An assault often leads to criminal prosecution. When one person physically attacks and injures another, the state may bring criminal charges against them. Successful prosecution might lead to someone’s incarceration and other criminal penalties.
However, those punishments do very little to benefit the person harmed in the incident. Sometimes, those injured in an assault decide that they need to take legal action against the person who injured them. A personal injury lawsuit is a reasonable response to a criminal incident that caused injury or financial losses.
Why might a lawsuit be necessary after an assault?
People may have major expenses
An assault can trigger numerous expenses that the victim may have no way to cover on their own. For example, they may have incurred thousands of dollars in medical care costs. Often, assaults involve someone striking or knocking down another person.
That could potentially lead to a brain injury. Someone with a brain injury may not only have major medical expenses but also reduced earning potential because of how their injury affects their job skills. An assault could also cause broken bones or disfigurement, both of which could impact earning potential and generate massive medical expenses.
Additionally, particularly when the assailant is someone that the victim already knows, what they experience could lead to psychological challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. A lawsuit against the individual who caused the incident may be one of the only ways for someone injured or traumatized by an assault to pay for their treatment costs and recoup lost income.
An assault victim deserves justice
A criminal conviction for assault creates some consequences for the defendant, but a personal injury lawsuit can increase those consequences. Additionally, a successful lawsuit can minimize the consequences that the victim of the incident has to accept.
If someone prevails during a personal injury lawsuit, they may feel a sense of closure and justice that they did not obtain when the criminal courts decided to impose a lenient sentence, such as probation. In cases where prosecution did not occur, a lawsuit may be the only path toward justice. The standard of evidence is lower in the civil courts, and people might prevail even if prosecutors did not choose to bring charges against their assailant. Ultimately, going to civil court can be a reasonable reaction to an assault that led to injury and expenses.