Should I Get a Lawyer for a Car Accident That Wasn’t My Fault?

After an accident, you might ask yourself: Should I get a lawyer for a car accident that wasn’t my fault? But regardless of who’s at fault, you should hire a lawyer.

A study by the Insurance Research Council found that those injured in car accidents receive 3.5 times more money in settlements than those who file a car accident claim without a lawyer.  

But if that wasn’t reason enough, we’ve outlined several reasons you should hire an attorney after a car or truck accident below.

8 Reasons You Should Hire a Lawyer For a Car Accident

Whether you want to maximize the compensation you receive for your claim or minimize the hassle of the legal process, it’s important to hire a lawyer after an accident.

Here are several reasons why:

1. Legal Guidance

Filing an insurance claim and participating in a civil lawsuit is a long, complex process. Your lawyer can handle building your case, gathering evidence, documenting important details and filing deadlines. Since they are paid to understand the law, they’ll avoid common mistakes that could lose you your case. 

Furthermore, whether you’ve been involved in a motorcycle or truck accident, stress over legal matters is the last thing you want while you recover.Let Nadrich & Cohen attorneys handle every step of the legal process so you can prioritize your physical and mental health.

2. Knowledge of Potential Damages

If you’ve been injured in a car accident, you may qualify for financial compensation for:

• Medical bills: A car accident lawyer helps you recover compensation for medical expenses you’ve already incurred and may incur in the future.
• Lost wages: You can recover lost wages if you need to take time off work due to injuries.
• Loss of earning capacity: If your injuries are so severe that you can’t work in the future or have to switch careers, you can sue for the loss of potential future earnings.
• Property damage: Any damage to your vehicle or property inside your vehicle at the time of the accident.
• Pain and suffering: The mental distress and physical pain you suffer from the car accident. 
• Wrongful death: If you’ve lost a loved one to a car accident, you can sue for medical bills, pain, suffering, burial costs, funeral costs and their lost income and companionship. 

A lawyer at Nadrich & Cohen can identify all possible sources of compensation for you and explain to you exactly how much your case may be worth.

3. Unapparent Injuries

Since car accident injuries like brain damage or whiplash are sometimes masked by adrenaline and endorphins, you might not immediately realize you’re injured. A lawyer can help you seek medical treatment so you can document your injuries ASAP to ensure you’re compensated accordingly.

If you wait too long, insurance companies might claim your injuries were caused by something other than your accident.

4. Insurance Negotiation

Insurance companies will do whatever they can to deny your claim. They’ll argue you were at fault or your injuries weren’t caused by your accident. This might be false, but if you talk to the at-fault party’s insurance company without an attorney, you risk accidentally saying something they can use to damage your case.

Car accident lawyers can negotiate for you so you don’t have to worry about incriminating yourself. They can tell you when an offer from the insurance company isn’t fair, and fight for a fair settlement.

5. Staying Organized

Car accident cases have many moving parts – documents need to be tracked and deadlines need to be met. For example, most insurance policies give you a limited time-frame to file a claim. Wait too long, and it will be too difficult for insurance companies to investigate the case while evidence is fresh. There’s also typically a huge web of medical bills and medical documents which need to be kept track of when it comes to proving how much money you’re owed for your injuries. A lawyer’s presence will help you keep track of everything you need to know.

6. Proving Fault

If you want to be able to recover compensation for your injuries, you will need to prove your injuries were the result of somebody else’s negligence. This means you’ll need to prove you were injured because somebody else failed to be reasonably careful. 

Common forms of driver negligence include:

• Speeding
• Distracted driving or texting while driving
• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Failure to obey traffic signals
• Tailgating
• Driving while sleep-deprived

But to definitively prove negligence, it’s good to have experienced accident lawyers and a team of experts on your side.

Car accident lawyers can analyze your evidence and work with investigators and accident reconstruction experts to prove that you’re not at fault.

7. Maximize Your Settlement

Experienced lawyers know how to navigate a car accident court case. They understand the evidence they need, common pitfalls to avoid and how to negotiate with insurance companies to earn you a fair settlement.

Additionally, insurance companies will feel more confident they can low-ball you with an unfair offer if you don’t have a lawyer present.

By hiring lawyers with an established track record of success, you’ll force insurance companies to take you more seriously and offer you a fair settlement.

8. Car Accident Attorneys Work on a Contingency Basis

Contingency lawyers like Nadrich & Cohen do not charge a fee until financial compensation is recovered for you. This means you will never owe them any money out of your own pocket. You’ll only pay a percentage of your settlement if you win your claim.

In other words, you aren’t taking a risk. You only pay if your lawyers win your case. 

How Much Compensation Could I Receive?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how much compensation you might receive from an accident. You could get a couple of thousands of dollars or millions depending on the damage dealt. 

Connect With a Car Accident Lawyer Today

To recover the most compensation possible for your injuries, you should hire an experienced car accident lawyer. Nadrich & Cohen lawyers have been handling car accident cases since 1990 and have recovered over $400,000,000 for clients. Contact us today for a free case evaluation.

Remember: we work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you won’t owe us any fees until and unless we recover money to compensate you for your injuries.