avoid accidents whenever possible.
  • Breach: Persons breach the duty of care if their behavior is below the standard of care. The speeding example mentioned above is a good illustration. Most people wouldn’t consider 5 mph over the limit to be a dangerous speed. But 20 mph over the limit is clearly unsafe in most situations.
  • Cause: Maplewood personal injury lawyers must establish factual and legal causation. Factual causation is a connection between the breach and the injury. Legal causation usually means foreseeability (possibility).
  • Damage: A monetary remedy must be available. As outlined above, money cannot fully compensate for a personal injury. But money helps accident victims put their injuries behind them and move on with their lives. That’s the best possible outcome in these situations.

Victims (who are “plaintiffs” in a legal case) must establish negligence by a preponderance of the evidence (show it is more likely than not that negligence led to the injury). That’s one of the lowest burdens of proof in Minnesota law.

Contact Our Maplewood Personal Injury Lawyers Today

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, you may be entitled to financial compensation. This is especially true if you were injured due to someone else’s recklessness or negligence. Our skilled and experienced Maplewood personal injury attorneys at Tyroler Injury Law has helped countless clients get the justice they deserve.

You don’t have to endure this alone. To find out more about how we can help, call us for a free initial consultation at 651-259-1113.
Attorney Rachel Sperling Leonard

Attorney Rachel Sperling Leonard

A partner of Tyroler Leonard Injury Law, Ms. Sperling Leonard practices exclusively in personal injury and wrongful death claims. Specifically, she specializes in car accidents, motorcycle accidents, boating accidents, dog bites, dog attacks, slip and falls, trip and falls, sexual assaults/abuse and other assaults. Some representative cases of Ms. Sperling Leonard’s in the last few years include: a $1 million settlement for an individual injured in a car crash, a $750,000.00 for a man injured when he slipped and fell, a $455,000.00 settlement for an individual injured after falling, and multiple $250,000.00 settlements for individuals injured in motorcycle and auto accidents, among many others. She frequently turns insurance company denials into fair-value offers.
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