How Do You Know If You Have a Personal Injury Case?
It isn’t always easy to tell when you have grounds for a personal injury claim. Generally speaking, if you were injured, and someone else caused your injuries, either directly or indirectly, you likely have a case.
In New Mexico, you have the right to file a personal injury claim if you were injured due to:
- Negligence
- Malpractice
- Misconduct
- Default
Most personal injury claims are brought on the basis of negligence, malpractice, or misconduct. This involves proving several key elements.
You will likely need to prove each of the following elements to have a successful personal injury claim:
- Injury: First, to have a personal injury case, you must prove that you were, in fact, injured. Even if you can prove all of the other elements of your claim, if you were not injured, you do not have a case. Proving your injury typically involves also proving your damages, or the economic and non-economic losses you suffered as a result of your injury.
Legal Recognitions
How Does Shared Fault Affect Personal Injury Cases in New Mexico?
“Shared fault” refers to accidents and other injury-causing events in which multiple parties share some of the blame—for example, a car accident in which a distracted and speeding driver hits someone who runs a red light. In such cases, the state of New Mexico follows a rule known as “comparative negligence.”
Under this rule, you are permitted to bring a personal injury claim against another at-fault party if you share some of the blame for the event that caused your injury. However, you will not be able to recover the full amount you are seeking in damages. Instead, your recovery will be reduced by your percentage of assigned fault.
For example, using the above scenario of the distracted and speeding driver hitting the motorist who ran a red light, the insurance adjuster may assign 50% of the blame to one driver and another 50% to the other. If the driver who was hit suffered a severe brain injury and is seeking $100,000 in damages, he or she would only be able to recover up to 50% of that amount, or $50,000.
As you can see, being found partly at fault can significantly impact the amount you can recover in compensation. It is important that you work with an experienced personal injury lawyer, like ours at Curtis & Co., who can protect your rights and advocate for your maximum recovery.
Damages in Personal Injury Cases
In addition to seeking justice, the main purpose of filing a personal injury claim is to recover monetary compensation for specific economic and non-economic damages related to your injury. Economic damages are losses associated with a specific dollar value. Non-economic damages are losses that are more intangible in nature.
Some examples of economic and non-economic damages include:
- Medical expenses
- Future medical care
- Therapy and rehabilitation
- Prescription and over-the-counter medications
- Medical equipment/devices
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and anguish
- Lost income or wages
- Lost employment benefits
- Loss of earning capacity
- Loss of future earnings
- Home modification costs
- In-home assistance and care
When someone passes away due to the careless, reckless, or wrongful conduct of another, their surviving family members may seek wrongful death damages. Such damages may include things like funeral/burial costs, medical expenses, lost inheritance, lost income, loss of financial support, and lost love, companionship, counsel, guidance, and comfort.
Additionally, it may be possible to recover punitive, or exemplary, damages. These types of damages are not meant to compensate you for your specific losses but, rather, to punish the defendant and help deter others from causing similar injuries and harm. Punitive damages are generally only available in cases involving gross negligence, wanton or willful misconduct, or violence.
How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in New Mexico?
In New Mexico, the statute of limitations on nearly all personal injury cases is three years from the date of the injury or the date on which the injury was discovered/reasonably could have been discovered. This means that you have just three years to bring your claim in court. If the statute of limitations expires before you file your lawsuit, the court will likely dismiss your case.
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What Sets Us Apart:
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25 Years of ExperienceFounding Attorney Lisa K. Curtis has pursued law since the young age of 6. This is all we've ever wanted to do, and we've done it well for decades.
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Treating Clients Like FamilyWe're a smaller firm so we can give our clients the focus and attention they deserve. You've been wronged, and we stop at nothing to make it right.
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Compassionate, Capable AdvocatesWe know how difficult it is not only to experience the injustice you did, but to be brave enough to move forward. We're here with you every single step of the way.
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