Personal Injury in South Dakota

When you have been injured by someone else's carelessness, it is important to take some initial steps toward making sure your injury claim can be settled fairly and as quickly as possible:

• Write down everything you can remember about how the injury occurred, including the names, addresses and phone numbers of potential witnesses, police officers, insurance company representatives (or company or workers' compensation representatives if it was a work injury)
• Talk to a South Dakota personal injury lawyer before making any statements, written or verbal, to insurance company adjusters or representatives
• Let anyone you think may be responsible for the injury know right away that you are intending to file a claim against them
• Take steps to protect any evidence you may need to prove your injury, such as your totaled car, photographs of an accident or injury scene, clothing you were wearing, damaged personal belongings, and so forth

How Do I Figure Out Who Is At Fault?

In most cases, in order to collect on an injury claim in South Dakota, you must prove the person who caused the injury was "negligent" - which is a failure to use reasonable care. In South Dakota, you must prove:

• The existence of a duty owed to you by the person who caused your injury
• The other person failed to carry out that duty
• You suffered damages
• The other person's failure caused you to have the injury

If you were careless and your carelessness contributed to your injury, the amount you can recover will be reduced in proportion to your carelessness, under South Dakota comparative negligence law. South Dakota follows the pure comparative fault rule, which provides that you may recover for your damages when your contributory negligence was slight in comparison with the negligence of others, though your recovery will be reduced by your decree of fault.

If more than one person is negligent toward you, each person who has been found negligent is responsible for no more than twice their proportional share of the total damages as long as they are less than 50% at fault. Each individual's relative degree of fault is considered if the fault is disproportionate among several negligent individuals. I

f you have been injured using a consumer product, the seller of the product may be responsible under a "strict liability" legal theory. Under South Dakota law, you would need to prove that:

• The product was defective, which made it unreasonably dangerous
• You used the product the way it was supposed to be used
• The defect caused your injury
• You suffered damages

What Is My Claim Worth?

Under South Dakota law, the person who injured you is responsible for:

• Past, current and future estimated medical expenses
• Time lost from work, including time spent going to medical appointments or therapy
• Any property that was damaged, such as your vehicle
• The cost of hiring someone to do household chores when you could not do them
• Any permanent disfigurement or disability
• Your emotional distress, including anxiety, depression, and any interference with your family relationships
• A change in your future earning ability due to the injury
• Any other costs that were a direct result of your injury

A lawyer will know what type of expert witness to hire to best prove your damages. How Long Do I Have To File A Legal Claim?

In South Dakota, you only have three years to file a lawsuit against the person who injured you. If your lawyer has not been able to come to an agreement with any involved insurance companies, you will definitely want to file a lawsuit before the three-year statute of limitations runs out.

Related Web Links:

- General Personal Injury message boards for more help