A successful personal injury lawsuit in Wyoming requires you seek the help of an attorney familiar with working in the state civil legal system, as personal injury laws and regulations fall under the civil codes of the state. For this reason, Wyoming laws dictate how long you have to file your suit, the kind and extent of damages you can seek, and the manner in which fault and negligence must be assessed and assigned in order for compensation to result from your personal injury claim.
Wyoming is a “Comparative-Fault” State
In some states, you must hold no fault or responsibility for your own injuries in order to file a successful personal injury suit; however, in Wyoming, you can be partially at fault and still seek damages. As long as you are no more than 50 percent responsible for your own injuries, you can still potentially have a winnable lawsuit. In order to see damages awarded, your attorney must establish that the other parties you name in your claim hold 50 percent or more of the blame for the injuries you suffered.
It is also important to note that under Wyoming’s comparative-fault or contributory negligence system, the amount of compensation you’d receive in a successful lawsuit is reduced according to the percentage of fault you hold for your own injuries. In other words, if you are 10 percent responsible, then you can only receive up to 90 percent of the damages possible in case like yours.
Potential Damages for Personal Injury in Wyoming
The damages that can be sought in a Wyoming personal injury claim include financial losses or expenditures associated with your injuries, as well as non-financially based damages for more difficult to define concepts, like pain and suffering. Financial damages that can be included in your claim range from direct expenses like medical costs, property damage assessments, lost wages, and cost of household help, as well as long term losses, like loss of future earnings ability, if your injuries will prevent you from earning a living as you would have been able to prior.
Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims in Wyoming
There is a statute of limitations placed on filing personal injury lawsuits in every state, and in Wyoming, there are two statutes which may apply, dependent upon the kind of injuries you’ve suffered. For libel and slander cases, the time limit for filing is two years, though for all other personal injury claims, you have four years to file.
Notably, the statute counts time from the moment you realize you’ve suffered harm, which in some cases may be delayed, as the onset of injuries only later becomes obvious. Toxic exposure, poisoning, and medical malpractice cases are the most common in which delayed onset of injuries occur.
If you have more immediately apparent injuries, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible to commence the filing of the lawsuit and to provide your legal counsel the time necessary to collect evidence and establish a strong case.
If your injuries only become obvious later, you should still secure legal help as soon as you’re able. This will allow your attorney to assess the situation and begin arguing to have your case heard, even if the statute of limitations at first appears to have passed. An attorney familiar with arguing exceptions under the Wyoming civil legal codes will be best suited to handle your claim.