Understanding Good Samaritan Laws

In the area of personal injury law, the vast majority of cases will come because one person was injured due to the negligence of another. The most popular example is a slip-and-fall accident where someone walks on the wet floor of a business and ends up getting hurt. The business should have cleaned up the water on the floor, or at least put up a warning sign, so the courts will likely find that the business was negligent in their lack of action.

In some cases, however, something called “good Samaritan laws” will be applicable. These laws are put in place to help encourage citizens to help each other when in need by removing their liability should they cause harm in the process. For example, if you see that someone is drowning in a pool, pull them out, and administer CPR, you may inadvertently break their ribs in the process of saving their life. The good Samaritan laws will protect you from a lawsuit that could be filed for breaking the ribs. Even if you end up causing more harm than good, these laws will provide you with protection.

Limits of the Good Samaritan Laws

While these laws are meant to protect people from lawsuits when they were just trying to help, they don’t offer unlimited protection. The courts can still find you negligent if you act in a grossly negligent or reckless way in your attempt to help. To put it simply, if the courts determine that you acted in a way that was unreasonable for the situation, regardless of your intent, and it caused harm, you can still be held responsible in a personal injury or wrongful death case.

How to Handle a Personal Injury Suit with a Good Samaritan

Whether you have been injured because of the actions of someone who had a good intention, or you are being charged in a case after attempting to be of assistance, you need to take careful legal steps. Cases involving the good Samaritan laws are especially complex and require an experienced attorney who knows not only the way these laws are written, but also how judges have handled them in previous cases. Please contact Abdallah Law page to go over the specifics of your case so we can help to determine what the best course forward may be. We’ll offer you honest and objective advice, and if going to court is the right move, we’ll aggressively represent your interests.