Personal Injury Lawyers North Carolina

How is Personal Injury Defined in North Carolina?

In legal terms, personal injury is defined as an injury to the body, mind, and emotions. And you can sustain it almost anywhere, whether it is the road you are traveling on or at a place where you are working or even if you get bitten by somebody’s pet dog.

The end result in all the cases is the same…an injury that can forever change the quality of your life and your relationship with your family and friends.

The good news is you don’t have to suffer your personal injuries in silence. There are laws in place that promise you your rightful compensation. But first, you will need to prove what led to this injury, who is responsible and whether it is severe enough to qualify for compensation.

All this information is required to thwart the attempts of the at-fault insurance companies that tend to undervalue your claims. The best way to prevent this and get a fair compensation is to engage a top personal injury lawyer, who knows his way about in such accident cases and has experience dealing with insurance adjusters and taking cases to trial if needed.

Ways to Get a Personal Injury in North Carolina

The following personal injuries come under the ambit of personal injury laws in North Carolina:

• Automobile Accident: With the increasing number of vehicles on the roads today, the chances of the accident have grown manifold. According to the National Safety Council, in the first half of 2018, an estimated 2.1 million people in the US sustained injuries, while 18,720 died in car crashes. In North Carolina, the winding mountain roads majorly contribute to such car crashes. The year 2017 saw 1,412 deaths in car accidents in the state.
• Trucking Accident in NC: The data of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records an alarming number of fatalities in truck accidents in the US. In 2017, trucking accidents claimed 37,133 lives. In North Carolina, the two major highways intersecting Asheville are most prone to such accidents. If 2016 data for this state is anything to go by, there have been 14,000 large truck accidents that killed over 150 persons and injured thousands of others.
• Motorcycle Accidents: Motorcyclists remain at a higher risk of personal injury. And it is often the fault of other road users that lead to such accidents. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the year 2017 recorded around 5,000 deaths in motorcycle accidents. Of these, 141 fatalities were in North Carolina alone. The number of injured was much higher.
• Bicycle Accidents: The cycling accidents in the US in 2016 resulted in the deaths of 3,499 cyclists, while 18,477 sustained injuries. In North Carolina, if the period between 2011 and 2015 is considered, there had been an average of 951 bicycle-motor vehicle crashes every year, as per the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. An estimated 22 deaths in the state take place each year in bicycle accidents with many more sustaining injuries.
• Slip and falls: Workplace, especially where machines are located, is a dangerous place for your life and limb. And it is not only at the workplace where such accidents happen, but they can also happen on any property that compromises on safety, resulting in injury and death. Of course, the property owner becomes liable for such accidents.
• Traumatic Brain Injuries: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious issue, and it is not limited to vehicle accidents alone. As per the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, the University of North Carolina, high school football players in the US are three times more likely to suffer catastrophic head injuries. Such injuries lead to severe and permanent damage that require not only the best medical care, but also competent legal representation.
• Construction Site Injuries: According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), of the 4,674 worker fatalities in private industry in 2017, a total of 971 were in the construction sector alone, with many more reported injuries. Its leading causes – falls, being struck by object, electrocution, and caught-in/between – accounted for 59.9 percent of such injuries and fatalities.
• Wrongful Death in North Carolina: Roads and highways are not the only risk-prone places where even the safest of drivers can get killed by the mistake of other drivers, death can visit you in different ways too, such as criminal incidents, workplace accidents, dangerous property conditions, medical malpractice, and nursing home neglect.
  
  All this comes under the ambit of wrongful death that may not only result in lost income to the bereaved family of the deceased but also saddle them with medical bills, funeral, and burial expenses, not to mention the loss of companionship, pain and suffering.
• Premises liability NC: Property owners are accountable for the safety of their premises and for posting warning signs for any dangerous conditions existing therein. If they fail to do so, it may result in incidents, such as slip and falls, car accidents within the premises, criminal acts committed against the visitors or any other type of harm.
  
  In such cases, the property owner is liable for injuries and is responsible for the injured person’s medical bills, lost salary, lost future paycheck, and emotional harm. Things are a bit different in North Carolina since the state still follows the doctrine of contributing neglect. This means the if the injured person is even one percent at fault, he or she receives no compensation.
• Assault and battery: The two crimes of assault and battery are defined thus: assault means placing the victim in fear of serious bodily injury or death, whereas battery is actual offensive touching of a person without his or her consent. The state of North Carolina considers the crimes of assault and battery as one, unlike other states that regard them as separate offenses. This crime is divided into four classes in the state – Class 1A Misdemeanors, Class 1 Misdemeanors, Class 2 Misdemeanors, Class 3 Misdemeanors. Class 1A Misdemeanors attract the highest degree of punishments, whereas Class 3 Misdemeanors, the lowest.
• Medical malpractice: Johns Hopkins Hospital’s study on medical errors in 2016 revealed that medical errors result in an estimated 250,000 deaths each year. Even in 2017, the survey on medical error conducted by IHI/NPSF Lucian Leape Institute and NORC at the University of Chicago found 41 percent of people in the US believed that they had been victims of some form of medical malpractice. Little wonder medical malpractice is considered the third leading cause of death in the US, after heart disease and cancer.
• Dog bites in NC: If a study from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is to be believed, an estimated 4.7 million people suffer dog bites in the US each year. Of these, approximately 800,000 victims need medical care.
  
  This is not surprising considering there were an estimated 89.7 million dogs in the US in 2017. Of course, the onus of keeping their dogs from biting people rests on the dog owners, and they are responsible for following the leash laws.
  
  However, in North Carolina, the person who has sustained a dog bite needs to prove that the dog was dangerous. According to North Carolina’s law, a dangerous dog is one that has killed or severely injured a person without being provoked or has been trained for dog fighting or has been certified potentially dangerous dog by the local animal control board.

Besides these serious injuries, back injuries, neck injuries, spinal cord injuries, catastrophic injuries, electrical injuries, serious burn injuries, criminal actions and others also come under the ambit of personal injuries.

Going Legal On Personal Injury Cases

It is evident from the above-mentioned statistics that the chances of getting injured cannot be ruled out, whether you are at work or driving a car, motorcycle or bicycle, or paying someone a visit or just having a good time in any public place. Injuries happen unexpectedly and may be due to your fault or through someone else’s act of omission or commission.

The statistics of all types of personal injuries are certainly scary, but even scarier are the laws involved in tackling each of these personal injury cases if you think of going it alone without any legal help.

You certainly require a competent and experienced personal injury lawyer in such cases. It is the lawyer who will ensure that you get favorable personal injury settlements or verdicts and get rightly compensated by the at-fault insurance company.

Personal Injury Attorney in NC

Lakota Denton, an Asheville, North Carolina-based personal injury lawyer, is one such lawyer, who has years of experience in getting rightful compensation to his clients in personal injury cases.

Lakota is known as a “trial personal injury lawyer” because he has taken many cases to trial in North Carolina. Lakota has helped many people who have been injured in the Asheville area in motor vehicle accidents and has over 70 five star reviews at Google from happy past clients.

North Carolina Personal Injury Questions

After being in a serious accident, you might have questions related to personal injury law, such as:

• What should I expect from my first meeting with injury lawyer?
• How much would my injury case be worth?
• What is the timeline of a typical car accident case in NC?
• How much does hiring a personal injury lawyer cost?
• Should I talk with the insurance adjuster about my case?

Types of Personal Injury Cases in NC

Lakota Denton handles every type of personal injury in North Carolina. If you have suffered an injury of any kind, it makes sense to talk with a top personal injury attorney who offers a free consultation. Some of the different types of injury cases the firm handles include the following:

Automobile Accidents in NC: Injuries sustained by drivers, passengers, and pedestrians by use of an automobile. Involved in a car wreck or auto crash, view the timeline for a car accident case.

NC Trucking Accidents: Catastrophic injuries resulting from the momentum and mass of large vehicles, such as over-the-road tractor trailers, local haul trucks, carriers in interstate commerce, and all other private and commercial carriers.

Motorcycle Accidents NC: Injuries sustained by riders and passengers by the use of a motorcycle or ATV.

Bicycle Accident in North Carolina: Injuries arising from the use of a bicycle in North Carolina. Contact Lakota R. Denton if you have been injured on your bicycle.

Slip and Fall Accidents: Slip and falls Injuries, including orthopedic, spinal and traumatic brain injuries, that result from hazardous premises and known unsafe conditions.

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI’s): Acute injury to the brain resulting from blows, trauma, including anoxic injuries resulting from the lack of oxygen to the brain. These are often the most misdiagnosed injury during initial trauma treatment. Contact NC injury lawyer Lakota Denton for a free case consultation.

Construction site injuries: Injuries occurring on or around construction sites and projects. Injured in a construction accident? You need the services of a top personal injury attorney.

Wrongful death: Significant injury causing death caused by another.

Premises liability: Injuries sustained due to unsafe premises or known hazards for which the property owner is responsible.

Assault and battery v: Any unwanted physical threat that induces fear or touching that causes injury.

Medical malpractice: Injuries resulting from medical negligence by doctors, surgeons and other health care providers.

Dog Bites: Personal injuries resulting from dog bites from a dangerous dog. Victim of Dog Attack? Contact NC dog bite lawyer Lakota Denton.

Back injuries: Back injuries that severely impact activities of daily living, such as those resulting in loss of function, numbness and paralysis.

Neck injuries: Includes injuries to the neck or upper spine areas.

Spinal cord injuries: Includes injury to spinal cord, resulting in paralysis.

Catastrophic injuries: Significant personal injuries to the spine, spinal cord or brain, as also fractures to the skull and vertebras.

Electrical injuries: Includes injuries resulting from electrocution.

Burn injuries: Includes injuries sustained by burns.

Free Consultation with Our Attorney

If you have been injured and need to speak with a skilled North Carolina personal injury lawyer, Contact Lakota R. Denton for a free, no pressure consultation. We’re here to help. If you have questions, call or email and we would be happy to discuss your case with you. Call us now at (828) 333-5996.

Client Testimonial

”Lakota Denton is an absolutely fabulous attorney! He has a clear desire to empower people who are having to navigate the foreign world of insurance and law. His knowledgeable and thoughtful guidance was immensely helpful and a huge source of comfort to me as I dealt with the highly unpleasant task of settling an insurance claim. I was lucky enough to receive a recommendation for Lakota from a friend, and I am so thankful I did. It is the least I can do to recommend him to anyone in this community who is searching for a great attorney. Full stars!!!” – Kim Granelle (Google Review)