When To Hire A Personal Injury Lawyer
31 MarBeing injured in an accident is a difficult time beyond the pain and recovery from the injuries. It can be harder to decide whether or not to hire a personal injury lawyer to help navigate insurance claims, fault, and liability or if there is a need to pursue a personal injury claim or personal injury lawsuit.
To help people determine if hiring a personal injury lawyer is the right decision, we’ve compiled several situations that absolutely require hiring one to help you through this difficult situation.
What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?
Before discussing when to hire a personal injury, first, we should outline exactly what personal injury attorneys do and are. A personal injury lawyer is a type of civil attorney, primarily handling negligence and intentional tort cases aimed at recovering money. They assist their clients with being reimbursed for medical expenses, negotiate settlements, and take civil legal action, such as filing a lawsuit.
Essentially, a personal injury attorney is a type of lawyer that helps people who’ve been physically or psychologically injured as the result of an intentional act or negligence of another.
Situations that Call for Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer
Hiring a personal injury attorney isn’t always necessary if all things go smoothly after an accident or injuries are sustained. Though it’s never a bad idea to consult one after being injured and the following situations demand hiring a lawyer with experience in personal injury cases. If you find yourself in any of the following circumstances, please contact a lawyer.
Liability Disputed in Personal Injury Cases
In a personal injury lawsuit, the person who is the victim of an accident must prove that the other person’s negligence or error caused their injuries. If the other party disputes your personal injury claim and denies fault, hiring a personal injury attorney is a wise decision. They will conduct a thorough investigation and determine how the injuries occurred and who is responsible for them. Through this investigation, your lawyer will gather evidence and develop a legal strategy for proving liability.
Contributing to the Accident
This situation primarily involves the potentially at-fault party’s insurance company. If their insurance claims that you contributed to the cause of the accident or are partially at fault, then the money issued by them in response to your claim would be reduced by a percentage they consider your fault to be. For example, if they claim you were speeding then you are partially responsible for the accident, even though the other driver didn’t yield when they were supposed to. This means your personal injury claim’s payout would be cut by half.
Multiple Parties Involved in the Personal Injury Lawsuit
If the accident or situation involves multiple parties or your personal injury case involves several parties, you’ll want to hire a personal injury lawyer. This is typical of medical malpractice, construction accident, multi-vehicle accidents, and product liability cases. These types of personal injury claims are often complex and become complicated quickly, so it’s better to hire a lawyer than attempt to navigate them yourself.
Sustaining Injuries
Personal injury cases always involve injuries of one sort or another, hence why they are referred to as such and makes them unique among civil cases. If these injuries are a serious injury or cause permanent disabilities, then the claim will include future damages relating to being unable to work, this is sometimes called “lost wages.” Hiring an attorney is imperative in these types of cases as the likelihood of gaining not only what you’re owed for medical expenses, but the claim would include what is lost in the future. Your personal injury lawyer will also be able to retain medical, economic, and financial experts to assist in your case.
Slow Acting on the Personal Injury Claim
Insurance companies can be slow-moving and a pain in general, though that trait can be greater in a personal injury claim. If the other party’s insurance company isn’t interested in paying you, there are several tactics they’ll use that constitute “bad faith”:
- failing to investigate a claim
- refusing to pay on a valid claim
- misrepresenting the terms of the policy
- misleading the victim regarding their legal rights
- raising allegations of contributory negligence
- requiring unnecessary paperwork to process the claim in the hopes of running out the clock on the statute of limitations.
There are many other ways an insurance company can hold up payment on a claim and act in bad faith, which is why it’s imperative to hire a personal injury attorney. Often, the threat of your lawyer suing is enough for the insurance company to move faster.
Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer
There are many situations where hiring an attorney to help you navigate personal injury law and ensure your personal injury claim goes through. When an accident happens, whether or not you think any of these situations arise, it’s a good idea to at least consulting an attorney experienced in personal injury to make sure you understand your rights and the legal options you have.
Here at Marken Law Group, we have extensive experience in personal injury cases and the factors that can affect how much to seek in a personal injury settlement. We also don’t charge our legal fees unless we are successful in your case.
We understand how stressful it can be to navigate a personal injury case and don’t want to add any more stress during a difficult time. We have represented hundreds of claimants in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and California to help our clients get what is rightfully theirs. We focus on your individual needs and bring our professional experience to help guide you through.
Partner with an experienced ally that is by your side from start to finish and can help you get what is rightfully yours.
We look forward to fighting for you.