If you or a loved one suffered severe or permanent injuries, it may be time to hire an attorney. Severe injuries require costly treatment and surgeries and are often limited by insurance policies.
Personal injury attorneys have experience navigating the claims process and negotiating with insurance companies. They can protect you from lowball offers and help you receive full compensation.
Permanent or Lifetime Injuries
Many personal injury cases involve injuries that don’t fully heal. This is a clear sign that you need to hire a personal injury attorney, as these injuries can affect the rest of your life and your ability to work. You’ll be entitled to compensation for future medical expenses, pain and suffering, inconvenience, and lost earning potential.
It’s also important to hire a personal injury lawyer near me if you suffer a permanent residual injury such as scarring or disfigurement. It’s difficult for doctors to assess these injuries accurately, and social biases are often involved when determining compensation.
The best personal injury attorneys are experienced in dealing with insurance companies. They know their tactics to deny or underpay claims in bad faith, including delaying investigations, requesting irrelevant documents, and even using your private medical records against you.
Lost Wages
In any legal case that involves an injury, a plaintiff’s ability to earn income can be affected. Injured victims can often recover monetary compensation for past and future lost wages.
Lost wages are the hourly wages that an accident victim cannot earn due to their injuries or illnesses. It also includes lost overtime pay, vacation days, and sick days. This can be a very difficult aspect of the claim process.
A good attorney can help accident victims establish their entitlement to these damages by obtaining wage verification documents from their employer and medical records that accurately document their inability to work. A reputable attorney can also introduce expert testimony and documentation to calculate future lost earning capacity. This can be a significant damage award.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice claims are complex. It requires a lawyer to ensure all aspects of your claim are addressed, including the underlying condition that caused your injury.
The first step in filing a medical malpractice claim is to show that the healthcare professional failed to provide an acceptable standard of care. Then, you must prove how the negligence negatively impacted your life.
A personal injury attorney has the experience and resources to help you with these cases. They also have extensive training in the legal field and negotiate with insurance companies daily. So, if you are experiencing any issues with an insurance company or have a medical malpractice claim, it’s time to hire a personal injury attorney. They will be able to get you the compensation you deserve.
Negligence
Negligence is the legal concept of failing to meet a standard of care that every person would have under similar circumstances. It is the basis for most personal injury claims. You must establish four negligence elements to win a claim: duty, breach, causation, and damages.
For example, if your friend’s 16-year-old son drives his car through a red light and smashes into your car, he has breached the duty of care that all drivers have to act reasonably and prudently on the road. This is negligence, and he should pay you compensation.
Insurance companies often deny claims or offer low settlements. An attorney can help you fight for fair compensation. They can also spot signs of insurer bad faith, such as delaying investigation or requesting irrelevant documents, including private medical records.
Insurance Companies
Virtually every personal injury attorney out there will tell you they will offer a free consultation and only charge a fee if they recover money for their clients. While this is true, hiring a personal injury lawyer is not enough.
You will want an attorney with a passion for representing people who have been injured and who will work tirelessly to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. A lack of enthusiasm can indicate that the lawyer is not committed to fighting for their clients and may need to be more capable of providing the highest level of service. This is not something you can afford to risk. You should seek another legal professional to handle your case in this situation.
