Personal Injury

Legal Advocacy for Accident Victims in Mississippi

If you have been injured in an accident in Mississippi, you may be dealing with significant pain and concerned about paying your medical bills. In some cases, accident victims may not be able to work at their usual job and may need to get training for a new career. You should bring your claim as soon as possible to make sure that key evidence is preserved. Also, you only have three years after an accident to file a personal injury lawsuit in civil court. Biloxi personal injury lawyer James L. Farrior, III can help you recover damages in a lawsuit if you were injured due to the fault of someone else. He also is skilled in family law matters and criminal cases.

Establishing Liability in a Personal Injury Case

In most cases, personal injury lawsuits are brought under a theory of negligence. This means that a plaintiff will need to show that the defendant had a certain duty of care, the defendant failed to meet the duty of care, and this caused the accident and the plaintiff’s injuries and costs. The duty to use reasonable care can be violated in many different ways. In the context of driving, for example, the defendant might have texted, driven drunk, driven while fatigued, or failed to obey traffic signals and signs.

Mississippi follows the rule of pure comparative negligence. This means that the jury will evaluate the evidence and arguments and assign percentages of fault to both the victim and the defendant. Your damages can be reduced by an amount equal to your percentage of fault. For example, if you fail to repair your brake lights and get rear-ended by someone who was tailgating you, the jury could decide that you were 25% responsible for failing to repair your brake lights, while the driver who rear-ended you was 75% responsible for following too closely. If it determines that the total damages are $100,000, you could recover $75,000.

Mississippi follows the doctrine of several liability. This means that each defendant will be liable for the amount of damages for which they are proportionately responsible. If Defendant A is 25% responsible, Defendant B is 25% responsible, and Defendant C is 50% responsible, and the damages are $100,000, a personal injury attorney in the Biloxi area would need to help you bring all of those parties into the lawsuit. You then could recover $25,000 from Defendant A, $25,000 from Defendant B, and $50,000 from Defendant C.

What must be proven in certain types of personal injury cases may vary. For example, a dog owner in Mississippi can be held liable for a dog bite if the plaintiff is able to prove that the owner should have known of the animal’s dangerousness. In a premises liability lawsuit, a plaintiff will need to show that the property owner or operator had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition that caused their injury before they were injured. If an owner is the party that created the dangerous condition, notice is presumed. Owners are supposed to provide warnings to lawful visitors or repair a dangerous condition.

Damages in Personal Injury Cases

In Mississippi, the damages that a Biloxi personal injury attorney can recover for you depend on the extent and nature of your injuries, including whether the injuries were permanent or temporary. These damages may be economic or noneconomic. Generally, economic damages are tangible and documented, while noneconomic damages are intangible and subjective. Damages often include medical expenses, rehabilitation, nursing care, medication, lost wages, scarring and disfigurement, pain and suffering, and lost companionship. Many states cap noneconomic or pain and suffering damages, but Mississippi does not. Its state Supreme Court has ruled that these caps are unconstitutional.

Hire a Knowledgeable Lawyer to Bring Your Personal Injury Claim

If you were injured as a result of someone else’s negligence or misconduct, you should consult an experienced attorney. James L. Farrior, III has represented Mississippi clients in matters involving serious accidents, as well as criminal and family law cases, in the Gulf Coast region since 1987. We have built a strong record of success based on our personal attention and high standards of ethics. Call us today at (228) 388-1924 or contact us online to schedule an initial consultation with a personal injury lawyer in the Biloxi area. We assist victims in Biloxi, Gautier, Bay Saint Louis, Lucedale, Wiggins, Poplarville, and other areas of Harrison, Jackson, Hancock, George, Stone, and Pearl River Counties.