Connecticut Personal Injury Attorney

Between 200-300 car accidents occur daily across the state of Connecticut, according to various statistics. From New London, to Hartford, to Stamford, some will be minor fender benders while others will have much more traumatic outcomes. Regardless of the severity, when you are injured in any type of accident it can create tumult in your life and leave you wondering what to do next. Whether you’ve been hurt in a car accident, motorcycle crash, a slip and fall, or a victim of medical malpractice, you can be assured the experienced Connecticut personal injury lawyers at Tapalian Law are ready to assist you. With over two decades of practice focused on helping victims of personal injury, Attorney David Tapalian has helped thousands of clients hurt in all types of accidents throughout MA, RI, CT, and FL, get the compensation they deserve for their injuries.

Tapalian Law helps Connecticut residents with an extensive range of personal injury expertise encompassing car accidents, truck accidents, bus crashes, motorcycle collisions, bicycle and pedestrian injuries, slip and falls, medical malpractice, workers compensation, veterans’ disability, and wrongful death claims.

What To Do After You Are Hurt in an Accident

Seek Immediate Medical Attention

Whether you’ve been hurt in a motor vehicle accident or any other type of accident, it’s critical to seek medical attention right away. If you’ve suffered a serious injury, you will likely be transported by ambulance to the nearest hospital. However, even if your injuries seem less severe, it’s still crucial to see your physician or visit the local emergency room or walk-in clinic as soon as possible. This is significant because a medical exam may detect unseen trauma like internal bleeding, which if left undiagnosed can be extremely dangerous. Timely treatment will provide you the best chance of a successful recovery. In addition, a delay in seeking medical attention can adversely affect the validity of your personal injury claim, therefore time is essential.

Collect Evidence & Seek Legal Help

Keep copies of all medical documentation and health records related to your visits. Specifically, if you were involved in a car accident, obtain a copy of the police report filed for the crash and any witness statements available. If you are able, take photos of the crash scene and any vehicle or property damage. These documents and records will serve as vital evidence in a potential injury claim. Once you are physically safe, contact a personal injury lawyer in Connecticut at Tapalian Law. With over 25 years of valuable expertise focused on injury law, Attorney David Tapalian offers a free consultation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to discuss the details of your accident. Available by phone, Facetime, email, or in-person, he will review the details of your case, answer your questions, and advise you exactly what steps to take next to protect yourself and your legal claim.

Seeking Compensation with a Connecticut Personal Injury Claim

In order to successfully seek compensation for damages with a personal injury claim, the plaintiff (the injured person) must prove there was negligence involved on the part of the defendant (the person who caused the injuries). Negligence is when a person acts recklessly and those actions result in harm to another. There are four elements necessary to prove for a negligence claim.

4 Components of Negligence

• Duty of care- a person is obligated to act with a reasonable standard of care under certain circumstances to prevent harm to others.
• Breach of duty- the expectation of reasonable care is violated, or breached.
• Causation- a connection between the breach of duty and the incident that took place.  The duty was breached and therefore caused an event that otherwise would not have occurred.
• Damages– the event resulted in harm such as injury or loss. May include associated medical costs, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and more.

Let’s translate that into a real-life scenario using a hypothetical car accident.

• Motorists have a responsibility to operate their vehicle safely and obey traffic laws to prevent harm. (Duty of care)
• Driver #1 fails to obey a traffic signal and runs through a red light. (Breach of duty)
• When Driver #1 ran through a red light, they caused a collision with Driver #2’s vehicle. (Causation)
• Driver #2 suffered a broken arm and back injury in the crash resulting in hospital bills, lost wages due to the inability to work while recovering from injury, as well as damage to their vehicle. (Damages)

Evidence is Key

We strongly emphasize – evidence plays an extremely vital role in all personal injury cases. Your CT personal injury attorney will obtain relevant, beneficial evidence to strongly support your claim; these may include police reports, witness statements, camera surveillance obtained from the time of the incident, medical records, and photos of vehicle damage (location and severity of dents and scratches left from the impact may signal the angle, speed, and other details about the collision).

While speeding, drunk driving, distracted driving, and reckless behavior are common causes of car accidents where the breach of duty is clear, in complicated accident scenarios where it is more difficult to assign fault, an accident reconstruction expert may be hired to more accurately portray how the event transpired.

Negligence Laws in Connecticut

While the hypothetical car accident scenario we used is a straightforward example where Driver #1 is 100% at fault, many accident scenarios are not as clear-cut. When one or more parties (or vehicles, depending on the situation) are involved, they may both share fault for the collision. In cases where negligence for an accident is shared by two or more parties, multiple parties may be held liable based on their assigned level of contribution to the incident. Each state has its own laws pertaining to the contribution of negligence in personal injury cases.

Modified Comparative Negligence

The State of Connecticut follows a Modified Comparative Negligence standard, also referred to as Modified Comparative Fault. This means that if one or more parties are deemed to share responsibility for the accident or injuries, one may be able to recover damages from the other party as long as they are not more than 50% at fault.

• A plaintiff can recover damages from the defendant as long as the plaintiff is no more than 50% at fault.
• If the plaintiff’s percentage of negligence is equal or less than the defendants, the plaintiff may collect damages, minus the % of their share of fault.
• If a claimant is deemed 51% or more responsible, they may not recover damages.

If you’ve been hurt in a car accident and you’re not sure if you were partially to blame, consult with a seasoned personal injury attorney in Connecticut who can assess the evidence and discuss your options to build a strong case to negotiate your share of liability so that you may still recover damages.

Deadlines for Filing a Personal Injury Claim In CT

The deadline by which a claimant has to file a lawsuit is called the Statute of Limitations. These are the time limits from the date of the injury during which a claim must be filed. In Connecticut, the vast majority of personal injury claims involving negligence or reckless conduct have a 2-year statute of limitations. This would include most car accidents, motorcycle accidents, other types of vehicle accidents, and medical malpractice suits.  

The clock on the deadline starts to tick on the date the injury took place, or when it was reasonably discovered. In some cases where the damage was not discovered immediately, depending on the circumstances, your CT personal injury lawyer may be able to argue for an extension up to 3 years from the date the injury was discovered assuming reasonable care can be proven.

Connecticut Statute of Limitations: CT Gen Stat § 52-584.

Contact a Connecticut Personal Injury Lawyer at Tapalian Law

If you have recently been hurt in an accident due to the careless and negligent actions of another, don’t wait to get legal help. Time is valuable and seeking medical attention, preserving evidence, and investigating the accident in a timely manner plays a significant role in the success of your injury claim. Attorney David Tapalian offers a free consultation to discuss your accident and answer your questions and concerns. There is no fee to hire us as your attorney, we only get paid when you receive money for your case. Don’t wait- contact Tapalian Law and speak to an experienced Connecticut Personal Injury Attorney today at 401-552-5000, or set up your free consultation online.