If you were injured due to the fault of another party, then you might be interested in seeking out compensation. One of your primary tools for doing this is a personal injury lawsuit. To help you get a better idea of whether or not such a course of action is right for you, here is a bit of information on how personal injury lawsuits work in Connecticut:

What is the Statute of Limitations?

The first thing that you need to know is that there is a strict statute of limitations on when your claim may be filed. If you wait too long, then your case will be thrown out (unless you meet some very specific criteria).

In Connecticut, that time limit is 2 years when filing against a person or company. Some of those aforementioned exceptions include when a minor wants to file (the clock will start counting down once they legally become an adult) and when the injury was not discovered until long after the fact (the 2 years will start counting from the date of discovery).

Who's to Blame?

You also need to consider whether or not you are partially to blame for the accident. More importantly, you need to figure out whether there is evidence that could prove that you were partially to blame.

The main reason for this is that Connecticut uses comparative fault, which effectively means that your compensation can be reduced proportionately to your proven fault. If you were 10% responsible for your injury, and the defendant is able to prove that, then your compensation will drop by 10%.

While losing 10% of your compensation is unfortunate, it's not game-changing. What is game-changing is that you could potentially lose all of your compensation if it is found that you are more than 50% responsible for your injury.

Are There Damage Caps?

Connecticut does not currently have a cap on damages, which effectively means that your non-economic damages may be as high as you want. Your compensatory damages will basically be composed of two elements: economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages consist of stuff like car repair bills and lost wages. In other words, it's everything that cost you a specific number of dollars or will cost you a specific number of dollars in the future. You will need to bring proof of these financial hardships when arguing your case in court.

Non-economic damages are much more subjective, and consist of stuff like pain and suffering. Proving these injuries can also be more difficult, but if your case is strong enough, then you should be able to secure a fair amount of non-economic damages.

For more information, contact Hoffman, Hamer & Associates, PLLC or a similar firm.

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