Personal Injury
Personal Injury Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What is a personal injury claim?
If you have been injured or damaged
because of someone else’s conduct you may be eligible to make a
personal injury claim to recover compensation.
2. What may I recover compensation for?
Typical items of compensation including
lost wages even if your employer continued your salary/wages -
including vacation and sick days; loss of ability to earn income
in the future; medical bills - even if they have been paid by
your own insurance - the cost of future medical care your
doctors say you will need because of the injury; and “pain,
suffering, and disability” which includes how the accident has
affected you and your family and including scarring and wrongful
death. It is also possible to recover punitive damages if the
other person acted maliciously or with intent to harm you.
3. How much time do I have to bring a
personal injury claim?
This is tricky and depends who you are, how
you are injured, and who injured you. In some circumstances you
are required to file notices of claim within very specific time
periods – such as claims against governmental bodies. In cases
you are required to settle or sue within specific periods of
time known as statutes of limitation. The person who caused
harm to you or their insurance company are typically not
required to advise you of these periods in which to file notices
of claim or statutes of limitation. Generally speaking, adults
who are injured by other private parties have three years from
the date of the injury to settle for injuries caused by
negligence and two years to settle or sue for injuries caused by
intentional or malicious conduct. Minors typically have until
age 20 to file a claim against governmental bodies.
You should promptly and carefully review
the facts of your case with a lawyer to make sure that you are
not foregoing any legal rights and remedies, and so that you do
not lose the right to bring your claim.
4. Do I need a lawyer to bring a claim?
Some people settle their claims without
consulting an attorney. That may be the best course in some
cases, but you should talk to a lawyer to determine whether a
lawyer’s help can produce a better result for you. For example,
a lawyer may alert you to rights and remedies that you are not
aware of. The party who caused you harm and that party’s
insurance company are typically not required to advise you of
the full extent of your rights and remedies against them.
Lawyers are ethically bound to explain to you what they can do
for you and how they will charge for their services.
5. What will it cost me to talk to or hire
a lawyer?
Our firm charges you nothing for an initial
conference or series of conferences while we are evaluating
whether we believe we can help you and would be willing to take
your case.
If our firm agrees to take your case then
we explain to you our fee structure. In most circumstances we
offer to work for you on the basis of a percentage of the
recovery. Under this arrangement we recover more if you recover
more and thus we have an incentive to do the best possible job
for you. In some cases it may be appropriate to work for you on
the basis of an hourly rate versus a percentage.
6. If I want to make a personal injury
claim do I have to file a lawsuit and go to trial?
Not in most cases. Most claims settle
without suit and most cases in suit settle without a trial. If
your case is meritorious then the other side usually wants to
settle as soon as possible; that is simply common sense and good
business. A lawyer can help you develop, explain, and present
your case to the party that injured you and his/her insurance
company in a way that best enables the other side to understand
why they should offer you a fair settlement. In some cases it
is necessary to file a suit to preserve statutes of limitation
or to use the legal process to gain information. In some cases
it is necessary to go to trial if the difference of opinion on
evaluation or liability is simply too great. Our firm advises
you at every step of the process as to your rights and
responsibilities and as to the cost and benefits of each step of
the process. You, not the lawyers, are in charge of your case,
including whether to settle a case or not.
|
