Victims of personal injuries have a lot on their plate. If they are too injured to take care of legal matters; their families too can be under a lot of mental and financial strain. Fighting legal battles can be extremely difficult at such times. So, hiring a lawyer can help victims and their families greatly.
Here’s how a personal injury attorney can help you.
By providing you, legal counsel
It’s difficult for a layperson to understand the legal process and fight it out with the negligent party. If the party at fault turns out to be a person or entity in power then it becomes even more intimidating to file claims. So, a personal injury attorney can help you by providing you guidance on the matter.
Lawyers can even help you understand if you actually have a case. Injuries or accidents due to the negligence of another person or entity are classified as personal injury cases. But often the accident cases are not straightforward; such as those in the case of slip and falls. Auto accident cases can also become complicated when it becomes necessary to find the cause of the accident. Was it the driver’s fault? Perhaps the accident was the result of a faulty auto part.
Only a personal injury lawyer can help victims understand the complexity of their cases. You can find a local lawyer by conducting simple online searches using keywords with your locations such as personal injury lawyer Joliet or something on similar lines. Laws regarding personal injury can differ from state to state. So, it is important to seek counsel from a personal injury lawyer practicing in your area.
By securing evidence
Personal injury attorneys will secure evidence to help your case without delay. Without legal representation; it can be extremely difficult for victims to find evidence from the accident scene. The other party can even tamper with the evidence. It can get lost too.
Your lawyer will also try and speak with witnesses of the accident. The lawyer will speak with your doctors and other medical experts to understand your case better and try to use their statements to solidify your claim.
By helping you calculate and file a claim
Before you can file a claim, you need to determine the compensation amount. It is not easy to do so when bills are mounting up and you are still battling with your injuries.
Your lawyer will consider many factors to arrive at a compensation figure. These can be your current and estimated future medical bills and other expenses. If you have suffered a loss of income for life due to your injuries including permanent or temporary disabilities then your lawyer will account for this factor too. Other considerations can be – emotional distress or psychological problems due to injuries and financial strain, transportation costs (if you can’t drive anymore due to your injuries), cost of physical therapy (whether temporary or for life), etc.
By negotiating with the other party’s representatives
Negotiations for personal injury cases can be tough and endless. The negligent party will, of course, not like to pay any money to the victim. In many cases, their representatives (insurers and lawyers) even attempt to bully the victims (who are without representation) to accept a low payout sum or nothing at all.
But your lawyer can handle tough negotiations and you won’t need to deal with the negligent party’s representatives at all. Experienced personal injury lawyers are expert negotiators and are used to dealing with insurers and other attorneys.
By going to trial
On rare occasions, negotiations can fail too. It can be due to foul play by the negligent party or their refusal to pay the entirety of the claim amount.
In such circumstances, you have the option to go to trial. If you do, your lawyer can file the necessary paperwork for the same and complete other preparations for the case. Your lawyer will try to convince the witnesses (if any) and experts to testify in court on your behalf. The lawyer will present the evidence in court, prepare opening and closing arguments, and stop the negligent party’s attempts to derail the case.