Can You Sue Someone for Injuries From an Assault, Even If They're Criminally Charged?

When criminal charges are filed after an assault, it can feel like the system has taken over and the injured person just waits. The criminal case belongs to the Commonwealth, and it is not designed to make the injured person whole. Here is how a civil claim works alongside it, what restitution does and does not cover, and why the two-year deadline keeps running the whole time.