In the wake of a car accident, the question of negligence often takes center stage. Proving negligence is critical for victims seeking compensation for their injuries and damages. This involves demonstrating that another party failed to exercise reasonable care, leading to the accident. Understanding how negligence is proven is pivotal in navigating the complexities of car accident claims within the state’s legal framework.
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Who Is at Fault in a Car Accident?
Safety should always be a priority when driving. Being careful and staying focused when behind the wheel can help prevent accidents, serious injuries and legal consequences. However, even when you are cautious, tragic events can still happen on the road. An individual who causes a car accident will be financially responsible for the damages and injuries resulting from the incident. Read on to learn more.
Why You Should Hire A Personal Injury Attorney
Why do GEICO and other auto insurance companies separately spend over a BILLION dollars a year in advertising? Do they really want to help you in your time of need?
You’ve been in a crash. Someone was more focused on his cell phone than his driving and plowed into the back of your car. What are you to do? How do you get your car fixed? Should you turn it into your own auto insurance company? Is it OK to talk to the insurance adjuster? Should you give a recorded statement? Who should you talk to? Do you have to sign those papers from the other driver’s insurance company? AAAARRRRHHHH!
Quickly it becomes overwhelming. What happens when life changes in a second but it takes months to put the pieces back together? It’s so unfair that just because some inattentive driver made a mistake that you now have all of these burdens and responsibilities.
You can go it alone. Many do. The insurance company you now have to fight against hopes they can deal with you directly. This is why they spend so much in advertising. They know they hold all of the cards and hope they can deal with you directly. They do this for a living and know you don’t.
Do you need an attorney? Only if you want someone truly on your side to level the playing field. Consider some of the benefits:
- Assessing Claim Experience – Personal injury attorneys are experienced with cases like yours. They handle them every day, and will be able to tell you, immediately, if your case is worth pursuing. Following their advice, you can avoid the expense of litigation if your attorney feels that you are unlikely to win.
- No Fees If You Don’t Recover – Your personal injury attorney works on a contingency fee. In other words, if you don’t win your case, you will not pay any attorney’s fees.
- Red Tape – Your experienced personal injury attorney can wade through the myriad of paperwork that is common to personal injury cases allowing you to get on with your life.
- Investigative Team – A team of investigators with experience in specialized areas will examine all the technical aspects of your case.
- Objectivity – It’s very difficult to see the facts clearly when you are experiencing pain, anger, frustration and/or fear. Your personal injury attorney will be objective, and brings the voice of reason to your case.
- Alternative Dispute Resolution – Sometimes a long complicated trial isn’t always the best solution. That is when your experienced personal injury attorney would use ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution). An example of ADR would be mediation and arbitration. This saves you time, money and emotional strain.
- Experience Working with Other Attorneys – During the fact-finding part of the litigation, parties are expected to exchange facts and documents. Your personal injury attorney has the expertise to deal with the other side’s attorney quickly and effectively.
- Experience with Insurance Companies – Working with insurance companies is second nature to an experienced personal injury attorney. He will never be confused or pressured no matter what tactics the insurance company employs to try to force a quick, cheap settlement.
- Best Settlements – In the personal injury cases that are resolved rather than tried, your experienced attorney will negotiate the best possible and quick settlement on your behalf.
- Best Jury Verdicts – In the cases where you need to go to trial, and you are in the hands of an experienced personal injury attorney, you can expect that your attorney will develop a legal strategy designed to get you all the compensation you so rightfully deserve.
For cases of every size, having a sensitive, determined, focused, experienced and nice personal injury attorney may make a huge difference. For a free consultation call The Goodman Law Firm at 216-928-9990. When you’ve been injured, you need a “Goodman” on your side.
Catastrophic Injuries
Catastrophic is a big, four syllable word that has very unique implications in the legal world.
While there is no specific legal definition of catastrophic injury, you
hope never to have it apply to you or someone you love. It typically
includes someone whose injuries require multiple surgeries, a lifetime
of medical treatment and the inability to return to work. If someone
else caused you to end up like this, a sophisticated lawsuit might be in
your future.
In these lawsuits, there are large damages (the amount of money) which
necessitate lots of legal work. Insurance companies rarely roll over and
fully compensate folks who have sustained catastrophic harms and
losses. The creativity of the arguments and how your evidence is
presented will make a huge difference in the level of compensation you
obtain.
A key factor in determining if an injury is “catastrophic” is how
debilitating the injury is and to what extent it is expected to
continue. If you are unable to perform activities of daily living on a
long-term basis, you need to accurately and meticulously show this in
order to make sure you don’t get short-changed.
If your injury causes a permanent disability that prevents you from
earning a living, it is your obligation to obtain sufficient
compensation to take care of your family’s financial future. While the
law says the defendant is required to pay damages that “make the
plaintiff whole,” getting that evidence and presenting it to an
insurance company or jury is hard work.
In order to receive enough money to pay for all of the medical expenses,
lost income, pain and suffering and loss of quality of life, multiple
medical, vocational, economic and other experts must be utilized.
Be educated and picky when choosing an attorney to represent you. Your
attorney needs to have a thorough understanding of the legal, medical
and insurance process to obtain for you the “right” result. When your
injury is “catastrophic,” turn to a law firm with a proven track record
of representing its clients with experience, insight, dedication,
compassion and relentless drive.