Injury Lawyers Serving Biloxi and All of Mississippi
if you have been injured because of someone else’s negligence or reckless actions, you deserve to be compensated. In the legal realm, this is commonly referred to as “personal injury”. If another party caused you to experience compensable losses, we can help you recover damages when we determine their area of negligence. This is true even if you were partially at fault for your injury.
Personal injury is a complex area of the law that covers numerous scenarios. These include:
- Motor Vehicle Accidents– Auto accidents, trucking, or a motorcycle injured you. A hit-and-run would also fall into this category in that it is adding a cowardly action to causation.
- Pedestrian Accidents – In the same vein, a motorized vehicle caused you to be injured either because they were not paying attention or following the rules of the road. These can be particularly difficult to recover from because of the size differential between you and the vehicle.
- Premises Liability – Someone did not keep their property in a safe condition and when you visited you were injured through no fault of your own. The property owner may have been negligent in security to keep you safe when you are a visitor.
- Dog Bites/Animal Attacks – We wish all dogs were friendly, but sadly, some are not and their irresponsible owners do not keep their pets from harming others.
- Medical Malpractice– When a doctor, nurse, dentist, hospital, or any medical professional either withholds treatment or provides the wrong treatment and/or drugs, that may be considered negligent medical malpractice. Med Mal is preventable damage and more common than most people realize. In fact, it is estimated to be the third-leading cause of death in the United States.
Seeking Compensation for Personal Injury
If you have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, wrongdoing or by a defective product, you have a legal right to financial compensation for your injuries, including anticipated future losses and noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering.
If you have been seriously injured in Biloxi or anywhere in Mississippi, the experienced, compassionate, and aggressive attorneys at Reeves and Mestayer are here to lift the burden and fight for the compensation you need and deserve.
Compensation for your injuries can be the key to getting the most advanced medical treatment so that you can make the best physical recovery possible. If you are unable to work again or unable to earn as much as you could have (because of your injuries), fair compensation can ensure that your family does not have to worry about how they will pay the bills and/or maintain the standard of living they are accustomed to in the years to come.
When your injuries were someone else’s fault, it is only fair that they be held financially responsible. You may be able to recover compensation for economic and non-economic damages including:
- Nursing home abuse
- Medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Home health care
- Long term care
- Rehabilitation and therapy
- Special equipment and home modifications to accommodate disability
- Lost income
- Future lost income
- Diminished earning capacity
- Disability
- Disfigurement
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Diminished quality of life
- Loss of consortium
- Property damage
Compensatory Damages
The word “compensate” means “to offset an error or undesirable effect.” Compensatory damages, therefore, are meant to make up for an injury sustained by an individual. There are two basic types of compensatory damages: actual and general. Actual damages reimburse an individual for funds paid out-of-pocket for medical treatments, lost wages, substitute transportation, property replacement or repair, and rehabilitation. An accident victim can also sue for general damages, which include estimates of loss not involving actual monetary expenditure. Mental anguish, disfigurement, future medical expenses, future lost wages, long-term pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and loss of opportunity are all examples of general damages.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are meant to punish a defendant for acts of gross negligence or intentional misconduct that cause personal injury to the plaintiff. They are not calculated by the extent of the actual injury, but rather are meant to prevent the defendant or others in similar situations from allowing or causing the same sort of accident to happen in the future. For example, if a person intentionally runs an automobile into a pedestrian, punitive damages may be appropriate.
Nominal Damages
In a case where the evidence of actual damages is slight, the courts may still choose to award the plaintiff a small sum of money to acknowledge that he or she was legally wronged by the defendant. These nominal damages may only be sought in intentional tort cases where a physical injury to the plaintiff is not required for a defendant to be found guilty. If the tort committed is battery, for example, the defendant may indeed have shoved the plaintiff in an offensive manner but without causing physical injury. The plaintiff may then be awarded a minimal amount of nominal damages.
Court Costs and Attorney’s Fees
If a personal injury case is settled in favor of the plaintiff, he or she may also have recourse to recover some of the expenses of taking the case to court. These court costs would include filing and process server fees, obtaining deposition and court transcripts, and payment to translators. There are some instances in which a plaintiff may also be able to recover attorney and expert witness fees, but this is not as common.
Mississippi Personal Injury Considerations
Statute of Limitations – In Mississippi, you have three years from the date of the incident within which to bring a personal injury lawsuit or claim. That is called the statute of limitations. If you fail to follow the statute, your ability to bring the claim may be lost forever.
In a medical malpractice action the SOL is 2 years.
Shared Fault – In some cases of personal injury, you may share fault for the accident. If you do, this will affect how much compensation you can receive from the other party. Known as Pure Comparative Negligence, this means that you can receive compensation reduced by the amount that represents your percentage of fault. For example, if you are in an auto accident and it turns out you were speeding at the time, the jury can decide you were 20 percent at fault for the accident. Your compensation will then be reduced by 20 percent. The shared fault concept is also popular among insurance adjusters, so don’t be surprised if that is brought up during a settlement negotiation.
Caps on Medical Malpractice Damages – In Mississippi, there is a limit on how much you can recover in non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. Pain and suffering compensation is set at $500,000. Pain and suffering encompasses, loss of the enjoyment of life, stress and anxiety, and disfigurement. This cap does not apply to the economic damages you suffer as a result of your accident which may include past and future medical bills, lost income reimbursement, and compensation for an inability to work at your job.
Dog Bites – Mississippi has what’s known as a “one bite” rule rather than a specific statute to cover dog bite personal injury cases. One Bite is based on past cases that have established precedent. That means an owner of a dangerous dog will be held liable for any injuries the dog caused if the injured party can show that the dog owner “should have known” that the animal was dangerous. We will have to prove that the dog exhibited previous dangerous behavior and the owner knew it and should have foreseen the dog would attack again.
Reeves & Mestayer, PLLC has the experience you need when you have been injured and are considering filing a personal injury lawsuit. We understand the law and have decades of experience which we will discuss with you in a confidential and complimentary consultation.
Call us today at 228-300-2754 or toll free 1-855-558-2977 or contact us online to schedule. Remember, the clock is ticking and you are facing time limits for taking legal action, and if you wait too long you may lose your right to compensation, no matter how much you deserve it.
Verdicts & Settlements
$55M
On behalf of 75 passengers and drivers injured or killed in tire defect/rollover cases
$22M
On behalf of seven investors defrauded of their life savings
$12M
On behalf of five people killed in a multi-vehicle collision
$10M
On behalf of children and teachers poisoned by defective spray roofing
$5.5M
Verdict on behalf of a woman who was abducted and raped in a K-Mart parking lot because the store provided no securitySpources
