Personal injury covers many areas in the law. In Oklahoma, our laws hold everyone to a standard of care. When someone breaches that standard of care, they may be negligent.
Negligence is defined as the failure to exercise ordinary care to avoid injury to another's person or property
Ordinary care is defined as the care which a reasonably careful person would use under the same or similar circumstances
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has established several factors to determine whether a duty to exercise care exists. These are:
- Foreseeability of harm
- The moral blame attached to defendant’s conduct
- The extent of burden to the defendant and consequences to the community of imposing a duty on the defendant
- Degree of certainty of harm
- The need to prevent future harm
- The availability of insurance for the risk. Iglehart v. Bd. of County Comm’rs, 2002 OK 76, ¶10, 60 P.3d 497, 502
Foreseeability of those put at risk of harm creates the duty to prevent harm and protect those put at risk, including strangers and/or third parties. Delbrel v. Doenges Bros. Ford, Inc., 1996 OK 36, ¶¶8-12, 913 P.2d 1318, 1321-1322. Members of society have a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect anyone who might foreseeably be endangered by their conduct.
To prevail on a negligence claim, the party bringing the case has the burden of proof. In Oklahoma, the party bringing the lawsuit has the burden of proving:
- They sustained an injury
- The negligence was the direct cause of the injury
- The party being sued was negligent – that they failed to exercise the care a reasonably careful person would have used in the same or similar circumstances
Here are some common areas involving negligence claims:
- Motorcycle accidents
- Other vehicle crashes.
- Nursing home negligence
- Airplane accidents
- Burn Injuries
- Sexual assault, sexual abuse, and Title IX
- Mesothelioma
- Medical malpractice
- Dog bites
When you have suffered a personal injury from someone else’s negligence, you may pursue damages. Oklahoma law allows for the recovery of the following damages:
- Physical pain and suffering, past and future
- Lost wages
- Medical bills, past and future
- Mental pain and suffering, past and future
- Lost earning capacity
- Disfigurement
In determining the amount of damages, the jury is allowed to take into account your age, whether or not you have suffered any previous injuries, whether the injury is permanent and any disfigurement.
If you have been involved in prior claims with similar injuries, or injuries to the same body parts, you are still entitled to compensation under Oklahoma law.
A person who has a disability or condition at the time of the personal injury “is entitled to recover damages for any aggravation of such pre-existing condition or disability directly caused by the injury.” OUJI 4.10. Oklahoma also has what is commonly referred to as the “eggshell plaintiff” rule. This means, even if your condition makes you more susceptible to an injury than a perfectly healthy person, the responsible party is still on the hook for the damages they caused.
The personal injury lawyers at Toon Law Firm have a long and very successful track record in helping people in personal injury cases. Many lawyers throughout Oklahoma refer their clients to the lawyers at Toon Law Firm. If other lawyers think highly of us to handle their clients’ personal injury cases, we are confident you will too. Our experience runs deep. We have helped Oklahomans recover multi-millions of dollars in personal injury and wrongful death claims.
The personal injury lawyers of Toon Law Firm are ready to talk with you about how we can help. Toon Law Firm offers free consultations, and we aren’t paid unless we recover compensation on your behalf. Contact us today at 918.477.7884. Toon Law Firm is the law firm with you in mind. Yes, we can help.
