Personal Injury Case Secrets from a Personal Injury Lawyer
As experienced personal injury attorneys, we see numerous cases on a daily basis come through our firm. It’s a great honor to help individuals recover the damages they’re entitled to and to also help businesses thwart less than honorable filed claims. There are so many little details that go into a personal injury case and one misstep could be the difference between losing and winning the case. Hiring a personal injury attorney who has a sole focus on this sector will ensure that you have the best team working hard for you. We wanted to share some personal injury case secrets that only an experienced lawyer can catch.
Secret 1: There Could Be More Than One Liable Party
Sometimes a case isn’t so black and white in terms of who you should bring suit against. Let’s say that you hurt yourself while lifting weights on a machine at the gym. Unfortunately, during this machine mishap you fractured your wrist. You now have hospital bills, need physical therapy and can’t work as a mechanic anymore. Naturally, you would bring the personal injury case against the gym, right? Yes, but there could be more. It turns out that the gym bought the equipment from Super Weight Company and had one of their technicians install it. This technician didn’t follow all of the correct installation steps, therefore installing a faulty machine into the facility. Now your personal injury cases has two liable parties accounted for. Exploring these types of details and taking the time to explore every avenue is only something done by a professional personal injury attorney. When a case has more than one liable party, it’s harder for them to try and push the blame elsewhere as more solid facts are available.
Secret 2: Damages Aren’t So Straightforward
Determining what type of damages you should receive as a victim is a tricky process. Of course there will be some obvious areas, but there are more likely other damages that don’t come to mind immediately. To continue on the example above of our person who suffered an injury from a weight lifting incident at the gym, one of the most prevalent damages would be his medical bills. The bill for the ambulance that took him from the gym to the hospital, the ER bill and the ongoing physical therapy cost that’s needed to rehab his wrist. These are certainly damages that he’s worthy of, but there are more! Our poor guy made his living as an auto mechanic and he has to stay home from work for weeks now. On top of that, he can’t easily drive with one hand, so he needs to take a taxi to his physical therapy three times per week. A seasoned personal injury attorney will take the time to identify these additional pain points. There’s always much more than what meets the eye.
Secret 3: Insurance Companies Don’t Play Fair
From a purely business standpoint with all morals aside, it doesn’t make sense for an insurance company to pay out the full amount (if at all) for claims they receive. Because of this, they have a team who works diligently to game the system and provide as small a payout as possible. Sadly enough too many deserving personal injury case victims accept these lowball offers. They aren’t working with a personal injury attorney or are working with an attorney who doesn’t specialize in personal injury cases. Therefore, they can only do so much to help you. As specialized attorneys, we can call their bluff and show them that fear won’t be a factor in this settlement payment.
To add to the inside knowledge needed to successfully work the insurance companies, when initial efforts just aren’t enough, we can pursue the insurer. A personal injury attorney will do their best to make the process as painless and quick as possible for you. Part of this may mean opening an additional lawsuit against the insurance company. Not only will they be forced to pay out the asking amount, but they could be on the line for additional damages due to the extended amount of time.
Let experienced personal injury attorneys use these three secret strategies to save you time, get you the damages you deserve and to let you get on with your life. You’ve been through enough!