Quick Products For personal injury - Basic Guidelines
Need Personal Injury Advice? Try Reading This Article
Many times injured parties do not realize that they can be compensated for their injuries. If you're unaware of what you deserve if you've been injured, keep reading. Keep reading to discover what you should do in the event that you sustain a personal injury in the future.
Contact your local state bar and ask whether they have any referral services with relevant recommendations. Of course, you still need to spend a few moments researching any referral that you receive. Check the recommendation's background and qualifications prior to establishing contacts. This is a great way to find reputable professionals in the industry.
When fighting a personal injury case, a lawyer will have many curve balls thrown at him. That means that only a lawyer with an extensive history in the field of personal injury law will be able to be successful at trial. Look for a lawyer with lots of experience behind him.
Call the police if it is at all appropriate to do so. Even if there would not be a criminal complaint, it is often a good idea to have a police officer document your complaints. This ensures that there is a solid paper trail to confirm that the event actually did occur.
Take a second to ask your friends and family about any recommendations that they might have. Personal injury lawyers come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties: you might need a trusted friend's opinion to find the right one for you. Make sure it's someone you know is trustworthy and has no financial motivations.
If you think your case is a slam dunk win, you are likely to be able to find a lawyer who will work on a conditional contract. These contracts state that you only pay the lawyer's fee if they win the case for you. While you'll end up paying more, this ensures you're not out if you lose.
If you were injured by an animal, do your best to find out who it belongs to. If you make any mistake about who the owner is, and you file a suit, it may be difficult to sue someone else once it is revealed that this is not the owner.
If you end up disliking your lawyer, remember you can fire him or her at any time! You should never feel stuck with a lawyer. If the job isn't getting done, simply look for a replacement and move on. Your peace of mind is well worth the hassle of looking for a new one.
When getting an attorney, sign a retainer agreement. This here ensures you aren't surprised by their fees later. Arrange a payment schedule in your retainer agreement and spell out how the relationship can be terminated if it proves unsatisfactory.
If your personal injuries are minor, you probably do not want to hire a personal injury lawyer. The medical costs of something like a bruised leg would not justify the expense of hiring an attorney. In those cases, try to work things out with the other party amicably, or take them to small claims court.
If you are a communicator, a person who likes to be in touch whenever you have a question or information to share, choose a small law firm for your personal injury case. These firms are easier to get in touch with as their work loads tend to be smaller, ensuring you get the attention you require.
Take the time to select a reliable lawyer if you receive an injury. Look for someone who has experience with similar cases and ask about prices before you decide to hire a lawyer. Meet with different lawyers in your area and choose one who makes you feel comfortable and knows how to listen.
If you have to deal with an insurance company directly, it is typically best to bring a lawyer. Insurance companies know how to deal with claimants in a way which ensures that the insurer wins and the claimant loses. A lawyer can help you deal with their dirty tricks and keep your case a winner.
Personal injury law suits are rarely resolved in a short matter of time, but the final reward at the end may make the whole procedure worthwhile. With any luck, this piece has offered the tips necessary to help you start your claim. Good luck!
Auto insurers play hardball in minor-crash claims
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- If you are injured in a minor car crash, chances are good that you will be in the fight of your life to get the insurance company to pay all the medical costs you incur -- even if the accident was no fault of your own.
That's what CNN discovered in an 18-month investigation into minor-impact soft-tissue injury crashes around the country. Those are accidents in which there is little damage to the vehicle and the injuries to people are not easy to see by the naked eye or conventional medical tools like X-rays.
Since the mid-1990s, most of the major insurance companies -- led by the two largest, Allstate and State Farm -- have adopted a tough take-it-or-leave-it strategy when dealing with such cases.
The result has been billions in profits for insurance companies and little, if anything, for the public, according to University of Nevada insurance law professor Jeff Stempel.
"We can see that policyholders individually are getting hurt by being dragged through the court on fender-bender claims, and yet we don't see any collateral benefit in the form of reduced premiums even for the other policyholders," Stempel said.
"So I think now we can say to continue this kind of program is in my view institutionalized bad faith."
If you have never heard of the strategy, it's because insurance companies don't want you to know that they are paying out less and less for minor crashes even while their profits soar and your premiums continue to rise.
But after a review of more than 6,000 company documents and court records, interviews with a dozen people nationwide, including former company insiders, and conversations with accident victims, the picture is clear: If you challenge the offer by some insurance companies you will be left with no option but to go to court, where you will be dragged through the wringer.
Expensive, time-consuming
In an affidavit in a New Mexico case where Allstate is being sued, one of the company's former attorneys said the strategy is to make fighting the company "so expensive and so time-consuming that lawyers would start refusing to help clients."
Shannon Kmatz, a police officer and former Allstate claims agent, said company employees were encouraged to get rid of claims quickly and cheaply and even offered accident victims as little as $50, telling them to take it or leave it.
Both Roxanne Martinez of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Ann Taylor of West Lafayette, Indiana, saw the practice firsthand.
Martinez suffered neck and back injuries when she was sideswiped by a driver insured by Allstate.
After three years, the company finally offered her $15,000 -- a little more than half of what she needed for lost wages and medical bills.
She went to court, and four years after the accident a jury awarded her $167,000 plus interest.
"It's kind of hard when you are thinking they are going to leave you broke. ... That was very stressful," she said.
Taylor was not as fortunate when her case went to trial.
The Indiana nurse was rear-ended by a State Farm employee driving a State Farm car. Damage to her car was minimal but she suffered herniated disc and muscle tears.
Taylor racked up medical bills and lost wages amounting to about $15,000. The company offered her $2,000.
"I was just very insulted," she said.
She sued, but three years later a jury came back with a judgment for her of only $1,500.
The jury didn't believe she could be hurt in an accident in which the vehicle had barely a dent.
Three jurors told CNN photos of the two cars involved in the accident -- enlarged and prominently displayed by the defense -- played a huge role in their decision.
And one said they assumed Taylor had already been compensated by the insurance company and was just trying to get more money.