How do you determine if a client has a claim for personal injury?
Our goal is to recover a fair settlement for clients injured through the fault of another person such as a client’s injury due to someone running a red light or speeding. Examples of potential cases are too numerous to try to list. A person can still recover for injuries even if they were partially at fault so long as their fault is less than 50%.
We consider many aspects of a claim in order to determine what is a fair settlement of our clients’ injury claims. Lost earnings up to time of trial or settlement and projected out into the future for permanent injuries are an important component. Past and expected future medical bills are a consideration. We also need to understand the limitations that any permanent injury will place on our clients’ future activities. Also considered is whether the injury will worsen or improve in the future. Only when our clients are finished with curative medical care can we fairly assess the value of a case and begin settlement discussions with the insurance company.
Do we make the claim against the at fault person or the insurance company?
In the case of a careless driver, the insurance company for that driver is responsible to pay the claim. If the case is not settled a lawsuit may be filed against the driver but the insurance company hires a lawyer to defend their insured. The jury is not told that an insurance company is involved.
What if the person responsible for the injury does not have insurance?
In motor vehicle collision cases insurance is almost always available to pay the claim. Liability and uninsured motorist coverage is required by law. Your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is used to pay your claim if the person responsible does not have insurance or the person’s insurance is not adequate to fairly pay for your injuries.
Prompt medical attention is crucial. Many injuries, if promptly and professionally treated are much more likely to not be permanent. We believe your health is far more important than the best lawsuit.
We recommend that persons injured due to the fault of another should prepare as much documentation as soon as possible about the facts of the case. This could involve photos of the scene or the wrecked cars, names addresses and telephone numbers of witnesses, photos of cuts or bruising, the keeping of a diary about the events occurring shortly after the injury, and certainly careful documentation of expenses incurred or wages lost.
This question has many answers depending on the claim. We recommend consulting an attorney as soon after an injury as circumstances allow. Depending on the nature of the claim and the status of the defendant you may have as little as six months or as much as two years within which to file a claim. An attorney usually needs time within which to collect the information and research the claim before action can be started therefore it is essential that the attorney be contacted early.
A “tort” is a legal term for a wrongful act that injures someone. A “tort” is the basis for a personal injury claim. “Negligence” is an example of a tort. “Assault and battery” is another example. A driver who runs a red light or speeds and thereby injures someone commits a “tort” and the injured person has a claim against the bad driver. Other examples of tort claims are for injuries caused by unsafe products such as dangerous prescription drugs, foods or defective automobiles or tools. The pursuit of these claims not only benefits our clients but holding wrongdoers accountable through our justice system tends to discourage reckless or unsafe behavior.
Our tort system allows individuals who are injured due to the negligence of other drivers or the negligence of powerful corporations to bring a claim against the wrongdoer for injuries. Presently lawyers are bringing lawsuits against the tobacco companies for harm they have caused by their dangerous products. Some lawsuits have forced large corporations to stop making unsafe products or polluting our environment.
Large corporations and insurance companies have the money to hire lawyers but most persons using the tort system to seek damages for injuries have to rely on their attorney’s willingness to take the case on a contingency attorney fee.
A contingency attorney fee is one where the lawyer has to win the case or settlement in order to be paid a portion of what is recovered. We will refuse to take a case on a contingency basis if we think the case is without merit. You may hear politicians or business executives talk about “frivolous” lawsuits caused by attorneys’ contingency fees but no sensible attorney is going to take such a case with such a high risk of going unpaid.
The next time you hear about such a “frivolous” lawsuit we recommend you learn all the facts about the case and in particular the evidence the jury heard if a verdict was rendered. Those opposing ordinary citizens access to our court system have been reporting a lot of myths about these so-called “frivolous” cases.
