When to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney

To ensure a fair outcome, it’s recommended that you hire an experienced attorney to represent you. They can handle communication with insurance companies and use their negotiating skills to demonstrate the value of your case. Claimants who hire an attorney receive larger settlements.

Damages

People are reluctant to hire an attorney because they may not think their injuries warrant the cost of a lawyer’s services. However, a skilled personal injury attorney will be able to get you full and fair compensation for the damage caused by your accident. Insurance companies have one primary goal: to pay as little as possible.

Depending on the nature of your accident, you can recover damages for past and future expenses. These include medical bills, lost wages, and loss of earning potential. Moreover, you can also claim compensatory damages such as emotional distress and pain and suffering. In some extreme cases, you can even receive punitive damages.

An excellent personal injury attorney will ensure you have all the evidence to prove your case. This will include medical reports outlining your future treatment, wage loss projections, and expert opinions calculating your damages. They will also help you prove causation and the impact of your accident.

Lost wages

Lost wages are a significant compensation component for personal injury victims, particularly in motor vehicle crashes. They are calculated as the amount of money you would have earned if not for your injuries, and they can also cover future earnings potential in some cases.

Proving lost wages is usually fairly straightforward, though it can be more complex for self-employed accident victims or those who work on commission. Your lawyer can assist with this by submitting medical records that estimate-to a reasonable degree of certainty-how much time you will need to recover from your injury and how much you stand to lose in lost income as a result.

Your attorney will also submit this information to the insurance company as part of your demand package for monetary compensation. Your lawyer’s goal is to ensure you receive the maximum compensation possible, which may include compensation for lost wages. They will negotiate with the insurance company and, if necessary, take your case to trial to secure maximum compensation.

Defective products

When you buy a product, you anticipate it to work as described and not result in any harm. However, not all companies prioritize consumer safety and sell dangerous products that can result in serious personal injuries. If a faulty product has injured you, a personal injury attorney can help you file a lawsuit against the manufacturer for product liability.

Three main types of faulty products can result in personal injury: defectively manufactured, design defect, and failure to warn. Defectively manufactured claims involve issues with the manufacturing process, such as a bicycle with loose handlebars or an appliance with incorrect wiring. Design defects, on the other hand, are flaws in the product’s initial design that affect an entire line of products. An example would be a sports utility vehicle with a high center of gravity and prone to rollover accidents. In certain situations, a personal injury lawyer can seek legal action against the manufacturer, wholesalers, distributors, and retailer responsible for selling you a defective product.

Bad faith insurance

If you make a claim with an insurance company because of an injury, and that company fails to settle your claim in good faith within its policy limits, you may have a statutory bad faith claim. This also applies to insurance companies that provide coverage to third parties (third-party liability and UM insurance).

An indication that an insurer is acting in bad faith can be as simple as not responding to any correspondence with a timely response or failure to acknowledge receipt of documents/records sent. Another indication could be when they fail to investigate a claim thoroughly and make a reasonable settlement offer.

An expert attorney can help you gather all the evidence and proof of your losses in a case against an insurance provider acting in bad faith. If an insurance company’s actions are egregious and malicious, you may be able to recover punitive damages.