What Kind Of Cases Do Personal Injury Lawyers Handle? (2025)

What Do Personal Injury Lawyers Cover?

Personal injury lawyers practice in a field called “tort law.” Tort law determines when people and businesses are liable for their actions that result in reputational, financial, or physical injuries to someone else.

So what kind of cases do personal injury lawyers handle in this field? Tort law falls into the following three categories based on the level of care the party must exercise: intentional torts, negligence and strict liability.

Intentional Torts

Intentional torts happen when someone injures you or your property through a deliberate act. They do not necessarily need to intend to cause the damage or injury. But they must intend to perform the damaging or injurious act.

For example, someone technically trespasses on your personal property when they take it. If they mistakenly thought it was theirs, though, picking it up would not constitute a trespass. Similarly, throwing a rock at you could constitute a battery or assault. But accidentally flipping a rock at you when they drive away will probably not qualify.

Some common intentional torts you might encounter include the following:

• Battery when the other party deliberately makes harmful or offensive contact
• Assault when the other party intentionally attempts or causes fear of a battery
• Trespass to chattels when the other party wrongfully takes your property
• Defamation of character when someone knowingly spreads lies about you

Proving the other party’s intent can be difficult because your lawyer must show that the circumstances imply their intent or they admitted their intent. Moreover, intentional torts do not cover inadvertent actions.

Negligence

Negligence covers harmful actions that were unintentional but also failed to account for the danger to others. Specifically, your lawyer must prove the following elements in a negligence case:

• Duty of care
• Breach of duty
• Loss
• Causation

The duty of care comes from the relationship between the parties. For instance, road users owe a duty of care to other road users to drive carefully. Doctors owe a duty of care to patients to provide competent and skilled care. Landowners owe a duty of care to guests to reasonably find and fix hazardous conditions.

A breach of duty results from carelessness. Breaches are determined using an objective standard. The law compares the other party’s actions to those expected of a reasonable person in the same circumstances. If they acted unreasonably dangerously, they may be liable for any injuries or property damage they cause.

Finally, your lawyer must prove you suffered losses caused by the accident. Accidents can cause many types of losses, including medical expenses, lost income and pain and suffering. Many cases fall under negligence, such as car accidents, medical malpractice and premises liability.

Strict Liability

Strict liability covers certain high-risk activities, such as:

• Manufacturing products
• Owning dogs
• Keeping wild animals

Perhaps the most common application of strict liability occurs in product liability cases. Since it can be difficult to identify what went wrong with the manufacture of a product, injured people can simply prove the product had a defect that injured them. Most states allow injured people to pursue claims for a design, manufacturing or warning defect, although state law may vary in what qualifies as a defect.

Certain states also apply strict liability to dog bites. In these states, a dog attack victim can pursue a claim against the dog owner for their injuries even if the dog owner had no notice of the dog’s vicious nature and took reasonable steps to restrain it.

Liability Insurance and Personal Injury Claims

Personal injury lawyers usually start cases by filing insurance claims. Liability insurance protects third parties injured by the policyholder’s actions. Some examples include auto insurance for car accidents and homeowners’ insurance for slip and fall injuries.

The one wrinkle in what personal injury lawyers can do with auto injuries happens in no-fault insurance states. Most states only require bodily injury liability (BIL) and property damage liability (PDL) insurance. For example, Texas insurance minimums require BIL coverage of at least $30,000 per victim.

By contrast, a minority of states use no-fault insurance. For example, Massachusetts insurance laws require vehicle owners to buy personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. This coverage is intended for minor accidents. Thus, personal injury lawyers in Massachusetts may not take on auto accidents unless they exceed the PIP threshold and the no-fault system does not apply.

It’s important to note that, regardless of the specific case type, many injury lawyers will provide legal services for a contingency fee paid at the end of the case. As a result, the lawyer will start on the case without requiring upfront payment, allowing you to save your resources for your medical care and living expenses.

Contact ConsumerShield to Learn More About Personal Injury Law

When you face losses due to mental, physical or reputational injuries, you need a lawyer to help you recover compensation. ConsumerShield focuses on educating people about their rights and finding skilled lawyers to advise them. Contact us today for a free case review and a referral to a lawyer.