Personal injury laws are primarily set based on common law rules and state legislatures. This means that they can and do vary by state. You will, therefore, need to learn what the rules are where you reside. The table below provides an overview of some of the most important rules.
Statute of Limitations
The statute of limitations refers to the general statute of limitations for personal injury claims. Some claims, like wrongful death, intentional tort claims, medical malpractice claims or claims for libel and slander, for instance, may have a longer or shorter period of time assigned to them for their statute of limitations. A discovery rule may also apply in certain instances, which would mean the statute of limitations would not begin running until the point in time where the injury is discovered.
Laws on Negligence
Contributory or comparative negligence refers to the rule each states have regarding when a plaintiff may sue if he/she is partially responsible for his/her own actions. In pure contributory negligence states, plaintiffs who have played even a tiny role in causing their own injury are barred from suing. In pure comparative fault states, plaintiffs can sue for as few as 1 percent of their damages if the other party is 1 percent at fault. In states with a 50 percent rule, a plaintiff may sue to collect the appropriate percentage of damages as long as he/she is 50 percent or less at fault. In states with a 51 percent rule, the plaintiff must be no more than 49 percent at fault and may sue for the appropriate percentage of damages whenever the defendant is at least 51 percent responsible for the injury/incident.
Fault vs. "No Fault" States
Fault or no fault rules refer to car accident cases. In no fault states, drivers may not file a lawsuit unless it is for "serious" injuries (the definition of serious differs from place to place) and may collect only medical bills/lost income through their own insurance (through PIP coverage). In fault states, plaintiffs may sue or collect damages from the other party for any accident caused by that party.
Damage caps are limits on the amount of damage collectible. They usually, but not always, apply only to medical malpractice cases. Some caps, especially those on punitive damages, apply more broadly throughout the tort and personal injury areas of law.
Limits on Damages
It is important to note that laws change and your situation may not be exactly as described in the charts below. This is especially true of damage caps, which adjust for inflation and which are still evolving as some parties challenge their constitutionality and other lobbyists argue that more such caps or "tort reforms" are necessary to keep health costs down. Thus, while the table below should provide you with good information to use a starting point, you will need to talk to a lawyer to find out specifics about your own state's laws
