When dealing with a personal injury claim, you have a lot of questions and concerns that run through your head. How are you going to keep your medical expenses covered before you win your claim? When will the claim be done? What can I expect during the trial? Will I even be going to trial? These are all important questions, ones that can be answered by employing the services of a personal injury attorney. But what can an attorney do to make filing a personal injury claim easier?
How an attorney helps make filing a personal injury claim easier
Most people do not know the first thing about filing claims in lawsuits. This is because most people are lucky enough to not have needed to do so. For those who are unlucky, they are somewhat thrust in the process. If you decided to handle this on your own, you would either have to go in blind, or you would have to do a lot of research on the ins and outs of personal injury claims. This is a big part of why having a personal injury attorney on your side is valuable. While it is important to have some idea of what is going on, it is the lawyer’s job to understand all the trivial minutiae.
However, you also need to take into account that your personal injury claim may not have as much merit as you may have thought it did. The best way to determine if there is any merit to bringing it to court, or even to present it to the person you intend to accuse, is to consult with a personal injury law firm. As part of this consultation, you will provide as much evidence as you reasonably can in order to make your case. There are a lot of different potential pieces of evidence, and so it can be hard to keep track of what you have. Additionally, certain pieces of evidence are going to be situational, as they may not be relevant to your specific case. For example, not all personal injury incidents involve the police, which means you cannot use it as an independent third-party observer. However, if you do get into an accident that the police have to become involved in — car accidents are among the most common examples of these situations — it can be a major boon for your case. You should also provide your would-be attorney with your medical bills, which would be used to verify that the injuries you claim to have suffered had occurred, and within the timeframe you indicated. Repair costs, if applicable, are another valuable piece of evidence. There are other pieces of evidence, which your lawyer may either request or seek themselves (the latter being more likely if they think there may be merit to your case).
Now that you have presented your potential case to your attorney, the next step is for them to decide whether they want to take it on or not. This will ultimately depend on whether they think the case is likely to be successful. However, that is not the end-all-be-all of what determines if they take your case or not. There are other reasons why your attorney may decide to pass on your case, even if the case itself is a strong one. One common reason an attorney may turn down a strong case is if the case is a little too big for them. A case that may go on for too long and be too expansive may be well out of the scope of the attorney you are consulting. If this is the case, you should consider asking if they can recommend an attorney who is more well-equipped to handle a case of this level of complexity. There may also be a conflict of interest for the attorney, who may have a personal connection with the accused.
Once you find an attorney that agrees to take your case, the next step is to have a claim filed with either your insurance company, the accused’s insurance company, or both. What you should do will depend on the circumstances of your case, which your attorney can help you determine if one or both will be liable for compensating you. The insurance company will seek out proof of your claim, which you will provide for them. You need to prove that the accused was at fault for your injuries, as well as provide evidence of exactly how serious your injuries are. You also need to show any lost wages, and how much money you spent on medical bills. After providing this proof, and after the insurance company deliberates said proof, they may provide a settlement offer. At this point, your attorney will help you decide whether this is an appropriate settlement for the damages you incurred. Two factors need to be taken into account: one, is the settlement offer a reasonable one that covers all of your losses? Two, if you decided to take this to trial, how likely are you to win? If the latter is the case, the attorney will at least attempt to negotiate something better, but the case will likely settle out of court as most personal injury claims do.
After the negotiating process, if both parties are unable to come to a satisfactory agreement, that is the point that you have to bite the bullet and file your lawsuit in court. This is certainly a last resort kind of situation, as going to court is usually going to be a fairly long and frustrating process, but if the other side leaves no room for a fair settlement, it is the only option to take. The other party will be informed that the lawsuit will be going forward due to negotiations falling out. One thing to keep in mind about filing a personal injury lawsuit is that your respective state’s statute of limitations on a personal injury claim may prevent you from filing this lawsuit. If you file with Everett, WA, personal injury attorneys, you will be subject to Washington’s statute of limitations on personal injury claims. Washington state provides a decent length of time to file following the date of the injury, allowing you three years before the statute of limitations runs out. Once three years have passed, you are almost guaranteed to not be able to seek any amount of compensation for the injury, even if the other party was 100 percent responsible. This is another reason why your attorney may be inclined to turn it down, and they will make it clear that all other attorneys will certainly turn down the case for similar reasons.
Some people may be inclined to go at their personal injury case alone. While this is not a guaranteed loss, it will be a very difficult win. In addition to the proper procedures and rules that handle personal injury lawsuits, they also have the knowledge of what to say and what not to say in court as a defense. Saying too much or too little can easily torpedo your case. On top of that, while you may save money by going it alone, you run the risk of not having the expertise to get the best settlement or judgment possible. Caution is your best tool as a client — use it and consult with an attorney today.
