New Mexico Personal Injury Lawyers

What Is a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

When you suffer an injury caused by another party’s negligence, you may be able to file a lawsuit to recover compensation. This area of law is known as personal injury law.

At Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro, P.C., we believe our clients deserve justice for the harm they suffered. That’s why we have dedicated our resources to recovering the money our clients lost because of an accident.

Common examples of personal injury include the following:

• A car running a red light and hitting another car;
• A truck driver causing a multi-vehicle accident because they were looking at their smartphone and did not stop at a stop sign;
• A customer slipping on a wet floor and breaking their arm because a business owner failing to warn of the hazard; and
• A car swerving into a bike lane and injuring a cyclist.

These are just a few examples. If you were injured in any accident or incident, contact Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro, P.C. Our attorneys focus on various aspects of personal injury, including the following:

• Car accidents,
• Truck accidents,
• Train accidents,
• Motorcycle accidents,
• Workplace injuries,
• Pedestrian accidents,
• Bicycle accidents,
• Dram shop liability,
• Wrongful death,
• Oilfield injuries,
• Burn injuries,
• Spinal cord injuries,
• Product liability,
• Slip & fall,
• Swimming pool accidents, 
• Sexual abuse, and
• Wrongful death.

This list is non-exhaustive. Contact a New Mexico personal injury attorney to discuss your case and we’ll explain your options.

How Can I Prove a Personal Injury?

Negligence is the cause of most personal injury cases. Negligence refers to the failure to uphold a certain standard of care. For most personal injury cases based on negligence, you need to prove four elements:

Duty of Care

The party you are suing needs to owe you a duty of care. This duty of care refers to the party’s responsibility to maintain caution in their actions. The failure to be cautious can lead to harm.

An example of a duty of care is a shopkeeper’s duty to maintain safe premises and ensure no hazards can harm customers.

Breach of Duty

Next, you must prove that the party you are suing somehow breached their duty of care. In the example above, suppose the shopkeeper fails to fix a broken railing.

The railing then breaks as a customer is walking up the steps and the customer injures their hip. The shopkeeper breached their duty to keep their property safe by not fixing the broken railing.

Causation

You must show a causal relationship between the breach of duty and your damages. It’s not enough to suffer injuries and explain how the party breached the duty they owed you. There must be a connection.

Damages

You must give evidence of the damages you suffered due to the accident. This can be a physical or psychological injury. If there was any damage to property, such as a car or bicycle, you may be able to recover compensation for that as well. 

What Types of Compensation Can I Recover?

Compensation recovery depends on the facts of your case. Our experienced personal injury attorneys will help you gather any evidence of your financial losses. Your recovery may include the following:

• Medical expenses. This will include all hospital stays and doctor visits. You may also be able to recover for any diagnostic testing (e.g., x-rays and blood tests), counseling, rehabilitative services, and home nursing care.
• Lost wages. Some accidents require you to take time off work. Any lost income from this time off is recoverable.
• Loss of future earnings. If your injuries from the accident force you to work fewer hours or take a lower-paying job, you are entitled to the difference in wages. You may also be entitled to compensation for vocational rehabilitation to get you into a new position.
• Pain and suffering. The pain and suffering you had to endure from your injuries is also compensable. Included in this can be loss of consortium and loss of enjoyment of life. These types of damages are more difficult to prove because of their subjective nature. An experienced attorney can provide guidance and help you advocate for maximum compensation.

Compensation for wrongful death is slightly different. If your loved one was killed by someone’s negligence, our attorneys will help you pursue a wrongful death claim.

What Happens If I Am at Fault for the Accident?

New Mexico is a pure comparative negligence state. This means that negligence is not a bar to recovery. If you are partly at fault for an accident, you can still recover for the damages you suffered. However, your compensation will be reduced by the percentage of fault you share.

For example, suppose you sustain $100,000 in damages from a pedestrian accident. A car ran a red light and hit you. However, you were jaywalking.

You are found to be 20 percent at fault for the accident. You can still recover damages. However, the court will reduce your award by 20 percent. Therefore, you can recover $80,000.

Having an attorney on your side is essential because insurance companies will take advantage of this rule. Insurance companies operate to make a profit.

They know that the more they can push the blame on you, the less liability they have. And less liability means less money they will have to pay. 

The personal injury lawyers at Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro, P.C. will not let these companies take advantage of you. We will ensure you can get the highest possible compensation.

How Long Do I Have to Bring a Personal Injury Claim?

Evidence can be lost and memories can fade. These are the main reasons limits are placed on bringing lawsuits. Each claim has its own deadline. 

You have three years to bring a personal injury claim. Once this deadline expires, you generally cannot bring a claim anymore.

Note that there may be different deadlines in certain circumstances. For example, suppose you were injured in a car accident because the street was damaged.

In this case, the negligent party might be the city government, a town municipality, or the state of New Mexico, depending on who managed the roadway. Bringing a lawsuit against a government entity usually has different rules. 

Similarly, if the personal injury incident resulted in the death of a loved one, then you would file a wrongful death claim. The deadline to bring a wrongful death claim is also three years.

However, it is three years from the date of death, not the date of the accident or incident. So, if your loved one was in a truck accident and died three weeks later from the injuries, the three-year deadline starts to run on the day your loved one died, not the day of the accident.

We don’t want you to lose the opportunity to get justice. If you or a loved one has suffered from someone else’s negligence, contact our office. We can help you hold them accountable for their actions.

Contact Our Experienced New Mexico Personal Injury Attorneys

We are proud to serve the residents of New Mexico. We have three offices throughout the state. One in Albuquerque, another in Las Cruces, and a third in Carlsbad. 

Our mission is to be accessible to the residents of New Mexico and be their beacon in their time of need. 

Contact Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro and speak to a New Mexico personal injury lawyer for a free consultation. Our award-winning attorneys are here to protect your rights.