Personal injury lawyers are distinguishable from other law practice areas by what they do. Personal injury lawyers are principally trial lawyers distinguishable from non-trial lawyers and distinguishable from other trial lawyers.
Jesse Lieberman, senior partner of Lieberman Injury Law firm is one of Florida’s most highly respected and successful Personal Injury Attorney Deerfield Beach.
Personal injury law is a division of so-called tort law. A tort is an injury or harm to a person or property that is caused by intentional or negligent acts, or failures to act, of another.
A plaintiff in a personal injury case seeks compensatory damages and perhaps punitive damages. Compensatory damages are a measure of the harm done. Punitive damages are typically awarded only where the defendant is found to have acted with gross negligence or willful act or inaction. In Florida, punitive damages are limited to 3 times the compensatory damages awarded.
Compensatory damages in Florida consist of economic loss (e.g. medical bills, lost wages, and other dollar delineated damages) and non-economic loss (e.g. pain and suffering and mental anguish).
The personal injury lawyer’s job is to present evidence that proves by the preponderance of that evidence that the defendant was at fault (e.g. by their negligent or willful act), that defendant’s action or inaction was the proximate cause of the injury. and amount of compensatory damages.
Trial lawyers generally focus on either the plaintiffs’ side or the defendants’ side. Most personal injury cases involve insurance companies as defendants and their defense counsel usually don’t represent plaintiffs.
Other Trial Lawyers.
Trial lawyers are further delineated by criminal law and civil law. Criminal lawyers represent people charged with a crime. They either represent the accused (defense counsel) or the state (i.e. federal, state, or local prosecutors). It is a very specialized area of trial practice and rarely do criminal lawyers cross over into civil trial lawyers.
Trial lawyers who are not criminal lawyers and not personal injury lawyers comprise a very large category of civil trial lawyers. They generally represent one or the other side of a dispute between parties. That includes breach of contract, divorce, estate disputes, libel and slander, patent infringement, and other civil actions between private citizens.
Civil trials also involve private citizens and governmental agencies where the government seeks to impose civil penalties or enjoin some private action.
Non-trial Law Practice
Finally, a very large segment of the lawyer profession doesn’t try cases or settle disputes. They represent the interests of private citizens in such matters as negotiating and preparation of contracts and other commercial transactions, wills, trusts, and estate planning, formation of corporate and business entities, real estate transactions among others.
Special Qualifications of Personal Injury Lawyers.
Personal injury cases require a deep knowledge of the tort law, rules of evidence, and trial procedure. Beyond that, they require the personal injury lawyer to have a working knowledge of anatomy, orthopedics. and other medical disciplines.
Above all, they require extensive personal injury trial experience. Jesse Lieberman and his legal team possess that experience (more than 20 years) and expertise. Lieberman Injury Law is a highly respected firm of Personal Injury Attorneys in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Please speak with one of our personal injury attorneys for a free personalized case consultation.