If you are standing in a line waiting to purchase a movie ticket and another person hits you without provocation and causes you to be injured, you can sue that person for "battery".
You must file your lawsuit within two years from the act date to comply with the California Statute of Limitations Section 335.1. This section provides the time limits for filing battery cases and negligence cases.
The attacker is legally responsible for all your damages, including medical bills, lost wages or income, and pain and suffering.
Although you have the legal right to sue the attacker, the problem most often is collecting the money judgment that can result from the Court of jury verdict.
Recent California Court decisions have held that depending on the wording of an insurance policy that the attacker may have, the insurance company for the attacker may not have to pay you for their policyholder's intentional act.
Battery Vs. Negligence
Medical battery is an intentional tort, or act, that causes harmful or abusive contact with another person.
Negligence is a failure to behave with the level of care someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same occasions.
For example, a doctor commits battery when they perform surgery without consent. They are negligent when they perform surgery without first discussing all material risks.
In medical malpractice, the conduct is usually unintentional and occurs out of some form of negligence. In medical battery, the key difference is intention. Medical battery occurs when a healthcare professional touches a patient without permission.
So there is a practical difference between being injured by an intentional act and a negligent act. You can still sue an uninsured person or business for injuries caused by their intentional acts. The problem is collecting the money judgment.
If you have been injured by the intentional or negligent acts of another, you should contact the Coachella Valley Personal Injury Lawyer or the Palm Springs Personal Injury Lawyer at Barry Regar APLC to have your case evaluated and your legal rights explained during a free consultation.