How a Personal Injury Attorney can help you

Lawyers usually can show up when it’s the worst day of your life.

12:23 22 December 2020

Think about this, you may still be recovering from the injuries before you begin receiving calls and requests from doctors, insurance companies, police, and many others. At such a point when you need to be focusing on recovery, you may feel stressed and overwhelmed about how you’re going to pay for all the expenses. 

 

This is when you need a personal injury attorney to help you get financial compensation for the injuries you sustained during the accident. You need these funds to pay for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages. This article explains how a personal injury attorney can help you.

 

Things a personal injury can do for you

 

If the injuries are minimal or there were no serious injuries and the settlement offer seems reasonable, perhaps there can be no need to hire a personal injury attorney. 

 

But sometimes you can find out that the cases that appear simple at first can become complicated, so it’s a good idea to hire an experienced personal injury attorney from New York, New York. You see, a personal injury lawyer can perform various crucial duties. Here are some of these important duties:

 

Explaining your rights

 

A personal injury attorney can explain how the accident and various legal issues can affect your rights. Remember that states have different laws depending on the statutes of limitations or even how comparative negligence affects your case.

 

When it comes to the statute of limitations, it refers to the set time limits when you are required to file a lawsuit. On the other hand, comparative negligence is whether or not you can sue if you were partially at fault for causing the accident and how much you can recover.

 

If someone was to blame for the injuries you sustained, you can be entitled for compensation to your losses and injuries. So a personal injury attorney can tell you the right steps you must take to get a fair settlement. But if the insurance company denies giving a fair settlement, then a personal injury attorney can take your case to court. 

 

You need to give a personal injury attorney a statement of how the accident happened so that they can follow it to protect your legal interests. While your attorney is discussing your case with you, they listen to everything that needs additional clarification and follow up. They may ask some relevant questions about accident injuries, circumstances, recovery, insurance, disability, pain, and other important information.

 

For example, if you get injured in a car accident at an intersection, perhaps the authorities may want to know about the traffic lights, traffic signs, or traffic signals that control access to the road. 

 

If you got injured in a slip and fall accident, the attorney may want to know about the surface on which you slipped and fell. They will consider your shoes, the lighting, and any obstructions on your path. In short, the attorney may be interested to know everything that could have led to the accident or fall.

 

Provides advice

 

A personal injury lawyer can walk you through the legal system in the best possible way to make sure that you understand everything. It means they can help you to understand all the complicated legal processes, interpret medical and insurance terminology, and get through all the paperwork needed in personal injury cases. 

 

Many personal injury attorneys may recommend that you should avoid giving a statement to the insurance company of the other party as they can always create ways to refuse liability. Also, they may recommend that you seek medical treatment to show the relationship between the injury and the accident. 

 

Even better, a personal injury lawyer can also give you objective opinions concerning your case. This can help you to make the best decision that is not clouded by frustration, fear, stress, anger, or other emotions experienced by many accident victims.

 

That said, it’s worth remembering that many personal injury cases do not lead to a trial because most of them get settled before a lawsuit is filed. But if the insurance company refuses the claim, then the best option for you to recover is through a full civil trial. Unfortunately, litigation can be complex and needs adherence to the right procedures and evidence. 

 

Because the majority of the work for your case is completed during the investigation and discovery stage, once a lawyer is prepared for settlement negotiations, they can be almost ready for a trial. They just need to file the lawsuit and ensure that the evidence is ready to be submitted before the court.

 

The personal injury attorney needs to make sure that the other party you’re suing receives copies of the evidence the lawyer plans to present in court. The other party must also give you all the evidence they want to present at trial to your lawyer.

 

In case the lawyer wants to use expert witnesses to give evidence on specific aspects of the case at trial, such as how much it would cost for your future medical expenses, then the law firm can hire such witnesses for you. If the insurance company hasn’t given you a fair settlement and the case is ready for trial, then your lawyer can plan a trial date with the court. A trial can usually take a couple of hours, though it can sometimes take several days.

 

Carries a complete and professional investigation

 

You will be pleased to know that personal injury firms can have their investigators to gather evidence at the scene of an accident, develop theories about how the accident happened, and interview witnesses. These can be retired police officers working in a new job or professional investigators.

 

If the cause of the accident is not known, then outside experts like accident reconstruction experts may be needed. The personal injury attorney can have a roster of experts they usually use and they can know who can help.

 

As explained earlier, the investigation and discovery stage are important elements required when you’re preparing for settlement and trial. A lawyer can investigate your case, which can sometimes involve hiring professional witnesses and finding all the evidence that is available due to your accident. 

 

Some personal injury attorneys can do in-person and on-site investigations while others prefer hiring independent investigators to conduct the work on your behalf. The good thing is that investigators cannot only track down witnesses but they also interview them. This can involve obtaining scene photos, diagrams, and videos if they exist. They can also take employer and police reports, document bad conditions at injury sites, and take photos of cars involved. 

 

However, if no videos or pictures exist, the personal injury attorney can have someone to go to the accident scene and take photos of evidence that was left on the site like vehicle parts, skid marks, and all the other evidence that you can’t pick up. These and other tasks can offer evidence to the lawyer so that they can review and assess as they determine fault.

 

The personal injury attorney may also require extra documents to assist them to get the fair settlement you deserve. These can include your medical bills and medical records. 

 

If you have an underlying medical condition that may have caused the injuries to recover slowly like an immune system condition or diabetes, your attorney must get the records concerning your underlying condition. This can prove that the recovery may not be normal for you or that the accident injuries you incurred in the accident may have worsened your underlying condition. 

 

They can connect with medical providers

 

A personal injury attorney can have a great business relationship with a particular medical professional who can agree to give medical services in your favor with the expectation of any future judgment or settlement. They can also have a good experience in knowing serious injuries and can recommend a specific specialist who has given excellent results in previous cases.

 

Keep in mind that personal injury attorneys are also in a better position to assess damages. Many accident victims tend to think about the immediate results of an accident. This is because you may be receiving harassing phone calls from debtors, you may need to repair your car to get back on the road, and you may need to make money after being off work for a couple of weeks.

 

Thankfully, a personal injury attorney handles these cases routinely and assists you to identify the most accurate current and long-term outcomes of injuries, like future medical expenses and loss in earning potential if the accident left you disabled. A personal injury attorney may also ask a medical provider for help in assessing the lifetime effect of an accident. 

 

They can lead to various negotiations

 

A personal injury attorney you can find at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, P.C. can also assist in various judicial forums. For instance, they can help in informal negotiations with the insurance companies before or even after filing a case in court. 

 

They can also litigate your case if there is no satisfactory offer or the claim has been denied. But personal injury attorneys can also come in handy in other forums like alternative dispute resolution. You may need arbitration if your insurance company is also involved. So this can involve presenting a case to a neutral arbitrator who can sometimes make a binding decision. 

 

Mediation can consist of you as a victim and someone else who is responsible for causing the injuries working together to get a solution out of court with the assistance of a neutral third-party.

 

Above all, a personal injury attorney can discuss your claim with the insurance company. If you are in a car accident, then both your car insurance provider and the other party’s insurance company may want to talk to you. Hence, if it’s an on-the-job injury or a premises fault, a worker’s compensation or a general liability provider may need information.

 

They will request recorded statements. So to manage the flow of information that can affect your claim, your attorney can deny the request from the liability carrier. Because your car insurance policy as well as the workers’ compensation carriers need cooperation, your lawyer can arrange and guide you on what to put on your statement. 

 

They can even coach you on what to say or not to say ahead of time. When it comes to additional conversations with the insurance companies, it can cover a car repair, medical bill payments, health insurance subrogation rights, and some other liability issues. 

 

They work through a wide range of legal processes

 

A personal injury attorney can place parties on notice. Ideally, to prevent the other parties from contacting you, the attorney usually tells all relevant parties that they are representing you. Therefore, they advise every person or entity that all future inquiries or contacts need to be made through their office. 

 

In this way, the personal injury lawyer can keep track of insurance claim statuses and insurance communications, medical treatment and bills, injury prognosis, and other important information for your case.

 

A personal injury attorney can also send formal letters that they are representing you. Once an attorney gives the first notice through email or phone, they can follow up with a letter of representation. They will send this representation letter to the people who were driving other cars that were involved in a car accident. They may also send to your employer for the injuries on the job, insurance companies, manufacturers of the defective product, and anyone else who may desire to contact you about an accident.

 

An attorney can also request and review applicable insurance policies. This means they can ask for a copy of your car insurance policy or any other relevant policies that your insurance company has. When they receive these policies, it means they can no longer be worried about your car insurance coverage and the benefits.

 

Finally, a personal injury attorney can review and document your insurance company’s subrogation rights. An attorney represents you, so they need to know that your insurance company has the right to recover the injuries and damages they pay. Therefore, when the attorney settles your claim or files a lawsuit for damages, it means they will also be protecting the interests of your insurance company.