If you are assaulted or someone in your family is deliberately murdered, this constitutes a criminal action. You may be able to file a criminal complaint with the police, but only the state can bring criminal charges against the accused party.
However, if you are injured because of someone's negligence, or someone in your family dies because of an accident due to negligence or a defective product, this is a civil matter. In such a case, you'll want to contact a personal injury law firm. Denver law offices and those who work in them specialize in the field of tort litigation. These cases are about injuries and damages in which there was no criminal wrongdoing (that said, there is occasionally some overlap with criminal justice; for example, if a defendant's negligence was so egregious – say, due to the influence of drugs or alcohol or a complete and willful disregard for safety – it may rise to the level of "criminal" negligence. In this case, you may file a criminal complaint with law enforcement, but such cases are usually tried separately).
The idea of suing someone for monetary compensation is not a new one; in fact, it goes back several thousands of years. The Laws of Hammurabi speak of such compensation, as does the Mosaic Code found in the Old Testament books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Later, the concept of were-gyld, or "man-price" is found in medieval Anglo-Saxon law, whereby someone responsible for another's injury is required to pay the injured party a sum of gold or silver in compensation.
Incidentally, injuries do not necessarily have to be physical. There are other reasons to contact a personal injury law firm. Denver tabloids or scandal sheets that publish something about you in print or on a website that is false and causes harm to your reputation are guilty of libel; this is considered a form of personal injury, and you are legally entitled to sue for damages. (Unfortunately, this is true only if you are a private citizen. According to several court decisions over the years, high-profile celebrities and public figures are fair game – which is one of the prices one pays for fame and fortune.)
Contact the Werner Law Firm, Denver's foremost litigation law office, to learn more about your rights when it comes to personal injury.
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Jonathan Blocker is an avid business and travel writer. He has been traveling on commercial airlines and air charters for several years.