When to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer

You cannot hire a personal injury lawyer soon enough after someone else causes you injury. Filing deadlines for lawsuits and the need to secure evidence as soon as possible are compelling reasons to hire a lawyer right now. If you miss the statute of limitations for your case (because you waited to hire a lawyer), you may suffer an immense financial loss.

A lawyer will immediately begin protecting and fighting for your financial recovery as soon as you hire them. The sooner you hire your personal injury attorney, the sooner you realize these significant benefits.

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The Acute Risks of Waiting to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer

It is difficult to stress enough the importance of hiring a personal injury lawyer right away.

If you delay hiring a lawyer, you risk:

• The statute of limitations expiring: States impose different deadlines for filing personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, which can range from one to six years across the U.S. In Oklahoma, for example, the law generally requires you to file a personal injury lawsuit within two years of the harmful event. If you do not file your case before the deadline expires, you can completely lose the option of filing a lawsuit.
• Losing valuable evidence: Evidence in personal injury cases can be fleeting. For example, traffic camera footage of a car accident may eventually be erased. You should hire your lawyer as soon as possible so they can collect all useful evidence.
• Suffering a significant financial loss: If you miss the filing deadline or prevent your lawyer from gathering all useful evidence, this can lead to a weaker claim or lawsuit. This means you may obtain less compensation than you otherwise should.
• Exposing yourself to rights violations: One of your lawyer’s most pressing duties is protecting you from anyone who might violate your rights (and try to deprive you of fair compensation). If you are dealing with insurers directly and lack a lawyer’s advice, you may be at a high risk of the insurer violating your right to complete compensation.

A personal attorney and their team (which includes paralegals and investigators) will work to spare you from these risks. Your legal team will document your damages and file your case as soon as possible, handling every step of the process.

Do Personal Injury Lawyers Handle My Type of Case?

Personal injury attorneys handle cases in which one person’s negligence causes harm to another.

This means that a personal injury lawyer may seek compensation for:

• Slip and fall accidents
• Trip and fall accidents
• Car accidents
• Truck accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Boating accidents
• Animal attacks (including dog bites)
• Physical assaults allowed by negligent security

If you suffered harm because someone else exposed you to unacceptable risk, either on the road or on another’s property, a personal injury lawyer can benefit you.

Wondering Whether You Have a Case? Speak with a Personal Injury Lawyer at No Cost

Many victims of negligence do not realize they are the victims of negligence until speaking with a lawyer.

Personal injury lawyers offer free consultations, which are your chance to:

• Provide your case details to a law firm
• Hear whether the law firm is willing to handle your case
• Learn more about the law firm
• Determine if you want to hire the specific law firm for your case

Free consultations are a valuable, important step in vetting law firms. Take advantage of this no-cost, no-obligation phone call as you choose your personal injury attorney.

I Have Lost a Loved One. Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Help?

Personal injury lawyers often handle wrongful death cases. Negligence, which is typically the standard of liability in personal injury cases, is also the standard of liability in wrongful death cases.

If you lost a loved one in circumstances you believe were preventable, seek a personal injury lawyer who will seek compensation for you.

What a Personal Injury Lawyer Does

A personal injury lawyer’s mandate is simple. Your attorney will seek to obtain the compensation you deserve from those liable for your damages. Achieving this goal is more complicated than it seems, though, and your lawyer’s duties may include:

Detailing Your Damages

Your attorney will document the damages you have suffered because of negligence, and useful documentation may include:

• Medical records detailing your injuries
• Photographs and medical images of your injuries (including X-rays)
• Medical bills (which show your healthcare costs)
• Mental health experts’ records detailing your pain and suffering
• Bills for mental health treatments
• Invoices showing property expenses
• Employment records and bank statements detailing your professional damages (including lost income)

Your damages may be expensive, and the cost of those damages will depend on the severity of your injuries. Personal injury lawyers know how to calculate a complex array of damages accurately.

Obtaining Evidence

Winning a personal injury case generally requires proving negligence. Your lawyer will obtain any witness accounts, photographs, video footage, and other evidence proving the liable parties’ negligence.

Calculating a Settlement Target

Your lawyer will calculate a fair settlement value that reflects:

• Your economic damages
• Your non-economic damages
• Both existing damages and harm you will experience going forward

Law firms have systems to ensure your case value is accurate before settlement negotiations begin.

Negotiating with Insurers or Other Liable Parties

While most personal injury cases settle, you should never accept a settlement unless it pays for your current and future damages. Your attorney will negotiate with insurance companies or the civil defense lawyer representing liable parties.

Settlement negotiations may require:

• Exchanging evidence that proves who is at fault for your damages
• Providing documentation of your damages
• Detailing their settlement demands
• Engaging in verbal negotiations

Your attorney may establish clear settlement demands. Liable parties may offer less compensation than your lawyer seeks. Your attorney will remain firm in their demands. If liable parties refuse to negotiate in good faith, your attorney can file a lawsuit and take your case to trial if necessary.

Handling Any Necessary Lawsuit and Trial

Law firms handle clients’ personal injury lawsuits from start to finish.

When you file a lawsuit, your lawyer will:

• Draft and file the paperwork
• Ensure that defendants in the case receive notice
• Continue negotiating a settlement with the defendants
• Organize evidence of negligence, documentation of damages, and other trial-related materials
• Complete discovery
• Accompany you with any necessary depositions
• Handle every aspect of your case in court

If your lawyer succeeds, a jury will award you the compensation you deserve for the damages you suffered.

Overseeing the Day-to-Day Aspects of Your Case

Completing a personal injury claim or lawsuit requires frequent communication, the setting of appointments, ample paperwork, and other duties your lawyer will handle.

When you let a lawyer lead your case, knowing a qualified legal team is pursuing your financial recovery may provide psychological relief.

Your Attorney Will Combat Bad-Faith Insurance Tactics

The insurance claims process can be challenging, especially when insurers do not handle your claim in good faith.

Your legal team will shield you from any bad-faith strategies from insurance companies, which may include:

• Undervaluing your losses: The insurance company may assign a low value to your losses, hoping you won’t provide evidence to the contrary. Your legal team will obtain documentation of your damages and respond to the insurer with fair loss values.
• Denying your claim: An insurance company may deny your claim outright, citing one or more reasons in their decision. Your lawyer will address these reasons as they file an amended claim or take other necessary actions.
• Assigning fault you don’t deserve: Often, fault is tied to liability in a personal injury claim or lawsuit. Therefore, an insurance company may try to accuse you of causing your own injuries and, in doing so, try to limit its financial exposure.
• Being misleading about insurance policies: Insurance policies can be daunting documents, and insurance companies know their details well. Insurance companies may mislead claimants about the details of insurance policies in an attempt to save money.
• Negotiating in a hardball fashion: Insurers often extend lowball settlements to claimants. Some claimants do not know how to calculate their losses accurately. Other claimants panic because they’re in financial distress and accept an offer without consulting a lawyer. Let an attorney negotiate and avoid accepting a lowball settlement.

Personal injury lawyers see and overcome these challenges regularly. Let your legal team rely on their experience and training to fight for fair compensation from insurers.

Damages Your Lawyer Will Include in Your Case

In securing the compensation you deserve, your lawyer must have a firm understanding of your damages—both their details and cost.

Some common damages in personal injury cases include:

Healthcare Expenses

Whether you have life-threatening injuries or not, you should receive extensive medical treatment after a harmful event. Your lawyer will keep track of all necessary medical services and costs, seeking compensation for all the treatment you needed for your injuries.

Pain and Suffering

Most personal injury cases involve non-economic damages referred to as pain and suffering.

Such damages can include:

• Physical pain from injuries
• Conditions like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Sleep-related problems
• Scarring
• Amputation injuries
• Emotional anguish
• Lost quality of life

Each plaintiff in a personal injury case has unique damages, and pain and suffering is a highly variable type of harm. Your lawyer will arrange for you to see a mental health professional who can diagnose and help value your pain and suffering.

Mental Health Treatment

If you choose to seek mental health treatment, your lawyer will include the cost of therapy, medications, and other treatments in your claim or lawsuit.

Property-Related Expenses

Many types of personal injury lawsuits involve property costs. This includes, but is not limited to, auto accident claims and lawsuits. Your lawyer will seek fair compensation for replacing or repairing your damaged property (and covering any other property-related expenses).

Work-Related Damages

Professional damages are an integral feature of many personal injury cases, as these damages can include:

• Lost income
• Diminished earning power
• Lost benefits
• Lost chances to earn bonuses, promotions, and other performance-based incentives

Professional damages can also contribute to pain and suffering, as professional insecurity can weigh on one’s mind. Your lawyer will assign a fair financial value to your professional damages and demand fair compensation from liable parties.

Is It Expensive to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?

It is not expensive to hire a personal injury lawyer. In fact, personal injury lawyers require no upfront compensation from their clients. Your law firm will pay the entire upfront cost of your case and only obtain a fee if you get compensation.

Do not wait to hire your legal team; they will need to obtain evidence and file your case as soon as possible.