Is It Worth Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney?

After a personal injury accident, your life may never be the same. Not only can you be left with debilitating injuries and excruciating pain, but the astronomical medical bills that pile up can forever change you and your family.

Though some people may consider hiring a personal injury attorney after a horrific accident, many do not recognize the benefits of retaining a lawyer to fight for compensation.

When Should You Consider Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney

If you are unsure about whether you should hire a personal injdury lawyer after your accident, consider the following:

#1. You Sustained Significant Injuries From the Personal Injury Accident

Personal injury accidents can affect almost every part of the body. Common injuries include:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord damage
• Broken bones
• Soft tissue injuries
• Burns
• Deep lacerations
• Facial trauma
• PTSD
• Death

Unfortunately, these injuries can impact your life in the worst ways. They may bring extensive medical expenses that cause you and your family extreme financial hardship. Having an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side can help you pursue the compensation you deserve while you focus on your recovery and healing.

#2. You Are Not Sure Who Is Responsible for Your Accident

Following a personal injury accident, it is not always easy to figure out who caused the accident. However, if you want to recover compensation for your harm and losses, you must prove liability. If you are having a hard time proving fault, reach out to an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as you can.

Once hired, these lawyers can start investigating your accident, gathering evidence to establish what happened, and using this evidence to hold all those at fault for your accident accountable for the harm you endured.

#3. The Insurance Company Reaches out to You to Obtain a Statement

After a personal injury accident, the insurance company may reach out to you to get a statement about the incident. However, before you provide them with this statement, you must understand that it is notoriously difficult to work with insurance companies. They find holes in your case that they can use to settle for less or deny your claim altogether.

For this reason, an insurance adjuster might try to get a statement from you soon after an accident, when you are most vulnerable. They might hope to get you to admit to something that would devalue your claim.

If the insurance company is reaching out to you, you should contact a skilled personal injury attorney as soon as you can. These lawyers can not only help guide you on how to handle insurance companies, but they can take over the conversations on your behalf, so you do not have to say anything that might hurt your case.

#4. The Insurance Company Offers You a Settlement

If the insurance company offers you a settlement, it may seem like a no-brainer to accept the money. Unfortunately, taking the money may not be wise. The less the insurance company pays you, the more profit they make.

Consequently, they may offer you a meager settlement amount shortly after your accident, knowing how much you need the money. They hope that you accept it without questioning the amount. However, if you take the offer but realize down the line that it does not cover all of your expenses, you will not be able to ask the insurance company for any additional compensation.

You should reach out to a skilled personal injury lawyer to ensure that you get a fair settlement from the insurance company. These attorneys can review any settlement offers you receive and determine whether they are reasonable. If the offer doesn’t cover your current bills and ongoing treatment, your lawyer can head back to the negotiation table and continue fighting for a more reasonable offer. However, if the insurance company refuses to negotiate or tries to deny your claim, your lawyer can also head to trial and fight for maximum compensation.

The Benefits of Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney

A personal injury attorney can not only offer you the legal support you need following a personal injury accident, but they can also provide you with the following benefits:

#1. A Personal Injury Accident Lawyer Can Help Expedite Your Claim

Personal injury claims can often result in long delays due to the complex legal paperwork, witness cooperation (or lack thereof), and even insurance delays. However, as a victim of a horrifying accident, you likely do not have time to wait around for compensation to cover your medical bills and other out-of-pocket costs.

A skilled personal injury attorney can stay on top of your claim and try to expedite the process as much as possible, working on getting the compensation you are entitled to as quickly as they can.

#2. Paying Your Personal Injury Accident Attorney

Many people do not want to hire a personal injury attorney because they worry about costs. However, many personal injury attorneys in the United States operate on a contingency fee basis. Under a contingency fee agreement, you normally do not have to pay your fees for your lawyer unless they are successful in your claim.

As a result, there are usually no upfront costs you retain a personal injury lawyer to take on your claim. Instead, in most instances, the attorney will charge a flat percentage, usually between 30 percent and 40 percent, of the final financial recovery awarded in a case. If your attorney succeeds, they simply deduct their fee from your settlement or jury verdict.

#3. A Personal Injury Accident Lawyer Can Set Realistic Expectations

Experienced personal injury attorneys handle various personal injury claims and, often, may have handled cases similar to yours. This means that they can give you a realistic idea of what your case entails and the type of settlement offer you may anticipate. They can also assess the merits of your claim and prepare a solid legal case.

#4. A Personal Injury Accident Lawyer Can File Legal Documents on Time

Before you can pursue legal action after a personal injury accident, you first need to figure out whether you have enough time to file your case. Each state has a statute of limitations that dictates the maximum time you have to file a legal claim following an alleged offense. If you do not file your lawsuit within the allotted period, you cannot pursue legal action unless your case falls into an exception to the statute of limitations.

For this reason, you should reach out to a knowledgeable personal injury attorney as soon as possible. They can not only review your case and verify the amount of time you have to file your claim, but they can also ensure that all of your legal filings and motions are filed with the appropriate court before time runs out.

#5. A Personal Injury Accident Lawyer Can Help You Go After the Damages You Need

Following a personal injury accident due to another person’s negligence, you may seek economic and non-economic damages.

Economic Damages: These damages refer to the actual and easily verifiable losses that result from an accident.

They include:

• Past and present medical bills related to a hospital stay, doctor visits, surgeries, prescription medications, emergency services, and assistive medical devices
• Future medical costs related to ongoing care
• Lost wages and lost earning capacity
• Property damages related to replacement expenses or repair costs
• Replacement domestic services such as child care or house cleaning services
• At-home nursing care
• Other out-of-pocket expenses

Non-economic Damages: These damages refer to the subjective, difficult to quantify losses from an accident.

These losses may include:

• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of companionship
• Loss of consortium
• Reputation loss
• Inconvenience
• Disfigurement

In addition, depending on the circumstances of the accident, punitive damages may also be available. Unlike the other damages, punitive damages punish the wrongful party for their egregious actions and deter others from committing similar acts in the future. For a victim to recover punitive damages, their lawyer needs to show through clear and convincing evidence that the defendant was personally guilty of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.

A skilled personal injury attorney can help you determine which damages apply to your case to help you make an accurate claim.

#6. A Personal Injury Accident Lawyer Can Help You Pursue the Justice You Deserve

If you want to obtain compensation for the harm you endured, you need to be able to prove liability and damages. A personal injury accident lawyer can make this task easier by handling all aspects of your legal battle and fighting for the justice you deserve.

More specifically, lawyers can:

• Review your accident with you in detail, evaluate your legal claim, and determine if you have a viable case.
• Answer your questions and concerns about your claim and the legal proceedings involved.
• Thoroughly investigate the accident and secure the evidence necessary to prove what happened and who was at fault.
• Bring in experts to help validate your claim, including accident reconstructionists, doctors, and financial specialists.
• Tackle all the negotiations on your behalf and pursue a just settlement offer.
• Proceed to trial if the other side won’t negotiate fairly.

Do not wait any longer to secure the legal help you need if a personal injury accident harmed you or a loved one. Instead, contact an experienced personal injury accident firm today for a free case evaluation to find out how a lawyer can help you fight for your rights and the financial recovery you deserve.