For many of us, figuring out the law can be a hard task. There are so many different codes, laws, rules and whatnot that may just seem too difficult to navigate. You wouldn’t try and perform heart surgery on yourself, so that’s why you go to a doctor. The same principle applies with lawyers; better to find an expert that try and navigate everything yourself.

Just like doctors, lawyers can specialize in many different areas. While yes, they all went to law school and passed the Bar exam, a criminal law lawyer may not have the same expertise as an environmental law lawyer. There is just too much to cover.

The same goes for personal injury lawyers. If your situation applies, it’s best to find a great personal injury lawyer to represent you and your case. How do you know if you need one? Keep reading to find out.

What is personal injury?

First things first, we must define what personal injury is. A very broad term is unintentional injuries, of which about 31 million occur every year. The easy answer is it’s injury, either physical or mental, to an individual. These injuries have to occur as the cause of something else. If you twist your ankle playing soccer, that would not fall under this category. However, if you injured your back and ended up with a spinal cord injury due to working conditions, then you should start thinking about finding a lawyer.

Do you have the grounds for a lawsuit?

So, if you’ve determined that your injury is a personal injury, it’s time to think about if you want to pursue a lawsuit. To do this, you must prove that there is clearly defined harm. It makes sense, all cases require evidence and a personal injury case is no different. There are two types of personal injury: physical and emotional.

So, you must be able to prove that there was harm. With a physical injury, this is easy. You can simply show your physical injury, provide hospital records or a combination of both.

Proving emotional injury is a bit more tricky, as you cannot simply show them your emotional harm as you could, say, with a broken arm. You’ll want to be able to prove your injury beyond a reasonable doubt, so be sure and be able to provide as much proof as you can.

Determining Definable Duty

Diving even deeper into legal terms, what is a definable duty. Basically, it’s the idea that whatever harm was done to you, the other person or persons had a duty to not do that to you.

Think about going to the doctor to have heart surgery. It is the doctor’s definable duty to provide quality care for you and your heart in order to keep you healthy and safe. But, what if the doctor makes a mistake and something goes wrong during the surgery? The doctor has broken his definable duty and could be held liable in such a case.

Let’s say, for example, that the hospital lost power and a mistake was made during the procedure. In all likelihood, the doctor would not be held liable because something happened outside of the doctor’s control. He as the doctor did not breach his duty.

Finding the Right Lawyer

All personal injury situations are unique and it can be messy to try and sort out the legal wording and figure out exactly what the best case for your situation is. In this case, it’s usually better to try and meet with a professional.

Even if you’re 50/50 on whether or not you could pursue a lawsuit, it’s better to be safe than sorry and make sure you have all of your bases covered.

Finding a lawyer can be an intimidating process, as you’re not sure who to look for. The easiest way is word of mouth. Try talking to people you know and see if they can recommend someone. If you want to start “higher up”, go to your state’s bar association and ask for recommendations for your specific case. You don’t want to simply pick out the first name you see on a billboard. Browse lawyer reviews and see if you can find if they’ve worked similar cases to yours.

At the end of the day, you want to do what’s best for you and being able to take care of your physical or mental health is a top priority. Don’t put it off to the side in the hopes that things will eventually get better.