When an accident happens, the people involved in the accident are usually injured or they can be affected in many ways. Regardless of whether it can be a car accident or the loss of your loved one because of the negligence of someone else, the process you can take to recover and attempt to live a normal life are complicated and overwhelming.
It can be challenging to deal with medical bills, emotional trauma, and handling the insurance claims. Besides, you just desire to be in the same position that you were before the accident happened. This is the reason why it’s important to hire a Lawrenceville Personal Injury Lawyer to help you fight for your rights. This article discusses what you need to know about hiring a personal injury attorney.
The benefits if hiring a personal injury attorney
When you are involved in an accident, it’s important to focus on your recovery. But at-fault parties need to compensate you for the injuries you sustained in the accident. So you need to find a personal injury attorney to work on your behalf. Here are some of the benefits you can have for hiring a personal injury attorney:
A personal injury attorney can be focused on personal injury law
Quite often, attorneys practice in several fields of the law. Therefore, it’s important to find a law firm that deals with personal injury law. In other words, the attorneys at this law firm should only focus on personal injury law.
Personal injury attorneys usually help people who get injured through the negligence of other people. While personal injury law has several categories, an attorney that focuses only on personal injury is likely to be more experienced than an attorney that deals with several areas of the law simultaneously.
Your recovery is their top priority
Ideally, if you seek the services of a personal injury, it means you have been injured. You may be going for therapy treatments and doctor’s visits to help you return to the previous self. As a result, there are good chances that you can be too busy to handle the legal process yourself.
Further, it can be a time-consuming process to settle a claim. A personal injury attorney works hard to make sure that you receive a fair compensation and that the recovery is smooth and quick.
Even better, hiring a personal injury attorney can allow you to have their wide network of connections to health professionals and treatment centers, a thing that can speed up your recovery process. Your personal injury attorney can investigate, advocate, and even litigate while you are recovering to make sure that you receive the compensation that you deserve.
Insurance can be complex and confusing
Many people have insurance but few of them understand it well. This is not surprising because it can also be confusing for some experienced attorneys. This is the reason why it’s important to find a personal injury attorney so that you can receive good guidance on the insurance claim process.
Besides this, insurance companies are huge companies that usually attempt to settle a claim for less money than it’s worth. Therefore, it’s necessary that you hire an experienced personal injury attorney to fight for your rights and guarantee your receipt to insurance coverage.
They are familiar with the court systems
For any person who has been in the courtroom, perhaps they know that the courtroom proceedings can be formal and confusing.fortunately, if you decide to find an experienced attorney, they can handle the whole litigation process on your behalf. Even if for some reason you need to appear in the court of law as a witness, the personal injury attorney can ensure that you prepare well for your appearance.
Keep in mind that many reputable personal injury attorneys may use a contingency fee agreement. Simply put, it means that the attorney can only get paid if you also get paid. If the attorney is not successful in getting a judgment in favor of you, then you don’t have to pay the attorney. This is another good reason why experienced and reputable personal injury attorneys work hard to make sure that you are represented well.
Things you should consider before hiring personal injury attorneys
Getting an injury that is caused by the negligence of someone else can be traumatizing. Therefore, you need the help of the personal injury attorney so that you can receive a fair compensation for the injuries you sustain, emotional distress, and even the compensation for psychological harm you experience from the accident. But it can be hard to find the right attorney to handle your unique needs because there are many lawyers out there. To help you make the right choice, here are some of the things you should take into consideration:
Experience
Before you decide to hire a personal injury attorney for your case, make sure that you know their experiences and areas of focus. The crucial thing of hiring an experienced personal injury attorney to work on your behalf is because you already know that they have the right experience to deal with difficult prosecutors, judges, and insurance companies.
You should also know their area of focus is on personal injury law. In other words, you need to avoid hiring attorneys for your personal injury case without knowing their area of focus. A personal injury attorney needs to have a combination of area of focus and experience.
Client testimonials and reviews
Another way you can use to find a good personal injury attorney is to check what their previous clients say about the services they offer. Remember that the court proceedings and the pressure of dealing with some insurance companies can bring bad experiences. However, there are some personal injury attorneys who have the reputation of bringing successful outcomes. This should be your basis when it comes to choosing the right personal injury attorney to handle your case. If you know some of the previous clients, then try to contact them to know their experiences.
Accessibility
Accessibility is perhaps another crucial factor you need to consider before hiring a personal injury attorney for your case. Many people out there complain that they hardly discuss their cases with the attorneys they hire. Therefore, make sure that you avoid the attorneys who have limited communication with you.
In short, avoid the attorneys who fail to respond to your emails, phone calls, or any other communication channel. There are even some attorneys who don’t return your missed calls. You can find out the accessibility of the attorney from their past clients.
Online presence
In every state, you can find the legal background of the attorneys. You can find some personal injury attorneys who are teachers at several legal institutions in the state. Regardless of whether or not a specific attorney has written some legal articles and posted on the internet, you should take this as a benefit to their experience.
Attorneys need to have a website so that you can check their experience in handling the personal injury cases. You can also find out if a particular attorney refers clients to other lawyers who have more experience in personal injury law.
When finding out about the services they offer, it’s also a good idea to ask their legal fees. Find out if you need to pay in advance for the services or they want the payment to be done after the case is settled in court. You can find this information during the initial consultation with the attorney. It makes sense to find an attorney who provides a free case consultation. It’s also important to ask expectations of the attorney regarding the case so that you can also have some expectations.
The best time to consider hiring a personal injury attorney
No doubt, you need a personal injury attorney to handle your case, but it’s important to have an initial consultation before you decide to hire them. The following are some of the good signs that indicate that you need to hire an attorney immediately:
You sustained severe injuries
There are many good reasons why cases that involve severe injuries can sometimes be more complicated. One of the reasons is that victims with severe injuries require higher financial damages. Therefore, there is a need to carefully document these damages so that you can receive for the medical bills, lost income, and other financial losses incurred after the accident.
Severe injuries can lead to permanent disabilities like amputations, spinal cord injuries, and brain damage. So a personal injury lawyer fights for disabilities and permanent impairments, such as future damages that are caused by these conditions. An attorney may need an expert witness to prove that the specific accident led to permanent impairment and even calculate the amount of future damages.
When the insurance company is acting unfairly
An insurance company for the party that caused the accident can sometimes behave in bad faith when resolving a personal injury claim. Unfortunately, there are many insurance companies out there who try to act in bad faith practices so that they should not pay a claim.
Some of the bad faith practices that insurance companies engage in include causing unnecessary delays, failing to make a proper investigation, giving misleading information, refusing to pay a claim, asking for unnecessary documentation, changing the policy terms, and using aggressive tactics to pressure you to get an unfair settlement offer.
Therefore, if you find out that the insurance company is acting in bad faith, there are good chances that you can have an extra claim against the insurer that is separate from the claim of the personal injury. It’s in your best interest to consult an attorney before you decide to talk about the accident or even your injury with the insurance company.
The other party or the insurance company claims that you caused the accident
Another common tactic that some insurance companies or defense attorneys do is to blame you for the cause of the injury. For instance, the insurance company can allege that you were texting while walking, so this contributed to the cause of the accident. Because you failed to pay attention, then some of the blame can fall on you for the injuries you sustained.
Keep in mind that if there is proof that you contributed to the cause of these injuries, it means that the compensation can be decreased. For example, if the jury determines that the percentage of fault for you was 30 percent, then the insurance company can only pay 70 percent of the settlement.
When the other party or the insurance company claims that your injuries were due to your actions, you need to contact an attorney immediately. In this case, don’t discuss the claim with another person until you contact an attorney. Remember that your statements and comments can sometimes be utilized during a trial to prove to the jury that you were partially at fault.
When you don’t know the value of the claim
When you sustain injuries because someone else was negligent or did something wrong, you deserve to receive compensation for the damages. These damages may include the financial losses as well as pain and suffering. But calculating the value for the personal injury claim can be hard, especially if you don’t know the personal injury laws.
It’s worth noting that there are economic damages that can include the financial losses. These financial losses include lost wages, personal care, medical bills, travel expenses, help with chores in your household, and many more.
The value of these economic damages can be the total of all expenses and financial losses. But the insurance companies can argue that some of these costs are not necessary or reasonable. It can even deny some expenses saying they are not related to your accident.
Unfortunately, calculating the value of pain and suffering is also hard. Think about this, it can be challenging to place a price on your emotional, physical, and mental suffering. The good thing is that a personal injury attorney knows how to calculate it so that the value is maximized.
