When Should I Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?

If you have been injured by an accident, negligence, or other wrongdoing, you should consult a personal injury lawyer.

An attorney for personal injuries can help you get compensation for your injuries.

An attorney can also help you protect your interests against aggressive insurance companies or large corporations that want to deny fair compensation for your damages and injuries.

An attorney is not required for some personal injury cases. It can help to have someone who is experienced in handling injury claims review your case. A personal injury attorney will explain your rights and let you know if you might benefit from hiring one.

There are no two personal injury cases alike. Some situations may indicate that you need to speak with a personal injury attorney.

Six situations that indicate you need to hire a personal injury attorney

If you aren’t sure if you should hire a personal-injury attorney to handle your case, here are six questions to consider:

1. What is the Law on Liability for an Accident?

Victims of accidents must prove that negligence, errors or other wrongdoings caused their injuries. If you can’t prove that another driver caused your pedestrian or car accident, you will not be entitled to compensation. Contact a personal injury lawyer immediately if the other party contests liability.

An attorney will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the circumstances of your injury and who is responsible. Your lawyer collects evidence and creates a legal strategy to prove liability.

2. Is it possible to be held responsible for your injury?

While the insurance company of the other party may accept liability, it might claim that you caused your accident. The insurance company could claim that you were speeding when your motorcycle accident occurred. You are therefore partially responsible for the accident, even though you were speeding at the time.

 New York’s contributory negligence laws allow you to reduce your damages for injury claims by the amount of your conduct that led to the accident.  

This means that if you are found to be 50% at fault for the bicycle accident, your money for your claim will be reduced by one-half.

Insurance companies will often resort to contributory negligence to reduce the amount they have to pay to settle a claim. These unfounded claims can be fought by an attorney.

3. Are there multiple parties involved?

A personal injury lawyer can help you if multiple people are involved in a case. Multiple parties are involved in cases such as medical malpractice, construction accidents, multi-vehicle crashes, and product liability.

Multi-defendant cases require additional expertise. Attorneys are well equipped to handle these issues. Your lawyer will help you to protect yourself as the parties disagree about who caused your injuries.

Having multiple parties involved can result in more money.  

It can also be a longer, more complex, and more difficult fight.

4. Are You Suffering from a Traumatic Injury?

Personal injury cases that involve traumatic injuries or permanent disabilities can present unique problems. You may need ongoing medical attention if you are affected by a defective product. This could result in you being unable to work the rest of your lives.

Future damages will result from your impairment or disability.

Your future damages could amount to millions of dollars depending on your age and disability. To ensure that your claim is as fair and comprehensive as possible, an attorney may retain financial, medical, and economic experts.

 High-dollar settlements are common in cases of traumatized injuries.  

To avoid losing money, insurance companies will aggressively try to reduce the value of these claims. An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you maximize your chances of obtaining the compensation you deserve following an injury.

5. Did the Insurance Company act in bad faith?

The other party’s insurance company isn’t interested in paying you compensation for your injuries or damages. The company will try to avoid paying any compensation for your claim. Some insurance companies are not honest when it comes to dealing with individuals.

The company might try to delay your claim, so that the statute expires and your right to file personal injury lawsuits is lost. An insurance company may also act in bad faith in other ways.

•  Failure to investigate a claim  
•  To process a claim, you will need to fill out unnecessary and cumbersome paperwork  
•  Refusing payment for a valid claim  
•  False allegations of contributory negligence  
•  False representation of terms and conditions  
•  Intentionally misleading victim about victim’s legal rights

An insurance company can act in bad faith in many different ways. They are well-versed in various insurance strategies and know the laws governing personal injury claims.

 When a lawyer represents an accident victim, insurance companies are less likely not to act in bad faith.  

Your lawyer can file a personal injury suit against an insurance company if they refuse to settle your claim. Sometimes, the threat of a lawsuit can be enough to convince the insurance company or other parties to the case to reach an agreement on a fair and reasonable settlement.

6. Is the Claim Against a Government Entity

It is more difficult than the average injury case to sue the government for personal injury. In many cases, the government is protected from liability. There are exceptions.

Call a lawyer immediately if you have been injured in an accident on a subway, bus, or train. The deadline to file a claim against government is much shorter than that for other claims. An experienced lawyer should handle any injury claim involving a government entity.

A Last Thing to Remember When Hiring a Lawyer

To protect itself from liability, the insurance company for the at-fault party has a large team of professionals. These people are not on your side. All the investigators, claims adjusters, and lawyers for the insurance company are against your best interests.

It’s not fair. It is time to level the playing field and hire a legal team to help you fight for fair and just compensation for your personal injuries claim. You deserve someone who will only be concerned about your best interests.

from Greenwald Law Firm https://www.greenwaldfirm.com/personal-injury/when-should-i-hire-a-personal-injury-lawyer/
via Benjamin Greenwald