If you have suffered any type of injury caused by some other person or an entity that was caused by intentional, negligent, or reckless behavior, or by an action covered by strict liability, then you should consider a personal injury lawyer.
How soon should you make contact?
There is no specified time limit for when to contact a personal injury lawyer following an accident.
Often your first thoughts will be on recovering from the injury, particularly if it was traumatic or hospitalized you.
In those instances, it is natural for thoughts of compensation or calculation of your financial losses to be the farthest thing from your mind.
However, you do need to be aware that other parties involved in the injury and any potential legal action will already be setting the wheels in motion.
Because those parties are not working for you, they will be working towards an outcome which will result in paying you as little as possible.
The later you leave it to get your legal representatives involved in the action, the less time they have to build a case to ensure you get the most money you deserve to compensate you for any damage to your assets, loss of income, and any physical pain and suffering that has been a result of the accident.
Therefore, it is critical, especially after a car accident injury, that you visit a personal injury law firm immediately after getting medical help.
You don’t want to go without counsel during any part of the process. In most instances, you can usually hire a lawyer on a contingency basis. This means the only cost you incur is a percentage of the total amount of damages you are rewarded. This enables you to proceed with a claim immediately even if you have no money.
Besides, working with a contingency-based injury lawyer is beneficial because they are highly motivated to secure the maximum compensation possible, as their fee is typically a percentage of the awarded amount. This alignment of interests ensures that your lawyer will vigorously advocate for your rights and work diligently to achieve a favorable outcome. Additionally, working with a contingency-based lawyer means they have confidence in the strength of your case, as they are taking on the risk themselves.
You must seek medical treatment as soon as possible after any accident, even if you don’t feel like you have any injuries. Sometimes issues occur hours or even days after the accident.
By getting that medical treatment immediately you can get an immediate diagnosis of any injuries and takes these to your lawyer. If injuries don’t reveal themselves until a later time but didn’t seek immediate medical treatment, you risk being accused of suffering the injuries from some other incident.
What do you tell your injury lawyer?
Of course, your lawyer will want to understand the circumstances that led to the injury.
For a motor vehicle accident, which will usually mean drawing the roads and vehicles involved and a description of how the accident occurred. Even if you are positive, you were not at fault for the accident, which doesn’t mean the other driver and their insurance company agree with you.
Your lawyer will also want to know what medical bills you have incurred and any property damage. They can get all medical bills paid and ensure property damage to your vehicle gets paid so your vehicle is back on the road as soon as possible.
What will your personal injury lawyer ask you?
But here are five issues you would not immediately think as relevant that will need to be asked:
- Have you suffered any earlier injuries?
If you have an injury to a part of your body that has been injured previously, it could be argued that this accident is not fully responsible for all the damage and the claim should be reduced or removed because of the existing weakness in that body part.
- Do you have any criminal history?
This is probably not relevant to the accident, but if the case goes to trial you can bet the opposing lawyers will have to discover if you have a criminal record and may try to use this to indicate your testimony cannot be trusted to be entirely truthful.
- Have you ever filed for bankruptcy?
If your lawyer is aware of this, they can work with your bankruptcy lawyer to increase the possibility that not all of the money awarded gets paid to your creditors.
- Have you filed for divorce or separated from a partner?
If your partner was supporting you after the accident, they may be eligible for part of the money awarded.
- Have you suffered any further injuries since the accident?
Opposing counsel may try to discredit your character by claiming you are trying to claim for injuries not suffered from this accident. Your lawyer will need to be aware and prepared to dispute this.
With motor vehicle accidents, you are dealing with insurance companies with deep pockets and access to experts across a wide range of fields. Even when they agree that your insurance claim is accepted, they will always be looking to pay you as little as they possibly can.
Your personal injury lawyer will work for you to ensure you get the best possible result to cover your asset damages, financial losses and compensation for physical, mental and emotional harm.
