West Virginia Personal Injury Cases & Accident Info

West Virginia statutes online

This is where you’ll find the West Virginia Code. The website has details about how long you have to bring a case, monetary limits on personal injury cases (which are also known as damage caps), and other important information.

West Virginia Code

To read:

• Do I have a legal case after my accident?
• What is personal injury law?
• What are damage caps?

West Virginia's car accident statutes of limitation

In West Virginia, you have two years to bring both a personal injury and a property damage claim. That means you have two years to file your paperwork with the court, not that your case has to be completed in that time frame.

West Virginia's Statute of Limitations

To read:

• What is the statute of limitations?
• The claims process and how long a personal injury lawsuit takes

Hiring the right West Virginia lawyer

The first meeting with a personal injury attorney is normally free. (Note that other legal specialties, such as family law or domestic relations law, are different.) After that, lawyers work on a contingency basis, which means that they will receive a third of the eventual reward, plus whatever office expenses they incur along the way.

If your case proceeds to trial, that percentage could rise to 40% of the eventual reward or judgment. These numbers aren't determined by law, so don't be surprised if your lawyer suggests something else.

Find a lawyer in West Virginia

Want to hire a lawyer and need some help? Check out some of our best articles:

• Choosing a personal injury attorney – interview questions
• Why might a personal injury lawyer deny my case?
• Preparing to meet with a personal injury attorney
• Negotiating lawyers fees - how do accident lawyers charge? Are there any hidden costs?
• When do you NOT need an attorney after an accident?
• Jurisdiction: Accidents that involve multiple states

Cases of interest in West Virginia

These are some cases of legal importance that came out of West Virginia's courts:

• Virginia v. West Virginia, 78 U.S. 39 (1871): This U.S. Supreme Court case led to West Virginia breaking away from Virginia to become its own state. The 6-3 ruling held that Berkeley and Jefferson counties would join West Virginia during the height of Unionist grumblings. There is an argument that the state itself is unconstitutional, as during the Wheeling Conventions when the votes were being taken for Virginia to secede from the United States, Berkeley and Jefferson counties weren't even allowed to participate in the voting, as they were under Confederate control at the time. Meanwhile, Article IV of the Constitution says: "New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State... without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress." However, as the governor allowed the votes and Congress passed a resolution acknowledging the transfer, West Virginia became its own state.


• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943): The Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution means that students cannot be forced to say the Pledge of Allegiance during school or have to salute the flag. This case was brought by Jehovah's Witnesses and was a huge victory for them, as they are bound by religion not to salute or pledge to graven symbols of temporal government. The court did not discuss this in terms of religious beliefs, but in that the state does not have the power to compel anyone to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.


• West Virginia v. Butler, No. 16-0543 (2017): West Virginia's hate-crime statute does not protect LGBTQ people, and this case – presided over by Justice Paul T. Ferrell – examined the definition of "sex" rather than "sexual orientation." Two men were beaten by a college football player, Steward Butler, who also shouted homophobic slurs. Justice Margaret Workman wrote a strong dissent ("If a man stands on a corner kissing a man and is beaten because he is kissing a man, has he been assaulted because of his sex? Yes, but not simply because he possesses male anatomical parts; rather, the crime occurred because he was perceived to be acting outside the social expectations of how a man should behave with a man. But for his sex, he would not have been attacked."). However, because of that 3-2 vote, LGBTQ West Virginians will lack state-level protections against hate crimes.

Data and statistics

Here is some intriguing data about West Virginia:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Data
• U.S. Census: Statistics
• InfoPlease: Statistics
• Department of Health: Data

West Virginia law libraries

There are many issues you can solve without the help of an attorney. If you don't know where to start, a law librarian can help you. They are usually legally trained, and they can help you both with texts or online research engines like LexisNexis or Westlaw.

• West Virginia University College of Law George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library
• West Virginia State Law Library

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