Who’s really at fault? While driver errors cause many vehicle accidents, other accidents occur because of factors outside any driver’s control. Drivers who believe they have been injured because of others’ carelessness or negligence should seek counsel from an experienced auto-accident attorney.

Here is a case in point. An 18-year old driver swerved to avoid a head-on collision with a truck that careened into his lane. He steered to the shoulder, which was six inches below the road. His car spun around and collided with a guardrail, which sliced through his car’s left side and nearly severed his left leg and arm, and fractured his right leg. He underwent 34 expensive surgeries an extensive rehabilitation. His accident attorney sued the county, alleging the road’s shoulder and guardrail were dangerous and failed to meet state highway standards. A jury recommended a multimillion-dollar award to cover past and future medical costs and pain and suffering.

Use the “Golden Hour” after the accident to gather information to protect your rights:

·         Get immediate medical aid for injuries.

·         Call an attorney for advice right away.

·         Admit no wrongdoing. Sign nothing.

·         Also……..

o   Write down names and addresses of witnesses.

o   Call for police. Ask officers to write an accident report. Request names, badges, and phone numbers.

o   Try not to move cars until police arrive, unless vehicles impede traffic.

o   Ask for other drivers’ and witnesses’ names, addresses, and insurance information.

o   Write all cars’ tag numbers.

o   Inform your insurance carrier.

o   Use your cell-phone camera to photograph injuries, damage, skid marks, and other relevant images.

The shock of getting into an accident, being injured, or losing a family member in a crash can be traumatic.  Equally nerve-rattling is that a victim may face life-changing injuries, discomfort and pain, police questioning, complex auto insurance forms, and unfeeling adjusters who pressure to settle quickly.  Next come medical treatment and rehabilitation, medical bills, lost wages, and vehicle and property damage.  A victim may even suffer partial disability, permanent impairment, or loss of ability to enjoy a normal life with his or her spouse and family.

If you’ve been a victim of an auto accident, contact our team of personal injury attorneys today!

As you can probably guess, no two personal injury cases are alike.  Attorneys can’t respond to “What’s my case worth?” until they do a lot of case homework.  Here are factors we weigh:

1.       Nature of injuries

2.       Injury treatment needs

3.       Treatment cost and amount already paid

4.       Future medical treatment costs

5.       Types of treatment, from surgery to rehabilitation

6.       Where the suit will go to court

7.       If you were partially at fault

8.       Your prognosis

9.       Preexisting medical condition

10.   Wage, benefit, and vacation losses

11.   Future wage-earning limitations

12.   Third-party insurance coverages

13.   Emotional-and mental stress value

14.   Loss of spousal consortium

15.   Property-damage deductibles

16.   Similar verdicts in local courts

17.   Defendant’s insurer

18.   Judge assigned to case

19.   Defendant’s counsel

Answers to these questions help build mutual trust between a client and attorney.  With mutual trust and credibility, we can strive to earn injury victims fair outcomes.

When someone slips, falls, and suffers injury because of another’s negligence, an attorney familiar with premises liability accidents can help.  Victims can obtain compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.  An experienced personal injury lawyer can assess the incident, communicate with property owners, negotiate with insurers, locate witnesses and experts to testify for the plaintiff, and if required, present the case at trial.

Politicians, television commentators, and magazine writers sometimes ask why trial lawyers file “junk” auto accident, medical malpractice, or product liability lawsuits. Lawsuits are never “frivolous” to people who are seriously injured.  Just ask victims of an auto accident how inconsequential their injuries and suffering seem and if their lawyer’s services were frivolous.  Were the extensive medical and rehabilitation bills that someone incurred after slipping and falling on a piece of squashed fruit on the floor of a supermarket produce aisle trivial?  Talk to the mother of a child disabled during childbirth because of a hospital’s negligence about how insignificant her baby’s lifelong care costs and her own emotional pain are.  Injury lawsuits and our strong civil justice system help deserving individuals obtain justice and hold wrongdoers accountable.  Civil justice attorneys work to make sure everyone has a fair chance through the legal system-even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations.

You were the victim of an auto, slip and fall, or other accident. You’re recovering. The pain has diminished, muscle flexibility is back, and you want to return to work. The responsible party’s insurer makes a tempting offer, so you can think about settling your injury claim. That may be a mistake. Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) is a recovery stage each injured person reaches during healing. For some, MMI means full recovery. For others, MMI plateaus at incomplete mending, meaning that no additional medical treatment or rehabilitation will restore normalcy. An experienced personal injury attorney will recommend resolving an injury claim only after a victim’s injuries and MMI are fully documented and when all past and future medical expenses, lost wages and future earnings, and other recovery needs have been calculated. An attorney who understands an injured party’s MMI can put him or her in the best legal position to obtain fair and comprehensive results from a claim.

When a client is seriously injured in a vehicle collision, we will make every effort to seek additional sources of precise, detailed, and thorough information to determine responsibility for the accident. We often investigate:

·         Cell-phone, personal digital assistant, and global positioning satellite records for all involved vehicles and drivers. These may record direction, mechanical problems, operating errors, position, velocity, or improper electronic-device use.

·         Digital 911 call records to locate witnesses who may have observed and reported the accident.

·         Digital photographs taken by police at the scene.

·         Paramedic, ground ambulance, or medical air transport reports of emergency care that may include injury specifics.

·         Tow-truck or wrecker records, which also may shed light on accident details.

·         Traffic cameras at dangerous intersections to determine if the monitoring system recorded the accident.

According to the law, insurance companies have a good-faith responsibility to deal fairly with customers. This means coverage providers and their agents must actively seek ways to pay all fair benefits promised to policy holders, not to disallow them.  Sometimes, when policyholders need them the most, insurers redefine their obligations and services to avoid paying promised benefits. Common tactics include denying claims or dragging them out so long that insureds simply get tired of fighting and give up.

HER INSURER SAID, ‘NO’

A 32-year-old doctoral student suffered career-ending brain injuries in a head-on collision with a negligent driver. When the other driver’s insurance failed to cover all her medical expenses, she filed an underinsured-motorist claim with her own auto insurance plan, which entitled her to $1.5 million in benefits. Her insurer refused to pay for several years, claiming she had no head injury. Her attorney sued the insurer and its agent, alleging bad faith, breach of contract, and violations of a state unfair trade practices statute. A jury awarded her significant compensatory and punitive damages, plus attorney fees and prejudgment interest.

Under the law, negligence is inattention that causes a person harm. Negligence can take two forms: action, such as a mason carelessly dropping a heavy brick off a scaffold; or failure to act, when a business owner disregards repairing a broken step on a stairway in a dimly lit corridor.

As directed, an auto-repair patron moved his car to a numbered parking spot. As he left his car, a dealership employee driving another vehicle failed to see him and ran over his foot. His crushed foot developed into a complex injury, damaging the peroneal nerve and causing constant pain, color and temperature changes, and loss of hair on his foot.  A former highly paid stockbroker, the injured man attempted to work for more than a year, but medications and burning pain forced him to stop. His attorney then sued the dealership, alleging its employee negligently failed to keep a proper lookout. The parties reached a significant settlement prior to trial.