Adairsville Personal Injury Attorneys

Filing a Personal Injury Claim in Bartow County

If you have been injured due to the careless, reckless, or negligent conduct of another, Perrotta, Lamb & Johnson, LLC can help. From our office in Adairsville, our personal injury lawyers provide compassionate, personalized legal representation to injured individuals throughout Bartow County and the surrounding areas. We have nearly 100 years of combined experience and have successfully recovered numerous favorable settlements and verdicts for our clients. 

Unlike a lot of attorneys who never see the inside of a courtroom, our team is known for not only trying cases but also recovering the results our clients need to heal and move forward with their lives. Our reputation for aggressive litigation often allows us to secure substantial settlements on behalf of our clients—but we are not afraid to pursue your case at trial if necessary.

Learn how our team can help you with your personal injury claim; call (770) 637-7603 or contact us online to request an initial consultation with one of our attorneys today.

Who Can File a Personal Injury Claim? 

Generally speaking, the Georgia personal injury statute allows you to file a personal injury claim if you were injured as a result of:

• Negligent or wrongful conduct
• Malpractice
• Default

The defendant in your claim can be another person, or it can be a business, corporation, manufacturer, insurance carrier, or some other entity. As the person bringing the claim, known as the “plaintiff,” you have the burden of proof. This means that you are responsible for proving your case.

The burden of proof in personal injury claims—and most civil litigation cases—is lower than the burden of proof in criminal matters. In a criminal case, the defendant must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However, in a civil case, the plaintiff need only prove that the defendant was more likely than not to have committed the act or omission that caused the plaintiff’s injury and damages. 

Proving a Personal Injury Claim 

In most cases, there are several key elements you must establish in order to prove your personal injury case. 

These include: 

• Injury: To have a personal injury case, you must prove that you suffered an injury that led to physical, emotional, and/or financial harm. The economic and non-economic losses you endure as a result of your injury are known as “damages.” 
• Duty of Care: You will also need to prove that the defendant owed you a “duty of care,” meaning they had some legal responsibility to either take certain actions to prevent injury or avoid certain actions that could cause foreseeable harm, or both.
• Breach: Another important element of your personal injury claim involves proving that the defendant breached, or failed to uphold, the duty of care. This is most often done by proving the defendant’s negligence and/or wrongful conduct. 
• Causation: Lastly, you will need to prove that the defendant’s breach of the duty of care was the proximate cause of your injury and resulting damages. In other words, you must prove that you would not have been injured had the defendant upheld the duty of care. 

This list represents a basic outline of the various elements you must prove to have a personal injury case in Georgia. However, depending on the specifics of your situation, you may need to prove additional elements to succeed in recovering compensation for your damages. 

For example, if you are found partly at fault for the incident that caused your injuries, you can only recover compensation if you were 50% or less to blame. Under Georgia’s rule of modified comparative negligence, you cannot file a personal injury claim if your percentage of fault exceeds that of the other involved party/parties. Additionally, if you are found to be between 0 and 51% at fault, your total recovery will be reduced by your percentage of blame. 

How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit? 

The amount of time you have to file a personal injury lawsuit is limited by the statute of limitations. The Georgia personal injury statute of limitations is two years, meaning you have just two years from the date of injury (in most cases) to file a lawsuit. If the statute of limitations expires, meaning more than two years pass before you file your claim, the court will almost certainly dismiss your case.

There are some exceptions to the two-year statute of limitations. Even if you believe the filing deadline has passed, we encourage you to reach out to our Adairsville personal injury lawyers to learn more about your legal rights and options.