Personal Injury Lawyers in South Dakota

There are common personal injury claims filed in each of the 50 states. However, South Dakota is home to a personal injury claim that you do not see as often in other parts of the country.

Motorcycle Accidents

Held every August, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is the largest event of its kind in the world. Motorcycles are an integral part of life in South Dakota, as the state has more bikes per capita than any other state. One out of every 12 residents of South Dakota owns a Motorcycle.

Because of a lack of protection, motorcycle riders are highly susceptible to sustaining serious injuries that are caused by accidents or acts of deliberate negligence. Some of the blame for causing the accidents falls on the shoulders of the riders. One risky maneuver is called lane splitting, which is when a motorcycle rider drives between vehicles that are stalled or moving slowly because of traffic congestion.

Slip and Fall

Slip and fall accidents happen frequently at bars, hotels, restaurants, and convenience stores. They can also unfold in office buildings and outdoor recreational venues. Most slip and fall claims involve some type of negligence committed by the operator of a business. From failing to warn a customer about a slick surface to refusing to replace torn carpeting, a business owner can be found liable for a slip and fall incident. 

Although slip and fall incidents do not make the front page news, they can cause severe injuries that require multiple surgeries. For example, the instinctive action that many of us take when we start to fall is to place an arm out to break the fall. This can lead to a severely fractured wrist that takes months to heal.

Medical Malpractice

Negligence committed by healthcare providers can lead to a lifetime of struggling both physically and emotionally. Nurses, physicians, surgeons, and other medical personnel are all capable of committing an act of negligence. For most medical malpractice cases, an act of negligence is not considered intentional. Nonetheless, that does mean the victim does not have the right to seek just compensation.

Healthcare providers can commit a wide variety of medical malpractice, including misdiagnosis, improper treatment, surgical errors, and prescription medication mistakes. Medical malpractice cases often are complex, which means that if you suffered an injury because of medical negligence, you should consult with a personal injury lawyer in South Dakota.

Product Liability

Defective and/or dangerous products can cause harm at home, at work, and in public spaces. Improper warnings and incorrect instructions are two of the main reasons for filing a personal injury claim for a product liability case. Manufacturers are often legally liable for allowing defective and dangerous products to reach the market. Children’s products-especially toys-are a major culprit for causing someone harm. Product liability issues can be a part of an auto accident claim, as a defective part or a dangerous component can cause a serious accident.

The personal injury team at Morgan & Morgan has successfully litigated dozens of product liability cases.

Premises Liability

Premises liability refers to incidents that are caused by a defective or dangerous condition on someone else’s property. This type of personal injury claim can occur just about anywhere, from a commercial property like a gas station to the private property owned by your neighbor. Premises liability claims often require the support of witness accounts unless you can obtain video footage that was recorded at the time of the personal injury incident.

If you have suffered injuries, property damage, and/or any other type of financial loss, you have the right to file a personal injury claim to recover your financial losses. Compensatory and punitive damages represent the two broad categories of monetary damages. Filing a personal injury claim for monetary damages requires the legal skills of a personal injury lawyer in South Dakota.

Special Compensatory Damages

Also referred to as economic damages, special compensatory damages take care of the financial losses that are associated with a personal injury incident. Medical expenses by far represent the most substantial economic loss that is caused by a personal injury incident. The combined cost of diagnostic tests, treatment programs, physical therapy, and assistive devices can run into thousands of dollars. Add to that emergency care, hospital stays, and prescription medications, and your medical bills might top $10,000.

Special compensatory damages also recover the cost of repairing property damage. The most common type of property damage that falls in the special compensatory damages category is the damage done to a motor vehicle. If you missed work for any amount of time, you have the right to recover special compensatory damages for lost wages.

General Compensatory Damages

Considered non-economic damages, general compensatory damages cover issues such as mental anguish, loss of companionship, and pain and suffering. Calculating a dollar amount for special compensatory damages is difficult to do because this type of monetary damages does not come with a price tag. A personal injury lawyer in South Dakota will review your case that includes an in-depth analysis of your mental and emotional state. Most personal injury claims seek some type of general compensatory damages.

Wrongful Death Damages

Wrongful death damages also cover pain and suffering, as well as mental anguish and loss of companionship. The pain of losing a loved one often does not diminish over time. There is also the issue of losing financial support if the deceased was the primary financial supporter of the family. Wrongful death damages also cover economic losses that include the cost of medical care before death, as well as funeral and burial expenses.

Punitive Damages

A judge or a jury does not award punitive damages to help a plaintiff recover financial losses. Punitive damages punish a defendant for committing at least one act of negligence. For cases that involve malicious negligence, the financial award for punitive damages is typically greater than it is for simple negligence cases. High-profile injury cases that involve defective products or the deliberate prescription of the wrong medications can lead to substantial awards for punitive damages.

Like every other state, South Dakota has established a deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit. Referred to as the statute of limitations, the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit in South Dakota is three years from the date of the incident. Three years seems like plenty of time to file a personal injury lawsuit. However, you should act with a sense of urgency by filing your civil lawsuit as quickly as possible after the personal injury incident. With medical bills piling up fast and a significant amount of lost wages, you cannot afford to delay the filing of your lawsuit.

If you fail to meet the three-year deadline established in South Dakota for filing a personal injury claim, you can expect the attorney representing the defendant to submit a request for dismissal on your late lawsuit. After receiving word that you failed to meet the statute of limitations, the court will dismiss your personal injury lawsuit.

South Dakota has enacted comparative fault laws for addressing personal injury cases in which a plaintiff files a lawsuit against a defendant. If you suffered an injury in South Dakota and the judge or jury rules you are partially responsible for the incident that caused the injury, then your compensation reduces by the percentage of the fault attributed to you. For example, if you win a judgment for $50,000 for a slip and fall incident, but the court rules you should accept 20 percent of the blame for the incident, then your compensation decreases by $10,000 to $40,000.

There is too much on the line for you to go it alone when filing a personal injury lawsuit. The defendant will have competent legal representation that you cannot match in terms of litigation skills. A personal injury lawyer in South Dakota becomes your advocate when arguing your case in front of a judge or jury.

A personal injury lawyer also investigates the cause of your injuries to determine whether negligence played a role. Your attorney collects and organizes evidence such as security camera footage and photographs of property damage. When you meet with an attorney at Morgan & Morgan for a free case evaluation, you should submit copies of every medical bill. This helps your attorney calculate the value of the monetary damages that you deserve.

Schedule a free case evaluation today with one of our personal injury lawyers in South Dakota.