Personal Injury – How to Establish Negligence
In almost every law school in the country, every first year law student has to take a course called “Torts”.  Within that class, often half of the class is devoted to the subject of negligence. Negligence comprises claims such as wrongful death, slip and falls and car accidents.  Those types of claims happen from someone else's negligence, not from an intentional act. Negligence is composed of four pieces: a duty, a breach of that duty, causation and damages.  You have to have all four pieces for there to be a valid negligence claim.

I Was Injured on the Job.  Do I Have a Personal Injury Case?
A question we get from time to time from clients is, if they were injured in an accident at work, if they have a personal injury claim.  There are two different aspects to these types of cases. On one side, there is the one action rule. Which means that if you're injured on the job you're not able to do that except through workers' compensation.  Workers' compensation guarantees, no matter who was at fault, you are going to get paid under a specific structure. You are not able to pursue the employer. The other side is that there can be a personal injury action even if you're injured at work.  If the injury is caused by someone other than one of your employers or employees of that company, then you may have a third party claim which can be run like any other personal injury case.

Wrongful Death – Can I Bring a Lawsuit Against the Negligent Party?
If you have a loved one who has passed away as a result of someone else's negligence, this is called a wrongful death claim.  We handle a lot of these. The claim is brought on behalf of the estate of that person who passed away and it's also brought on behalf of the individuals who are left behind – parents, siblings, children or others.  These people also may have claims that derive from wrongful death statute in Utah and allow them to receive compensation for the lack of enjoyment they would have had if their loved one had not passed away. Not to mention all of the compensation the decedent would have been entitled to if not for the injuries: their life expectancy, future damages and all of those things that comprise a wrongful death claim.