Personal Injury Lawyers Near You: How To Find And Hire The Best One
Most people who maximize their injury claim usually do something right: hired one of the best personal injury lawyers near them.
Because of how complicated injury damage claim laws are, knowing how to find and hire the best personal injury lawyers can ensure that your right is protected.
As an injury victim, your primary focus should be to get well and maximize your financial compensation.
And personal injury lawyers is your best bet in accomplishing that.
The primary focus of skilled and experienced lawyers who hand injury cases is to help their clients maximize their car accident and other personal injury claims by offering skilled negotiations and aggressive litigation against the defendants.
So what is personal injury law
A personal injury law is an area of law that govern injury to someones body, emotion or mind. A personal injury law is also known as a tort law. Under tort law a plaintiff can file a lawsuit against individuals, businesses, local, state and the federal government for bodily injuries and emotional pain compensations.
Statistics
Below are some personal injury statistic in the U.S.
- Most civil litigation cases in the U.S are personal injury lawsuits. According to research, the most common personal injury lawsuit is traffic accidents. Of the traffic crashes lawsuits, a car accident is the most common traffic accident personal injury cases.
- According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2016, there were 37,000 plus deaths from road accidents throughout the United State. It is estimated that besides the death from traffic collisions, over 3 million people will have permanent injuries as a result of these accidents.
- According to The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics of the 26,928 real property, contract and tort trials in 2005 alone, about 60% were some sort of personal injury.
What is a personal injury claim?
So what is a personal injury claim? Personal injury claims are legal claims against a negligent party include injuries to the mind or body because of someones else’s negligence or intentional actions.
The most prevalent personal injury claims are accidents at work, traffic road accidents, product defect accidents, premises liability issues, and assault.
Personal injury also includes professional and medical malpractice issues.
At least at some point in our life, we have found ourselves being victims of the above scenarios. Injuries sustained from such accidents and other types of injuries depend on the degree of harm.
Brain damage, spinal cord injuries, burns, and broken bones are also associated with such accidents.
The good news is that there are lawyers who can help us recover financial compensations when we become victims of these injuries.
According to estimates, less than 5% of personal injury claims only go to a trail as most settle out of court. This is why making sure that the attorney for personal injury that you hire has exceptional negotiation skill besides trial skills.
Status of limitation
Each state has a specific deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit. This deadline is called the personal injury statute of limitation. When you contact an attorney, he or she will let you know if your case is still eligible to be filed under your state status of limitation laws.
Before you contact personal injury lawyers, here are general things to keep in mind about the personal injury status of limitation:
- The personal injury status of limitations ranges from one to six years in different states
- There is a difference between the injury and the property damage status of limitation in personal injury cases – for example, in a car accident personal injury, the status of limitation will be two years for the injury and three for the property damage
- In some states, you can extend the status of limitation but they are only granted by the court in extreme situations
- In most states, personal injury cases, the status of limitations starts on the day of the injury
- The personal injury status of limitations are different when the injury is caused by a state or federal entity
As you can see from the above, personal injury status of limitations are complicated so the faster you get your claim filed by a personal injury attorneys the better. Do not wait for time to pass by.
Seek help to recover the compensations you deserve for your property damages and pain & sufferings.
Comparative negligence in personal injury cases
Often times people will assume that personal injury lawyers can only get them compensation for their injuries when someone else is at fault. However, that is not true. There is a law in many states called comparative fault or negligence that allows a victim of an injury to still get compensated even if that victim contributed to the injury.
This law basically looks at the percentage of each involved party contribution to the injury and award compensation based on that. So let’s say for example that your lawyer or law firm can prove that the defendant contributed 80% percent to the injury, they will be responsible for 80 percent of the damages.
You have to keep in mind that the law varies from state to state. Some states like California and Florida are pure comparative negligence states, while states like New Jersey and Texas use the 50% rule.
So who are personal injury lawyers? What does a personal injury attorney do exactly?
So who are personal injury lawyers? A personal injury attorney is a lawyer who practices in the area of the law called tort law. A personal injury lawyer is also referred to as a trial lawyer or attorney.
Because of different state laws pertaining to personal injury damage claims and the insurance companies being notorious in taking advantage of victims, you will rather have these lawyers on your side than not.
What does personal injury lawyers do exactly?
This type of civil attorneys can provide so much services and resources. Here are some of the things injury lawyers do:
- Help their client get treatment for their injury before the case settles
- Negotiate with the insurance company of the defendant for financial compensation
- Represent you in a court trial should negotiations fail
- Hire experts for the case
- Investigate the case
- Review police reports in the case of accidents
- Be the point of contact between the plaintiff and insurance company and their lawyers
- File the correct paperwork and follow up on deadlines
As you can these lawyers do a lot in an injury case. So if you find yourself wondering whether you should hire one or handle your injury case by yourself just remember that there are so much more that an attorney can do for you.
Personal injury examples: Types of personal injury lawyers and cases
Personal injury lawyers handle all kinds of personal injury cases. And they are also called by the type of case that they handle. So if you are looking for the below type of injury-related attorneys click below to learn more.
- Auto & Car Accident Lawyer
- Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
- Truck Accident Lawyer
- Commercial Vehicle Crashes
- Bus Crashes
- Railroad & Train Accident Lawyer
- Airplane Crashes
- Industrial Accidents
- Construction Accidents
- Boating Crash Attorney
- ATV Crashes
- Bicycle Accident Lawyer
- Pedestrian Accident Lawyer
- Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer
- Brain Injury Lawyer
- Slip And Fall & Premises Liability
- Wrongful Deaths
- Defective Products
- Mass Tort
- Medical Malpractice
- Elevator Accidents
- Dog Bites
- Uninsured Motorist Accidents
- Seat Belt Failure
- Spinal Cord Injury
The above are just examples of personal injuries and lawyers. So even if the type of case or attorney you are looking for is not listed above still contact an injury law office for consultation.
What types of personal injury damage claims can these lawyers help me get compensated for?
When one is involved in an auto accident or any other type of personal injury, he or she is entitled to financial compensations by the at-fault party or parties. However, one needs an experienced, creative, and skilled law firm to maximize what they can claim for their personal injury damages.
Below are some of the injury damage claim personal injury lawyers can help their client get compensated for:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional pain
- Physical pain
- Irreplaceable items
- Property repair and replacement
- Disfigurement
- Medical bills
- Loss of income
- Loss of consortium
- Punitive damages
Lawyers fees in a personal injury case: The contingency arrangement
For indepth on topics on injury and accident lawyer fees consider:
https://www.lawsuitbase.com/how-much-does-a-personal-injury-lawyer-cost/
https://www.lawsuitbase.com/how-much-does-a-car-accident-lawyer-cost/
One of the questions some people have is how do I pay for my lawyer. Well, the good news is that you do not have to pay upfront. Most of the times the contingency-based fee structure is employed a personal injury case.
In simple terms, contingency fees can be described as an arrangement where the personal injury attorney will charge money or fees from the client only if he or she wins the case for the client.
If the case is not won, then the attorney will not charge legal fees to the client. This type of arrangement may be particularly risky for the law firm or lawyer, but this is how the whole structure of personal injury and accident cases commonly works.
Some law firms may charge you on a retainer or hourly rate, however, this is rare in personal injury and auto accident cases.
Just make sure that you understand which fee structure your attorney will be using for your case. There are many things to consider before choosing a personal lawyer and understanding an attorney fee arrangement is one of them.
Reasons why personal injury lawyers will not take your case
There are several reasons why personal injury attorneys may not fight a case. Some of the reasons are listed below in detail.
- Expiration of the statute of limitations:
One of the main reasons for personal injury attorneys to drop a case is the expiration of the statute of limitations. However, strong the case may seem, if the statute of limitations has expired, then the attorney will not continue with the case.
- The complexity of the case:
Sometimes it may happen that the attorney is not experienced enough to handle a particular kind of case. In these situations, the attorney will refrains from taking up the case.
- Highly Expensive cases:
Usually, personal injury attorneys will opt for a contingency fee structure. So, most of the time the lawyer ends up paying the expenses of the case. But if the expenses are too much and if he or she feels that the case would not end on a positive note (that is, if the lawyers feels that the case cannot be won even after spending a lot) then he or she would prefer dropping the case.
- Finding it hard to establish liability:
Here, the lawyer thoroughly goes through the case and determines who is responsible for the accident or the injury. If the lawyer feels that the accused party is not responsible, then the lawyer will not litigate the case.
- Longer time to finish the case:
If the lawyer feels that the case would take a long time to finish, and he may not entirely recover the invested amount, then the lawyer would consider not taking up the case, because it will not be worth his time and money. This may be one of the main reasons for him to drop the case.
- Other attorneys rejected the client:
If the client’s case has a long history of being refused by many attorneys then the potential attorney may think twice before taking up the case or not take the case at all, since they feel that this case is not sustainable. There may be reasons why many others have rejected the case. Another reason could be that if the client keeps on firing and
- You injuries are minor: Sometimes law firms will refuse to handle a case where the injuries are extremely minor or just property damages. Some lawyers may not want to handle only a property damage case because of how small they usually are.
When to hire a personal injury lawyer?
Some people when they have a personal injury case, they believe that they can handle it alone without the help of personal injury lawyers. It is highly recommended that you seek an experienced personal injury lawyer help whenever you are involved in any time of injury that is the full or partial fault of someone else. Here are just a few of the benefits on why we recommend that you seek an attorney representation:
- They can help you get your motor vehicle repaired or replaced
- They can help you get compensation for your rental
- They can help you get compensated for medical bills
- They can help get you paid for your emotional and physical pain
- They can help you get any loss of wage earnings
- They can help you get compensated for future potential wage loss
The above are just a few ways you can get compensated when involved in an accident or injury that is because of others negligence or partially your fault( this is called comparative negligence, so see the section before for overview of it). Speaking with an experienced law office with the skills can help get the highest compensation.
Serious injuries can completely change the life of the victim. Victims of serious personal injuries spend most of their life resting at home or hospital. Personal injury has an impact on the family of the casualty. For a very long duration, injuries may render a person incapable of working to provide and care for his or her family.
All victims of personal injuries are entitled to compensation for lost wages, damages, and medical expenses. Therefore, if you have injuries inflicted by the negligence of another person, seek remedy by hiring an attorney. All victims of a car accident, medical malpractices, work-related accidents, and other injuries have a right to be compensated.
Any person who wishes to be compensated for injuries should seek a trial lawyer like a personal injury lawyer with experience in the field of personal injury.
Fortunately, there are many attorneys who have years of experience in the areas of personal injuries. An experienced injury attorney will help to institute legal proceeding against the wrongdoer. Lawyers can also help in giving legal advice to the victims of personal injury.
A good lawyer that handles personal injury cases should believe that everyone deserves the best legal help and makes it his or her ultimate goal to provide that by going the extra mile.
So if you or a loved one have been involved in an auto accident or got injured by others call to be connected with someone to help you get compensated. Most personal injury lawyers offer NO WIN NO PAY guarantee for all potential clients.
If you are still wondering whether you should hire a lawyer, especially, if you or loved was involved in a traffic collision read this blog titled Should I Get An Attorney After A Car Accident.
How to find the right personal injury lawyers near you for your claim
As mentioned above a personal injury claim is basically a legal case filed by the plaintiff against the at-fault party. That is the person that the plaintiff feels is responsible for his/her injury.
To make a personal injury claim, it is necessary to find the right personal injury lawyers near you.
Having lawyers nearby can be of great help to the victim because the negotiations and the conversation with the lawyers will be easier and more convenient. For finding personal injury lawyers near you, you can follow some simple steps. You can either start by searching online or by asking your friends and family about some good personal attorney practitioners nearby.
After getting some good personal injury attorney recommendations, the process of shortlisting can be done, where you can restrict the overall list of the personal injury lawyers based on various factors. The factors could be the fee structure, expertise of the personal injury lawyer in his/her field, and his/her experience in this field.
You should be convinced that the lawyer will be able to efficiently handle your case and deliver you justice and help you get due to compensation. And most importantly, however trivial it may seem, it is important to have a certain level of comfort with the personal injury attorneys who is fighting for you in the courts.
So here are a short list of what to look for in an injury lawyer to ensure that you hire the best to represent you:
- Experience
- Trial experience
- Is personal injury their primary area of focus
- How many injury and accident cases have they handled
- Whats is the average and highest compensation they have ever gotten for their clients
- Find out if most the lawyer or law firm case has been settled before trail
- How do they communicate with their client
- Ask about their resources for handling
- What type of help can they provide you while your case is going on ( help with rental,settlement loan, and treatment etc)
- Find out about their fee structure and any other hidden fee
What to expect when you contact a lawyer
Most personal injury lawyers offer a free consultation. Typically when you call a personal injury law firm, an intake person will get a brief description of your case and then schedule for you to speak with an actual attorney in person or on the phone.
Sometimes if the law firm is small you can speak with the attorney directly on your first call. For your consultation, the attorney or law firm would like you to bring in any evidence related to your case. During the free consultation, the lawyer will typically ask you some questions and then go over your options.
If you or love was involved in an accident or injury that was not your fault or partially your fault contact us to be connected with a personal injury law firm near you.
Where do I go from here? Contact us to be connected for a free consultation
If you or love was involved in an accident that was not your fault or partially your fault, call the number on this website to be connected with a personal injury attorneys near you who might be able to help you recover the damages that you deserve.
Most lawyers represent their clients on a contingency fee basis which means that there will be no money out of your pocket to hire him or her.
So you do not need to worry about having the money to hire a lawyer for your injury claim. For a more general overview of how a personal injury attorney contingency fees work and if you have questions on how much a car accident lawyer charge to represent injury victims read this blog.
Most attorneys for personal injury offer potential client free consultation. So you don’t have to worry about paying to see if you have a case or not.
Please call our injury helpline now to be connected with an attorney to see if you have a case and your legal options.
The right personal injury lawyers near you can make your case easy.
Faq
Who pays for my medical bills: Your medical bills can be paid by your healthcare insurance and auto or property insurance if you carry a medical coverage with it. However, the party at fault for your injury is liable for your medical bill. So part of your settlement should include your medical bills.
How long does a personal injury case take to settle: the time it takes to settle a personal injury case varies and depends on many factors such as the severity of your injury, the skill of the lawyer representing you, the type of personal injury damages claim, whether a case goes to trial or not, and the insurance company you are dealing with etc. However, in minor cases typically take 1 to 3 years and serious cases can take about 5 to 7 years or more to settle.
How much can I recover for my injuries: There is really no standard amount for personal injury claim recoveries as there are so many factors that can affect the amount of your case. Some of those factors are the experience and skills of the injury law firm representing you, the severity of the injury, and the insurance company you are dealing with etc. When you speak to personal injury lawyers ask them about the typical range they have gotten for their clients. So ask them for the highest, mid, and lowest amount they have ever gotten for your type of injury.
Can I negotiate a contingency fee: The answer is yes, you can negotiate a contingency fee with personal injury lawyers. The more you negotiate the better you can get a lower contingency arrangement.