Learn what a personal injury attorney may look for in your case
There are many situations that can constitute personal injury claims. Some of the most common cases involving personal injury include medical malpractice, car accidents, premises liability, and workplace accidents. When it comes to specific variations of these cases, they can include aviation and boating accidents, nursing home neglect or abuse, and dog bites. Therefore, regardless of your situation, your legal case can only be valid depending on situational circumstances as well as whether the personal injury lawyer has good chances of having a successful outcome.
Remember that personal injury attorneys are there to help you protect your rights and get fair compensation. However, they are also careful when it comes to the cases they pursue, making sure their efforts deserve their time. In this post, you will learn what a personal injury attorney may look for in your case.
Reasons for an attorney taking your personal injury case
Before you decide to hire a lawyer, it’s important to remember that personal injury claims are usually based on the fact that you got some injuries or damages, and not your belongings or property. Besides this, the injury needs to be due to the negligence of someone else and not your negligence.
For example, for slip and fall cases also known as premises liability cases, you need to provide more evidence about your injury besides getting harmed on the property of someone else. In other words, you need to prove that there was negligence by another party leading to your injury.
Your potential attorney will check all these things, and they can then evaluate the accident that caused your injuries. An attorney can also evaluate your injuries to find out if they happened under unfavorable conditions. There are also various factors that the attorney may consider when checking the legitimacy of your personal injury case. These include the following:
The liable party
One of the major elements in personal injury cases is to determine the liable party. No wonder, your potential attorney can put this at the top of their to-do list. Remember that liability refers to the at-fault party. For instance, if there was a car accident and the police report indicates you were the party at fault, this can demotivate many lawyers from handling your case.
But there are also some cases where you can share liability to help the case move forward. This happens in some states and is called comparative negligence. Therefore, comparative negligence refers to the situation where both parties contribute to the car accident, so both can receive compensation.
The severity of the injuries
Every person doesn’t want to get severe injuries due to an accident, but this is not always the case. There are some accidents that can lead to severe injuries. When this happens, it can be a just cause for you to file a personal injury claim. Therefore, if there is a loss of wages due to your injuries or the injuries led to significant-high medical expenses, then this can motivate a lawyer to take on your case.
The serious injury category is usually considered to be one of the severe forms of personal injury claims. This can include paralysis, burns, and spinal cord injury. Remember that you don’t have to be disabled or bedridden for you to file a personal injury claim. If you sustained injuries due to a defective product, while walking in the street, or a bicycle accident, these are all considered to be potential personal injury claims.
The economic value of personal injury cases
The truth is that most attorneys tend to look at the monetary value of the personal injury case. This should also be crucial for any client seeking compensation. Regardless of whether you want to get compensation for high medical expenses, lost wages, or mental anguish, the personal injury attorney desires to make sure that they also get compensated for their effort and time.
Keep in mind that they may not award you compensation if your injuries didn’t affect your life financially or emotionally. The out-of-pocket expenses that go into handling your case also tend to pile up quickly. Therefore, your lawyer can check if they can get a fair return on their investment.
In most cases, most personal injury attorneys usually accept cases based on a contingency plan. This means that your lawyer can get their pay once you receive your compensation. This is simply a business strategy that most attorneys use. Your lawyer wants to be sure that it’s worth it taking on your personal injury claim.
Speaking with an insurance adjuster
It may seem like the right thing to speak with an insurance adjuster immediately after an accident, but it is not. Regardless of whether or not you intended to do it, remember that anything you tell the insurance adjuster can work against you, meaning it can favor the party at fault.
If you are involved in an accident, it’s quite common for most insurance companies to contact you at the accident scene. This can lead you in offering recorded or written statements about the way the accident occurred. Therefore, it’s always crucial to avoid giving these statements to any insurance adjuster until your personal injury lawyer comes to the accident scene.
It’s worth noting that after any accident, you need to get medical help for your injuries. After doing this, you have to contact your Personal Injury Lawyer in Dade City, FL before getting in touch with an insurance company or even before offering a statement to any person. It’s only your personal injury lawyer who can advise you on the right way to handle the situation so that you cannot harm your claim.
Offering inaccurate information about the accident by mistake or even failing to know well the full extent of your injuries cannot help you. There is a good chance that you may overlook including them when offering an initial statement. As a result, this can jeopardize and even invalidate your claim. This is the reason why it’s always a good idea to call your lawyer to handle your personal injury accident.
Personal injury cases
You should remember that personal injury law allows any injured person to get compensation for the negligence or wrongful conduct of someone else and it causes an injury. There are various situations that may lead to valid personal injury claims. But it’s not any injury that qualifies for a personal injury claim. Below are some personal injury cases:
Car accident cases
The most common personal injury cases you can come across are car accidents. When a car accident occurs, it usually means that there was someone else who was not following the road’s rules, or the person failed to drive carefully as they should be.
The good news is that a careless driver may be held responsible for the injuries you sustained in a car accident. Remember that there are some states that tend to give exceptions, especially when drivers need to get from their insurance companies. This is true unless the accidents led to serious injuries.
Slip and fall cases
Another form of personal injury case is called slip and fall claim. Property or even some people renting properties are legally required to keep their premises safe and hazard-free so that people who are using the property don’t get injured.
It’s worth noting that not all injuries that happen on your property can lead to liability. This is because a property’s owner’s legal duty tends to vary depending on the circumstances and according to the applicable law in the state where the injury happened.
Medical malpractice cases
With a medical malpractice case, it can come when a healthcare professional like a doctor, nurse, and many more offer a treatment that fails to meet the right medical care standards. As a result, this can lead to an injury to a patient. However, it’s crucial to remember that getting a bad outcome after a medical treatment doesn’t always mean medical malpractice happened.
Dog bites cases
In most cases, dog owners can be financially responsible when their dogs bite and cause other injuries to people. However, depending on the state where the incident happened, the exact laws that apply to owner responsibility can vary. There are some situations where there are strict liability rules. The dog owner can be liable for the injuries caused by their dogs regardless of whether or not the dog showed any propensity or aggression to bite in the past.
There are also other states that use a one-bite rule. In this case, the dog owner can be responsible for personal injuries when there is a good reason to suspect that the dog owners were aware of their dog’s aggressiveness or willingness to bite. Therefore, the court can look at the previous history of the dog bites.
As you can see, there are many qualifying conditions that apply to a personal case. This is why your personal injury lawyer can evaluate the details of the case to find out if the case can be successful in a court of law. it’s not enough to simply say you got injured, so you need to prove that someone else was negligent.