In simple terms, a personal injury is any harm caused to your body, mind, or emotions by another person, company, or group. It can be physical, like a broken leg or back injury or emotional, such as anxiety or depression caused by an incident. Even defamation (saying or writing things that damage someone’s reputation) is part of this.

There are three major ways someone can be held legally responsible in a personal injury case: negligence, strict liability, and intentional wrongdoing.

Negligence is the most common. It simply means someone didn’t take enough care and, because of that, you got hurt. It could be a driver speeding through a busy neighbourhood, a shop that forgets to put up a “wet floor” sign after cleaning, or even a dog owner who lets their dog roam free and bite someone. The law expects everyone to act reasonably and avoid putting others in danger. If someone fails to do that and causes injury, they can be held liable.

Strict liability, on the other hand, applies even when the person or company didn’t act carelessly or on purpose. For instance, if you’re injured by a defective product like a contaminated drink or a faulty appliance, you don’t need to prove the manufacturer was negligent. They’re responsible just because the product was unsafe. It also applies to dangerous animals or hazardous activities like handling chemicals or explosives. In such cases, the law doesn’t care whether the harm was intended or not. What matters is that someone got hurt.

Intentional wrongs refer to actions done deliberately to hurt someone. This includes things like defamation (libel or slander), assault, battery, false imprisonment, or emotional abuse. For example, if someone spreads lies about you in the media or online, and it damages your reputation, you can sue for defamation. One famous case involved actor Tom Cruise, who successfully sued a newspaper for publishing false claims about his marriage and personal life. The court awarded him a large sum in damages because the statements were proven false and harmful.

At the heart of every personal injury claim is the goal of helping the victim recover. This may mean covering medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress, or other costs caused by the injury. The idea is to try to put the injured person back in the position they were before the incident.

To win a negligence case, four things must be shown: that the person who caused the injury owed you a duty of care; that they broke that duty by acting carelessly; that their actions caused your injury; and that no legal defences excuse their behaviour. Let’s look at some real-life examples to understand this better.

Road accidents are one of the most common causes of personal injury claims. If a driver is reckless, drunk, distracted, speeding and causes an accident, they can be held responsible. It doesn’t matter if you’re the driver, a passenger, or a pedestrian; you may be able to claim damages if you were injured due to someone else’s actions.

Slips and falls are another frequent example. If you fall and get hurt on someone else’s property because the area was unsafe, like a broken staircase or a dark corridor without lighting, you may have a case. In one famous UK case, a man fell to his death at a guesthouse because the handrail didn’t reach the bottom of the stairs, and the light bulb was missing. The court ruled in favour of the victim’s wife because the property was unsafe.

Product-related injuries are also common. In a landmark case, a woman became ill after drinking ginger beer from a bottle that had a decomposed snail inside. The court held the manufacturer responsible, establishing the principle that companies owe a duty of care to the final consumer of their product. Similarly, Nigerian courts have held that makers of food, drinks, drugs, and even electronics must ensure their products are safe for the public.

Assault and battery are intentional personal injuries. These happen when someone threatens you or physically harms you. Even a minor physical touch can count as battery if it’s done in a hostile way. Threatening someone with violence, even without touching them, can be considered assault if it causes fear. In one legal case, a man was surrounded and threatened during an argument, and the court ruled that the threat alone was enough to count as assault.

Dog bites and animal attacks also lead to personal injury claims. Pet owners are expected to keep their animals under control. If someone is hurt by a dog known to be aggressive, the owner can be held strictly liable, even if the dog had never bitten anyone before. A child who was bitten in such a case was awarded damages because the dog owner failed to take proper precautions.

Medical negligence occurs when healthcare professionals make mistakes that harm a patient like giving the wrong treatment, misdiagnosing a condition, or causing injury during surgery. In one case, a man’s fingers became stiff after a doctor failed to perform a procedure properly. The court ruled in favour of the patient, saying the hospital was responsible for its staff’s mistakes. Nigerian courts have also clarified that doctors can only be found guilty of negligence if their conduct falls below the standard expected of a competent medical professional.

Accidents at work are another common source of personal injury claims. If someone is hurt on the job due to unsafe equipment, poor training, or bad working conditions, the employer can be held responsible. For example, a labourer who injured his hand while laying pavement stones successfully sued his employer after it was discovered that the materials provided were faulty.

In Nigeria, workers are protected under the Employee Compensation Act, 2010, which guarantees compensation for workplace injuries, no matter who is at fault. Other laws like the Occupiers’ Liability Act, Labour Act, and state tort laws such as Lagos State’s Law Reform also provide legal backing for various kinds of personal injury claims.

In the end, personal injury law is about fairness. If someone else’s carelessness or harmful action causes you pain, the law gives you a path to seek justice and support your recovery.

This article is meant for general understanding. If you believe you’ve suffered harm due to another person’s fault, it’s best to speak with a qualified lawyer who can guide you based on the facts of your case.

Michael O. Odunlami, Esq, is a Lagos-based personal injury lawyer at Claybrook Attorneys. He can be contacted via [email protected]  and https://www.claybrookattorneys.com/personal-injury-claims/ 

Views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of TheCable.