Brady, Nordgren,
Morton &
Malone, PLLC
2301 Sugar Bush Rd, Suite 450
Raleigh, NC 27612
Toll Free: 1-866-573-8832
Phone: 919-782-3500
Fax: 919-573-1430
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING PERSONAL INJURY AND MALPRACTICE CLAIMS:
What is a Personal Injury Claim?
"Personal Injury Claims" include a broad variety of "Tort" claims. A Tort is the
legal term for a private (i.e., civil) claim or injury which gives rise to a
legal remedy or relief. Torts are broken down into two broad categories: (1)
Intentional Torts and (2) Negligence. If you have additional questions, please
contact Travis K. Morton at
travis@bradynordgren.com
What is an Intentional Tort?
Intentional Torts include assault (i.e., the threat of offensive or harmful
contact) and battery (i.e., actual offensive or harmful contact) claims. Other
Intentional Torts include intentional infliction of emotional distress,
conversion (i.e., unlawful taking of property), and false imprisonment (i.e.,
wrongful detention). Actual damages suffered as a result of Intentional Torts
are sometimes relatively minor, however, due to the intentional nature of the
act, a victim may be able to recover punitive damages. Punitive damages are
unrelated to the actual damage or harm to the victim, because they are designed
to punish the wrongdoer not compensate the victim. If you have additional
questions, please contact Travis K. Morton at
travis@bradynordgren.com
What is Negligence?
In almost every situation a person or business has a duty to act in a reasonable
manner when dealing with the people around them. When one fails to act in a
reasonable manner and harm results to another as a result, this is often
Negligence. For example, one owes a duty to maintain a lookout while driving and
stop for red lights. If someone does not stop at a red light and hits another
car, resulting in an injury to the driver with a green light, this is
Negligence. Unlike Intentional Torts, Negligence does not involve knowingly
acting in an unlawful manner. Therefore, many "accidents" are actually
Negligence for which the wrongdoer may be liable. If you have additional
questions, please contact Travis K. Morton at
travis@bradynordgren.com
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical Malpractice may occur when a healthcare provider fails to follow the
accepted standard of care that healthcare providers in his field have adopted
for a particular situation. In other words, Medical Malpractice may occur when a
doctor does not follow the steps accepted by his peers as being appropriate for
a particular treatment or procedure. In order to constitute Medical Malpractice,
the doctor's breach of the standard of care must result in harm or injury. For
example, if a doctor performs surgery and does everything the way his peers say
is proper, but the patient's symptoms do not get better, then that is probably
not Medical Malpractice since there is no guarantee of a good outcome even if
surgery is performed in a textbook manner. If, however, a doctor performs
surgery and does not follow all the proper steps and the patient is injured as a
result, then he may be guilty of Medical Malpractice. Since this area of law is
so complex it often requires the involvement of medical experts to explain the
standard of care and how it was breached. If you have additional questions,
please contact Travis K. Morton at
travis@bradynordgren.com.
What kinds of compensation can a victim of Negligence or Medical Malpractice
recover?
The law seeks to put a victim of Negligence or Medical Malpractice back in the
position he or she was prior to the injury. Since we cannot turn back time, the
most common way to try and do this is by awarding money damages. A victim may be
entitled to damages such as lost wages (past and future), medical bills (past
and future), compensation for disfigurement or scarring, emotional distress, and
pain and suffering (past and future). In a wrongful death case, the victim's
heirs may be entitled to recover damages. If you have additional questions,
please contact Travis K. Morton at
travis@bradynordgren.com.
How long do I have to file a lawsuit?
The law in North Carolina limits the amount of time a victim has to file a
lawsuit. These time limits are called the Statute of Limitations. The time for
filing a claim varies from state-to-state and according to the type of case. For
example, a medical malpractice claim involving wrongful death must be filed
within two years after the injury. In almost all cases the failure to initiate a
suit within the time limit may bar a claim forever. Therefore, it is very
important to contact an attorney quickly if you feel you have a case. If you
have additional questions, please contact Travis K. Morton at
travis@bradynordgren.com.
Do I need a lawyer to help me with my personal injury claim?
After an accident, insurance adjusters will often contact a victim and seek to
reach a quick settlement. One should think very hard before signing such a
settlement. The insurance company representative is not your friend and their
job is to settle claims for as little money as possible. These insurance
adjusters are not bad people, and are just doing their job. Their job, however
is not to help you understand your rights. It is, however, the job of the
attorneys at Brady, Nordgren, Morton & Malone, PLLC to help injured people recover
everything to which they are entitled. If you have additional questions, please
contact Travis K. Morton at
travis@bradynordgren.com.
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