A personal injury attorney refers to a professional you may contact after receiving injuries due to the negligence and wrongful act of another party. If this happens to you, it's easy to think that you might not need an attorney for it. However, truth be told, hiring a reliable professional facilitates in navigating through your claims and handles your case successfully. Without a personal injury lawyer, your claim may go stale.
There are certain claims and circumstances you can manage yourself, thus hiring a lawyer isn’t needed. This fact is especially true, if the negligent party is easy to deal with and accept to compensate for your losses. Unfortunately, there are instances when a personal injury lawyer is extremely required.
If you’re wondering when and what are the circumstances, in which personal injury lawyers’ services are required?
The details and descriptions of these cases are enumerated below:
1. Serious Injuries Have Occurred
Not all kinds of injuries will require you to seek the assistance of a lawyer. In case of minor injuries, for instance, you can easily walk away from these, without any compensation. Therefore, a lawyer isn't needed. A determining factor would be that you can still move around and process your claims all by yourself.
However, in case of an injury that resulted in hospitalization and rendered you unemployed whether temporarily or permanently, then a lawyer is now necessary. It's in these circumstances that your claims become more complicated. This falls under the type of a personal injury claim, where a lawyer is needed.
While you're at the hospital, you may not be able to walk around to process your claims by yourself. If you allow time to fly by, you may already lose your chance to file your claim. Note that personal injury accident claims are also barred by a prescription period that you have to comply with.
More importantly, for permanent injuries, you'll also need to file the proper compensation for your loss of ability to work. This is where it gets trickier, as the erring party may only try their best to evade liability. In these instances, a personal injury attorney is needed.
2. Non-Cooperation Of Insurance Companies
Especially when your hospitalization expenses are high, the erring party will forward your claim to their insurance companies. Not all of these companies are alike, as some are easier to deal with as compared to others. Unfortunately, if you fall under the hands of a non-cooperative insurance company, then it may be harder to receive proper compensation of your losses.
Some insurance companies immediately offer you a settlement, just to complete the case. However, you don't have to fall prey to this, as this settlement may be lower than your actual losses. Hence, a personal injury lawyer can help ensure you receive the proper compensation owed to you.
3. Someone Else Caused The Injury
When your injury is due to someone else's fault, you're going to have to prove their liability. For this purpose, you have to show all the circumstances that led to the accident. This isn't easy to defense, if you don't have any legal background. You need to consult with a personal injury lawyer to ensure you're headed in the right direction. Else, your claims might even be denied in court, simply because you had a hard time proving it.
Consulting a lawyer as soon as possible, can provide necessary assistance to gather appropriate and complete evidence for the filing your claim.
4. Death Occurs
If a loved one has died because of the fault of another, then this fact is non-negotiable. You need to have a lawyer assisting your family through the case.
A personal injury case can escalate to more serious offenses because it has resulted in the death due to the negligence of other party. Since, now the penalties are severe, the case is also expected to be dragged for a long period. The erring party will do everything in their capacity to evade their charges. Apart from that, they'll be aiming to bargain or plea for a lower penalty. Therefore, you need the assistance of a personal injury lawyer to defend the deceased. This ensures that the rights of the deceased loved one will not be hampered any further, and justice will be served.
5. Questionable Liability
Exists In most cases, liability is certain. It's just one party versus another. However, there are instances when the liability is questionable. It isn't clear who is to blame for the accident, for instance, when the accident involves multiple individuals and vehicles.
If this happens, disputes on liability can make your case even more complicated. The only way to navigate successfully through this case is with the assistance of a personal injury lawyer.
In Summary
When you are met with an accident due to the negligence of another party, you must ensure that your rights are not hampered. Make sure not to sleep on your rights and take the stance, immediately. Additionally, claim for your losses by filing a case with the assistance of your lawyer. All the cases enumerated above should warrant the expertise of a personal injury attorney.
