Apart from legislation granting a right to sue for a specific harm, personal injury law generally consists of tort law and the civil procedure for enforcing it. This article discusses how tort law depends upon state law.
Under the common law, a person commits a tort when he or she fails to provide a public utility or a public facility to a member of the public. In order to be liable for this tort, the person must have a non-contractual duty to provide the public utility or the public facility to the public. A denial of the public utility or the public facility constitutes a breach of that duty.
The federal government operates one of the largest health care systems in the world when it provides medical treatment and benefits to its members of the armed forces. For this reason, the Medical Care Recovery Act (MCRA) was enacted in order to allow the government to recover its expenses from a third party when the third party is responsible for injuries that have been sustained by an active duty service member, a retired service member, or a dependent of an active duty or a retired service member.
An attorney may be held liable for committing legal malpractice while representing a client. Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney fails to use such skill, prudence, and diligence as lawyers of ordinary skill and capacity possess and exercise. In addition, other parties may be held liable for that attorney's misbehavior.
The Jones Act is a federal law designed to compensate seamen who are injured while working aboard vessels in navigable waters.
PATRICK SHORT
Attorney at Law
603 White Hills Drive, Rockwall, Texas 75087 · (t) 800-759-1484 · (p) 972-771-1441 · (f) 972-771-0377