Personal injury law covers a broad category of types of injuries, illnesses, and deaths resulting from an act of negligence, recklessness, or a deliberate act. While this is a complex body of law, there are certain basic facts that apply to all cases. The key factor in the success of a personal injury claim or lawsuit is establishing that another party committed an act of negligence. A negligent act is a failure to exercise the care for others that another prudent person would do under the same circumstances. To establish negligence, your personal injury attorney must prove that the party in question owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty and that you suffered actual harm as a result.