What do slip and fall accidents, car accidents, and dog bites have in common? A personal injury lawyer can represent the victims of these accidents.
You likely know someone who suffered injuries in a vehicle crash and sought compensation through an insurance claim.
While personal injury cases come in wide varieties and with many circumstances, they all have one thing in common – claimants should always seek help from a personal injury attorney. Even if you believe your case is simple, obstacles and complicated issues can arise that a professional should address.
Once you have a lawyer, you have a better chance of obtaining the full compensation you deserve. While you might try to save money by going it alone, this is rarely successful. The right lawyer regularly increases your compensation, so it is always worth seeking legal help immediately after an accident and injuries.
Injuries you can suffer in an accident
Many accidents can cause victims to experience serious injuries. Accidents like car crashes, slips, and falls can cause victims to experience permanent injuries. These long-term injuries include traumatic brain injuries, paralysis, crushed body parts, broken bones, and organ damage. These injuries can become very expensive for victims to manage on their own.
Medical bills
One of the most common damages that personal injury victims list in their claims is medical expenses. A victim’s injuries can become so severe that they will have to pay thousands – or millions – of dollars to recover from their accident. They will be responsible for paying for laboratory costs, hospital bills, pain medications, surgery expenses, and rehabilitation services. Over time, these expenses can quickly add up to an overwhelming degree, especially when the victim’s injuries are permanent.
Missing work
Another area of a victim’s life affected by a personal injury accident is the victim’s ability to work. When you suffer from severe spinal cord injuries and head trauma, there are very few occupations that you can have without accommodation and assistance. Your injury might permanently compromise your ability to work, affecting your ability to support yourself. You can suffer tremendous stress due to a significant lack of money and medical bills.
Physical pain
Medical expenses and lost income are not the only damages you can face after your accident and injuries. Even after receiving medical treatment for your injuries, you are still at risk of experiencing significant amounts of pain. This remaining pain can happen while you are recovering from surgery or during the rehabilitation stages of your injury. Your injuries may be so extensive that you have to have multiple surgeries performed, which can take a toll on your body. Some injuries result in chronic pain for years to come.
Mental anguish
Just as equally painful or more, you are at risk of suffering from severe psychological trauma following your accident. Incidents like truck accidents, dog attacks, or falls can be traumatizing for someone to experience. These accidents can cause you to experience anxiety and depression afterward. In extreme cases, victims can experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
Personal injury claims
Personal injury law allows victims to hold the person responsible for their accident accountable for their losses. Although each personal injury accident is different, they all result from another party’s reckless actions. For example, a car crash might result from a distracted driver. A slip and fall might occur because a business owner allowed dangerous hazards to exist. When another person or party acts negligently towards you, you have the right to file a personal injury claim against them. You should never face this complex process without proper legal representation.
Insurance company settlements
Whether you are dealing with a premises liability claim or a car accident claim, one thing remains the same: insurance companies will make your life difficult. Insurance companies will attempt to discredit the validity of your claim, even when your injuries are legitimate.
Even more insulting, they will pretend to offer you a deal that serves your interests when it does not. While insurance companies might make settlement offers to personal injury victims, they are often much less than the victim deserves.
Going to trial
Another route that you can take for your personal injury claim is to proceed to a trial. The courts will determine whether you and the insurance company can reach a mutual agreement outside of court. If that does not happen, your claim will then proceed to trial.
Even when your claim proceeds to trial, you are still capable of reaching a settlement agreement with the insurance company at any point before the trial verdict. Still, some benefits might come with taking your claim to trial. One of these benefits includes access to additional forms of compensation not offered in settlements, such as punitive damages, should they apply in your case.
Help from a personal injury lawyer
When you understand the basics of an injury claim, you may wonder why you need a personal injury lawyer to represent you. It is one thing to be familiar with the process; it is another matter entirely to go through it alone. In addition to filing paperwork and gathering different documents for your claim, you must stay on your toes and remain aware of any tricks that insurance companies will use against you.
While juggling these tasks, you must also focus on healing from your injuries and worry about how you will cover your household expenses. You can quickly become overwhelmed.
As a personal injury victim, you want to ensure that you focus your time and energy on the right things. While these tasks are essential for your legal matters, they can take up a significant amount of time and energy you can and should dedicate to your recovery. Instead of running yourself ragged while dealing with your claim, you can rely on a personal injury lawyer to address your legal concerns effectively. With a personal injury lawyer on your side, you strengthen the chances of receiving the best outcome for your claim and alleviate your stress.
Calculating full compensation
Due to medical issues and overall stress, some personal injury victims forget that there are more damages that they can sue another party for. In addition to economic damages like medical expenses, you can pursue compensation for non-economic damages like loss of companionship and loss of enjoyment of life. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you assess and prove the actual worth of all possible damages.
Questionable liability
You need a personal injury lawyer on your side to help you efficiently prove the other party’s liability. It is not as easy as you imagine to prove the other party’s liability in an accident. Still, a personal injury lawyer can use their experience to establish the other party’s negligence. The type of evidence that a personal injury lawyer will need for liability depends on the type of accident, and they can identify what evidence you need to prove your case.
For example, the requirements needed to prove a property owner’s negligence differ from the evidence required to prove the negligence of a commercial truck driver. The right attorney will have handled your type of case before and understands what is necessary for a successful claim.
Assistance with negotiations
Another reason a personal injury lawyer should assist with your case is to help you with the negotiation phase of your claim. One of the ways that your claim will resolve itself is through a settlement offer. Instead of coming to the table with an open mind, insurance companies will use several tactics to intimidate you. When you have a personal injury lawyer on your side, insurance companies are not as quick to take advantage of you. Even if they still attempt such tactics, you can feel confident knowing that you’ve paired with someone who can stop them in their tracks.
Getting greater settlements
You also need a personal injury lawyer who can seek a more significant settlement for you. Your personal injury lawyer can use their negotiation skills to stop insurance companies from lowballing you and convince them to provide you with a more significant amount of compensation. There are many ways that personal injury lawyers can achieve this, but it all depends on the evidence presented in the claim. For example, the more likely you can prove the other person’s liability, the more open the insurance company will be to offering you a more significant settlement.
Having a lawyer also means that litigation is a distinct possibility if the insurance company does not make a reasonable offer. Knowing you might file a lawsuit might induce the insurer to cooperate and pay you what you deserve without the need for litigation.
Contingency fees
A personal injury lawyer provides excellent legal representation at reasonable prices. Most personal injury lawyers provide legal services to their clients on a contingency fee basis. A contingency fee basis is a payment arrangement where a lawyer agrees to provide legal services for you in exchange for a percentage of your compensation when you win.
That means that instead of being responsible for paying your lawyer hourly fees, their compensation will come from an agreed percentage of your compensation – only if you win. If your attorney does not obtain compensation for you, they do not receive legal fees.
Trial representation
If your claim goes to trial, you also need a personal injury lawyer to represent you. When your claim proceeds to trial, you want to give yourself a fighting chance against the insurance companies and their legal defense teams. In every step of the process, preparation is vital for the success of your case.
Your personal injury lawyer can gather the proper evidence for every aspect of your litigation, from discovery to witness testimony. If your personal injury lawyer is confident enough to take your claim to trial, that is a method that often leads to a more significant settlement offered by insurance companies.
Additional support
For every step of your claim, having a personal injury lawyer in your corner can help provide additional support. A personal injury lawyer can file your paperwork and keep you organized throughout your claim. A personal injury lawyer can assist you if you need someone more skilled in negotiations with insurance companies than yourself.
Your lawyer can also prepare your claim for trial and provide high-quality representation. Throughout every step of the claim, your personal injury lawyer can also provide additional services for you regarding your medical services or any emotional support you need following your accident.
Peace of mind
Most importantly, you need a personal injury lawyer to bring peace of mind as you proceed with your personal injury claim. Once you decide to file your claim, you can discover that the process can be overwhelming and stressful. It can feel frustrating to keep up with various documents and avoid insurance companies pressuring you to make a decision.
A personal injury lawyer can alleviate that stress by explaining the process and bringing a sense of simplicity to your case. You can also feel more comfortable knowing that someone knowledgeable about this area of law is taking the lead on your case.
Consult a personal injury lawyer about your situation today
When you have suffered severe injuries due to another person’s negligence, you deserve to have quality legal representation. Consulting with a personal injury lawyer will help you obtain the assistance and support you need for your case. Even though you have the right to represent yourself throughout your claim, you do not have to – and should never – go through the process alone. Consult with a personal injury lawyer who puts your needs first today. Consultations are free with no obligation.
