South Dakota Personal Injury Lawyer

Except for a few technical exceptions (for example, injured minor children), South Dakota’s statute of limitations for commencement of an action for personal injury establishes a deadline of within three years after the cause of action shall have accrued. SDCL ‘ 15-2-14(3).

The types of damages that an injured person can recover in a personal injury
lawsuit depends on the facts of each case.

Special damages is the name given to items that cost a readily determinable specific dollar amount, such as medical treatment bills, or lost wages or income.

Compensatory Damages is a category of loss or effect that an injured party suffers because of an injury accident that do not have a readily determinable specific dollar amount. Examples of this category are pain and suffering, emotional distress and mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and so forth. If the lawsuit results in a jury trial, the jurors will determine the monetary value of Compensatory Damages.

Punitive or Exemplary Damages is a category of additional damages reserved for rare
instances where the wrongdoer’s conduct is intentional or malicious.

Prejudgment Interest is added to certain categories of Special Damages.

An injured person is not necessarily required to have a lawyer, but one might ask this question: “Would I take my own appendix out?” Of course not; a trained doctor is the best bet. Likewise, a lawyer is much better for the handling of a case due to education, training, and experience. For an injured person to properly comply with the various Rules of Civil Procedure and the Rules of Evidence, as well as such things as subrogation reimbursement it is virtually impracticable to almost impossible for a non-lawyer to handle his or her own personal injury case properly.

Lawyers are required to adequately explore the underlying facts of a claim before agreeing to take it on. In order to satisfy that requirement, the initial Consultation provides the attorney (or a member of the lawyer’s staff) an opportunity to interview the prospective client about what happened to cause the person to become injured, to ask other pertinent questions, and to review documents such as the Accident Report and medical treatment record, as well as any communications
received from the negligent person’s insurance company.

The Initial Consultation additionally allows the injured person to decide whether he or she feels comfortable with asking the lawyer to handle their claim. In some instances, it may consist of a single phone call if a lawyer wishes to decline a case for various reasons, including liability problems, low or uncertain damages, or some other applicable fact.

The strength and monetary value of an injured person’s claim rests upon the evidentiary foundation that establishes the elements of a personal injury claim. The injured person has the burden of proving those elements with appropriate proof.

This can entail such things as:
– Proof that the other driver was at fault for causing the accident and the person’s injury.
– Medical proof of the injured person’s diagnosis, link of the injury’s cause to the accident.
– Past, present, and future likely effects of that injury; proof of the cost of medical treatment for that injury.
– Proof of lost income or earnings; and proof of other losses or financial consequences.

Proof of these things may have to come from the testimony of doctors or physical therapists, or from the injured person’s employers, family members or friends. The lawyer can explain all this to the prospective client at the Initial Consultation, or as the case goes forward, should the case be taken.