Do I Need an Attorney for an Auto Accident?

Retaining an attorney to represent you following an auto accident is one of the most important steps that you can take. This is true even if your car accident is relatively small, with minor property damages or injuries. If you have suffered serious personal injuries in an auto accident, retain an experienced attorney to represent you as soon as possible in your case.

If you do not have an attorney representing you, the insurance company will do everything possible to take advantage of you and pay out as little money as possible to satisfy your claim. This is because, after all, the insurance company is a big business and it wants to save itself as much money as possible.

Insurance companies do this by settling cases as cheaply as possible and keeping as much money in-house as possible. Insurance companies make their money by collecting premiums from their customers. However, they lose money when they pay out large personal injury claim settlements, jury verdicts, and arbitration awards.

If you have suffered injuries in a car accident that occurred because of another driver’s negligence, speak with a knowledgeable attorney about your case as soon as possible. Your lawyer can sit down with you and discuss how the accident happened. They can then determine if you are eligible to file a personal injury claim for monetary compensation.

Finally, your lawyer can negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf, and if necessary, file a lawsuit in the case and litigate it to a conclusion in the court system. In short, when it comes to pursuing and recovering the monetary damages that you deserve for your injuries, hiring a knowledgeable and experienced car accident attorney is essential.

A skilled car accident lawyer can handle every aspect of your car accident claim. If the insurance company refuses to compensate you adequately for your injuries, your attorney can step in and threaten them with litigation. Your lawyer can then litigate the case to a favorable conclusion on your behalf. Please call a car accident lawyer near you to find out how they can assist you with your car accident claim or lawsuit today.

Ways an Experienced Car Accident Attorney Can Help

There are numerous ways that an experienced car accident attorney can help you throughout every stage of your car accident case.

First of all, your lawyer can investigate the claim. In some personal injury car accident cases, a dispute exists as to how the accident occurred and who caused it. If necessary, your attorney can retain the necessary experts, such as an accident reconstructionist or a police officer who arrived on the scene, and who can piece together exactly what happened and how the crash occurred.

Your attorney can also gather the necessary documents, including copies of the police report and eyewitness statements, to further corroborate your version of the car accident. Similarly, your attorney can speak to eyewitnesses and find out from them how the collision occurred.

In addition to investigating what led to your accident, if you can file a car accident claim, your attorney can do so on your behalf. In most instances, a lawyer will file the personal injury claim with the insurance company for the at-fault driver. However, if that driver did not have insurance, or if they left the accident scene (a “phantom vehicle”), then your lawyer might need to turn to your insurance company for uninsured motorist compensation.

Similarly, if the at-fault driver did not have sufficient insurance to compensate you for your injuries and other damages, your lawyer can file an underinsured motorist claim with your insurance company. Therefore, you need a knowledgeable lawyer who can determine the potential sources of insurance coverage.

Filing a personal injury claim following a car accident is a multi-step process, regardless of which insurance company or companies have coverage. First of all, your lawyer will need to gather up all of your medical records and bills, along with other important documents, such as the police report and witness statements. In addition, if you had to miss time from work because of your car accident, your attorney can request copies of wage loss documentation and verification forms from your employer at the time of the accident.

In some instances, your attorney might also include a victim impact statement. A victim impact statement is a short statement that you prepare in which you detail how the accident occurred, the injuries that you suffered and the overall impact that the injuries had on your life.

Once your attorney assembles all of this documentation, they will draft a demand letter that makes a monetary demand for settlement compensation. Your attorney will then include all of these other documents in the settlement demand package. Once the insurance company receives the claim documents, it will assign an adjuster to oversee the claim and negotiate with the accident victim’s lawyer.

The adjuster will then review the settlement demand letter and package, and they might make an opening offer to resolve the case through settlement. The adjuster typically does this once the insurance company accepts liability for the car accident. It is important to keep in mind that these opening settlement offers are typically far below the actual value of the case and do not compensate car accident victims fully for their injuries. Therefore, in almost all personal injury car accident cases, the accident victim’s lawyer must negotiate with the insurance company adjuster several times before getting to a reasonable settlement number.

During most settlement negotiations, the accident victim’s lawyer gradually reduces the settlement demand while the insurance company gradually increases its offer. These negotiations go back and forth between the accident victim’s lawyer and the insurance company until the parties either settle the case or reach an impasse. If the parties decide to resolve the case for settlement, the case ends at that time, and any trial dates or other court hearings will come off the court’s docket.

However, if the case does not resolve after several rounds of negotiations, your lawyer can file a lawsuit in the state court system on your behalf. Even after the lawyer files a lawsuit, settlement negotiations can continue, and the parties can decide to resolve the case. Sometimes, the simple act of filing a lawsuit will get the insurance company’s attention. At other times, however, the parties need to litigate the case in court.

An experienced car accident attorney can assist you with filing a lawsuit and litigating your case in the court system. Litigation begins when the attorney files a lawsuit. It continues when the parties engage in discovery. Written discovery occurs when parties exchange answers to written questions, called interrogatories.

In addition, a lawyer can take the opposing party’s discovery deposition to find out more about the accident, how it happened, the injury sustained and the injury’s impact on the accident victim. In some instances, after the discovery process is complete, the insurance company will offer more money to resolve the case. However, at other times, the parties will litigate their cases in court.

A knowledgeable personal injury car accident lawyer can zealously represent you at all court proceedings, including at settlement conferences and jury trials. At a jury trial, the jury will decide the outcome of all disputed issues in the case. In many instances, that disputed issue is damages (how much to compensate the accident victim for their injuries). The arbitrator will listen to all of the evidence that the parties present and will decide what, if any, damages to award the accident victim plaintiff.

As an alternative to a jury trial, the parties may consider one or more types of alternative dispute resolution. One type of alternative dispute resolution mechanism that your lawyer might consider with you is mediation. At a mediation proceeding, the parties will retain a mediator who will help facilitate settlement discussions between the parties. At arbitration, on the other hand, the parties might select an arbitrator who will listen to the evidence and decide the damages issue in the case.

Whatever the situation, your lawyer can guide you in the right direction and help you decide on the best course of action for recovering monetary compensation in your case. That is why it is so important to have a skilled attorney representing you throughout every stage of your car accident claim.

What Happens if I Don’t Have an Attorney Representing Me After an Auto Accident?

That is never a good idea. If the insurance company sees that you represent yourself, it will do everything to undervalue your case and offer you as little compensation as possible. This is because the insurance company will assume that you do not have the knowledge and skills necessary to represent yourself in court.

Consequently, they will assume that if your case proceeded to trial, a jury would not compensate you favorably. Therefore, you need an attorney on board in your case as early on in the process as possible. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to recover favorable monetary compensation for your injuries.

In addition to filing your claim, negotiating a favorable settlement, and litigating your case in court, your attorney can provide you with realistic expectations about the value of your case and how much you should expect to receive via settlement compensation, a jury verdict or an arbitration award.

Potential Damages in a Car Accident Case

One of the most important reasons to have a knowledgeable car accident attorney on board in your case is to maximize your potential monetary recovery. A lawyer can zealously advocate for you during settlement negotiations or in the courtroom, pursuing the maximum amount of compensation that is available to you in your case.

Car accident injuries can be serious. Some of the most common types include traumatic head injuries, soft tissue contusions, broken bones and spinal cord injuries. Your lawyer will work to get you the full amount of compensation that you deserve to recover. As part of a car accident case, the type and amount of damages you recover will depend upon various factors. Those factors typically include the extent of your injuries, the severity of your injuries and the cost of your related medical treatment.

As part of your car accident claim, your lawyer can first seek to get you compensated for your medical expenses, including any procedural bills, doctor visits and physical therapy appointments. In some cases, the insurance company might dispute that certain medical treatments are related to the accident. Your lawyer can argue that point, and if necessary, hire a healthcare provider to give you a permanency evaluation. In addition, your attorney can retain the necessary medical experts to causally connect certain medical conditions or symptoms to your accident.

In addition, your attorney can work to get you compensation for your loss of wages, pain and suffering, inconvenience, mental distress, loss of earning capacity, loss of the ability to use a body part and loss of life enjoyment related to your car crash.

If your loved one suffered a fatal injury in a car crash, your attorney can pursue a wrongful death claim that seeks the costs of funeral and burial expenses and medical treatment costs leading up to the accident victim’s untimely death.

Speak With a Skilled Car Accident Attorney About Your Legal Matter Today

When you retain a knowledgeable car accident attorney to handle your case, you can rest assured that we will do everything possible to get you the full amount of compensation that you deserve for your accident-related injuries. Seek out a free consultation today.