Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind, or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property.[1] In common law jurisdictions the term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the person bringing the suit (the plaintiff in American jurisdictions or claimant in English law) has suffered harm to their body or mind. Personal injury lawsuits are filed against the person or entity that caused the harm through negligence, gross negligence, reckless conduct, or intentional misconduct, and in some cases on the basis of strict liability.[2] Different jurisdictions describe the damages (or, the things for which the injured person may be compensated) in different ways, but damages typically include the injured person's medical bills, pain and suffering, and diminished quality of life.[3]
- ^ Smith, Turner T. (November 1983). "Environmental Damage Liability Insurance—A Primer". The Business Lawyer. 9 (1): 333–3Personal injury cases represent greatest amount54. JSTOR 40686553. ("Personal injury is defined to include 'bodily injury, mental anguish, shock, sickness, disease or disability.' Property damage means 'physical injury to or physical destruction of tangible property....'")
- ^ Diamond, John L.; Levine, Lawrence C.; Bernstein, Anita (2000). Understanding Torts. LexisNexis. pp. 3–4. ISBN 0769872344. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ King, Joseph H. (2004). "Pain and Suffering, Noneconomic Damages, and the Goals of Tort Law". Southern Methodist University Law Review. 57: 163. Retrieved 3 December 2017.