Personal injuries, as the name implies, are injuries to an individual person. In contrast, crimes are wrongful acts against society. The government punishes those who commit crimes with criminal penalties. For personal injuries, the government does not punish the wrongdoer, but gives the victim the right to pursue a private, civil lawsuit called a tort action against the wrongdoer.

Most civil suits are determined using theories contained in the law of torts (from the Latin word tortus, meaning twisted). Personal injury lawsuits are usually based on the tort law premise that when someone does something that harms another person physically, mentally or financially, the person who suffers the harm ought to be compensated for the loss, and the person who caused the loss should pay. Whether a civil lawsuit based on tort law will succeed depends upon the type of tort committed.

Degree of Faults

Each of the three kinds of torts--negligence, intentional misconduct and strict liability has its own degree of fault that a plaintiff must prove in order to collect from a defendant.

Some of the common laws on personal injury are:

Negligence

Intentional Misconduct

Strict Liability

Burden of Proof

Comparative Negligence

Vicarious Liability

Premises Liability

Dram Shop Laws

One type of personal injury involves the purposeful behavior of one person against another with the intention of harming that person or that person's property. The perpetrator of such an act has committed an intentional tort and is liable for any damages caused by the act. In general, intentional torts are divided into two categories: Intentional torts against people (such as assault) and intentional torts against property (such as trespass).

Once a personal injury has occurred, the defendant has a liability to make good the damage done. "Damages" is the term for whatever is owed to you to compensate for your loss. You and the injuring party, through insurance settlements, or by other means, can agree upon damages. But often the damages offered to you may not fully compensate you for your loss. This is especially true if you have suffered physical injury and have not been able to work.