A personal injury lawyer assists people with receiving compensation for sustained injuries after an accident.
These funds are generally necessary to make amends for pain and suffering, lost wages, medical treatment, and more. Keep reading to learn more about how a personal injury lawyer can help.
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What Kind of Cases Do Personal Injury Lawyers Handle?
This type of lawyer will focus on tort law, which addresses civil litigation for acts of wrongdoing that harm the victim, whether negligent or intentional. Most often, personal injury cases are a result of negligence. This includes transportation accidents, including motorcycle, car, boat, and truck accidents.
These cases could also involve premises liability, such as animal bites or attacks, slip and fall accidents, a lack of security, etc. Other popular personal injury complaints include medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, and construction site accidents.
What Else Can Personal Injury Lawyers Help With?
Additional activities that a personal injury lawyer may help with include:
Investigation
Typically, a personal injury lawyer will only charge their attorney’s fees when they have obtained a jury verdict or a settlement. This type of payment arrangement is called working on a contingency fee basis.
Since this is the equivalent of financing a case, personal injury lawyers usually screen the potential for victory before they accept the case. They generally won’t take on a case they don’t believe they can win.
Collecting Evidence
The personal injury lawyer might also collect the evidence to support their client’s claim. For example, that may include securing the incident or police report, tracking down witnesses, and even collecting witness statements.
They might hire a photographer to capture photos of the scene of an auto accident or property damage, and they may request camera footage as well, depending on the situation.
The evidence can be the primary determinant that establishes liability for who is at fault for the accident and give credence to the need for compensation because of the damages suffered.
Additional evidence that a personal injury lawyer collects could be property damage reports, employment records, medical records, medical reports, bills, and more.
Insurance Companies Negotiations
Negotiating on a legal basis is not a skill that a layperson typically exercises. This is where a personal injury lawyer comes in handy because of their experience in negotiating with insurance companies.
They can review the policy details for you and determine the maximum level of compensation available instead of the specific elements of the case.
A personal injury attorney may deal with the correspondence with the insurance company and keep the injury victim from doing anything that may compromise their claim, like allowing their statement to be recorded by the insurance company.
Legal Requests and Representation at Trial
If the insurance company revises to give a fair settlement, your attorney may launch a complaint against the defendant. The complaint will lay out the legal arguments to prove why the defendant was responsible for the accident.
The complaint filed by your personal injury lawyer will state the amount of damage sought by the client. The defendant will have 30 days from getting that complaint to prepare their response.
If your case goes to trial, your personal injury attorney will represent you. Your lawyer will be familiar with all the protocols, procedures, and rules governing a court, and they will ensure all of them are followed.
Know When You Need a Personal Injury Lawyer
However, only some cases will require a lawyer. If the damages are minor and the settlement offer is reasonable, then there’s no legitimate reason to enlist the help of an attorney only to pay them a significant portion of your settlement.
Sometimes, cases seem simple initially but evolve into something quite convoluted. In such a case, you should hire an experienced personal injury lawyer. Knowing the difference is essential to be well prepared and adequately represented if necessary.
