Guide to Personal Injury Claims: In our society, personal injury caused by someone else is compensated with money. It is the great equalizer. Unlike some other places around the world, we don’t take an eye for an eye. we don’t take the wrongdoers’ firstborn child nor trade a lifetime of indentured servitude. We take money to make us whole. Like it or not, it’s the American way.
Medical Malpractice Case: It’s a mistake, often called medical negligence, made by a doctor, nurse or another medical professional that results in a patient’s injury. Doctors and medical facilities maintain malpractice insurance policies to pay for these mistakes, and patients can file lawsuits against the doctor and medical facility or hospital to receive money for the injuries.
Valuing your Car accident: What losses and damages are you entitled to recover if someone else is at fault? Probably the most difficult aspect of any personal injury case is determining the value of the case in a settlement. When you are injured as the result of the negligence of another person, such as an automobile accident or a fall or a defective product, you may be entitled to compensation. Under the law of California, compensation is based upon the loss and damages suffered as a result of the carelessness of another person or company.
Figuring out how much your case is worth is a critical aspect of any accident case, both for you and your attorney. It drives many decisions, including when to settle versus go to trial and how much money your attorney should spend on preparing your case. This article will teach you all the different issues your attorney is taking into consideration when coming up with the Valuing your Car accident.
Common Automobile Accident Lawsuit Mistakes: These five mistakes are most often made by automobile accident victims during a lawsuit, playing a crucial role in hurting good people with legitimate cases. This article is meant to assist honest individuals to avoid making innocent mistakes that insurance firms and defence lawyers will exploit to avoid responsibility for damages they owe.
Common Road Accidents in California: According to statistics, the state of California has the second highest rate of motor vehicle accidents in America. In the year 2017 alone, almost 4,000 fatalities occurred as a result of car accidents in California. There are different kinds of road accidents, not all of which lead to fatalities. Knowing about the different types of vehicle collisions can help reduce the risk of being involved in one.
Walmart Injuries: Welcome to Walmart…Walmart is often referred to as a ‘Big Box Store’ and is one of the largest corporations in the world. It is in all 50 states in America including over 4600 stores nationwide and over 160 locations just in California.
Automobile Accidents: How to Find the Right Attorney: You have just been involved in an automobile collision which was not your fault. Your car is all banged up, you are hurt, you are probably worried about many of the consequences this collision has now created, and as the expression goes: “This just wasn’t a good time for this kind of thing”. There are 101 things racing through your mind. Certainly, the last thing you need is to worry about finding a good attorney to handle matters for you.
Hopefully, this article will give you a leg up on making that search a bit easier, by allowing you to know what to look for, and by allowing you to know what questions to ask. We have written this article with the “average” case in mind, as that imaginary “average” case is the one which occurs most often. We believe that there are absolute “rights” and “wrongs” in the handling of a personal injury claim.
Finding an attorney is easy. Finding the right attorney might be a little tougher. First, understand that there is nothing immediately critical about hiring an attorney. It’s recommended, however, that you do so within 2 – 3 days of the collision. In this fashion, you can avoid being hassled by insurance adjusters, and an intelligent course of action for you and your case can be formulated. If you have a good case, there are hundreds of attorneys who will be thrilled to work for you. We would be less than honest if we didn’t admit that legal fees for “personal injury” cases can be very handsome. Such fees for the right attorney, however, are well worth it.
You should be able to recognize a sincere appreciative attitude on the part of the attorney you select. Again, there are hundreds of attorneys who’d be very happy to have you as a client. If the attorney you select isn’t one of them, find one who is. That attorney will work very hard for you.
Your car is in need of repair, you are in need of medical treatment, and your ability to go to work at this point is in doubt, both because you now lack transportation, and because you don’t feel physically able to do so. Insurance adjusters are calling. What should you do? A good attorney can tell you!
A good attorney will also find out many important things, such as:
Again, a good attorney will advise you about what to do, and find out the answers to all of these questions. You need to concentrate on getting better. Investigating these matters and spending hours on the telephone are the last things on the doctor’s prescription pad for you.
Good attorneys can be found in many places. If you don’t know anyone who has used an attorney for a personal injury matter, there is probably a local bar association referral service. If there isn’t, or if they’re not open and you want contact now, internet search engines will offer the names and website addresses of all types of attorneys, from single practice attorneys up to large firms.
We encourage a good look at the lawyer’s or the law firm’s website.
Read about their experience and see if the website “speaks to you.” we do not recommend telephone book ads to find a lawyer, nor do we recommend television ads, because really, they don’t tell you much. Once you select an attorney or two or three to interview, don’t jump without asking a lot of questions, no matter where the attorney’s name came from. Automobile Accidents: How to Find the Right Attorney
You select an attorney and you want to call him or her. Pay attention to several things:
Any may be acceptable, but clearly, you should be looking to talk to the attorney within a reasonable time if that first call doesn’t get you connected to him or her. Next, should you call “off-hours”, or wait until business hours Monday through Friday, 9 – 5? We believe that an attorney who practices personal injury law must recognize that potential clients are calling, often very traumatized, often very confused, and often in need of some good solid advice.
Accordingly, that attorney should be available whenever the potential client calls. So you call, and you are generally pleased. The attorney sounded okay and invites you to his or her office for an appointment. Before you go in, ask some questions:
Automobile Accidents: How to Find the Right Attorney: You’re satisfied and you agree to meet with the attorney you’ve called. At this meeting you should meet the attorney, talk with him or her for as long as you want, and the entire process should be explained to you. This includes explaining all of the possible insurance benefits available to you from all sources, including your own insurance company, and how and when such benefits are to be expected. It also means explaining, at least in summary fashion, the applicable law which governs your case. Different states have different laws which control “liability” issues and ultimately affect compensation. Ask your attorney if your state follows no-fault, comparative negligence, or contributory negligence principles.
At this first meeting, which is really the beginning of your case, your attorney cannot predict how much money you’re going to get for your injuries. Nobody knows, at the early stages, how badly you are hurt, how much medical care you’re going to need, how much time you might miss from work or even the potential legal theories which might be available. Can you predict the final score of a baseball game in the first inning? It is ridiculous for an attorney to attempt to estimate how much you’re going to get at the beginning of the case. Automobile Accidents: How to Find the Right Attorney
At the initial meeting, a paralegal or other staff member may take “administrative” information from you. The attorney should explain the legal contract, or fee agreement, with you. Attorney’s fees in this type of case are almost universally “contingent fees”, which means the attorney only gets paid when the case is settled, that is, the fee is “contingent” upon resolution. Usually, attorneys charge one-third of the recovery, and usually, contracts of this sort detail a higher fee, perhaps 40 – 50% if the case goes to trial. This is fair, because going to trial is a lot more work for the attorney, and involves the attorney taking on a lot more risk. Recognize that every “contingent fee” case an attorney takes on is a case where the attorney is working for free, and at great risk of getting nothing, until, and unless, the case resolves.
Automobile Accidents: How to Find the Right Attorney: Your attorney and his or her staff are now acting as both a “collection facility”, gathering records and bills from medical care providers, and continuing as a shield, keeping the insurance company representatives away from you. We often have clients call me and ask me “how’s my case going”? If case liability is not an issue, that is, if it’s clear that the collision was “the other guy’s” fault, and his/Her insurance company has “accepted” responsibility, then our answer to the question is simply “fine, how are you feeling?” we say this because at that point, assuming we’ve “secured” the liability issue, all that remains is waiting for the client to get better.
A good personal injury attorney is able to review medical records and spot problems, either in the way the records are written, or in the overall medical course. We have called doctors when we’ve felt that certain diagnostic tests were questionable. We have called doctors when therapy seemed to be continuing endlessly without any improvement in the client’s condition. We have called doctors when bills seemed out of line. Your attorney should be knowledgeable enough to do the same, and should have the gumption to do so if and when appropriate.
Automobile Accidents: How to Find the Right Attorney: Once you are completely done with all medical care, and once you are back to pre-collision status, or if that’s not possible, once you’re as good as you’re going to get, then, and only then, should your attorney consider attempting to resolve your case.
Having said that, there are a few notable exceptions. First, the “statute of limitations” provides a limit on how long you have to either settle your case or file a lawsuit if your case cannot be settled. So, if you are not medically resolved, but the statute of limitations date is approaching, your attorney should meet with you and explain your options. Next, in many cases, the total amount of insurance funds available, policy limits, will not be enough to truly fully compensate you. Thus, no matter how badly you have been injured, no matter how much your medical bills are, the insurance coverage available simply won’t be enough.
Accordingly, the question presents as to whether it is reasonable to “settle” now, given that waiting will not produce any more funds for you. It may be reasonable to attempt to resolve the case, assuming all options have been explored if this situation presents itself. Your attorney should explain your options.
We recognize that most people do not voluntarily position themselves to be automobile accident victims. People generally don’t get hurt just so they can collect. Please don’t have misgivings about seeking money here. This isn’t about getting rich. This isn’t about fraud or trying to take advantage of the system. When an accident occurs and you are the victim, there is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling an entitlement to money. Our system of civil justice provides this, money, as the only remedy. You are entitled to be compensated for medical expenses you incurred, for wages you lost, for mental and physical pain and suffering, for disfigurement, for aggravation, for the inconvenience, for disrupting the quality of your life, and for more.
Any good personal injury lawyer will tell you his or her opinion concerning the value of your case, now that you have gotten to that “settlement-ready” posture. If they don’t know or have an opinion, what are they there for?
Once the case is settled, the attorney should receive a check from the other party’s insurance company. You should see this check. It should have your name on it as a payee. It’s okay if it also has the attorney’s name as a payee. You should sign the check. The attorney should present to you a document similar to what we call a “settlement memorandum”. This document should detail the “money in”, the insurance check for settlement, and the “money out”, that is, all of the things which are going to be paid from that check.
These will include the attorney’s fee, outstanding medical bills, any liens, and a “net” for you. The check should be placed into a special bank account which the attorney should have, called either an “escrow” account or a “trust” account. This is an account where client funds are held, and attorneys are held to the highest of standards for the accounting of these bank accounts by attorney licensing authorities and bar associations. Routinely funds should be deposited immediately after the check is fully endorsed, and thereafter, funds should be disbursed within 5-10 days, the delay simply to allow the funds to “clear”.
Your attorney should complete all legal matters relating to your case. This means sending payment for all outstanding medical bills and liens. This means providing you with a copy of all of the checks written for those purposes. You should also either be given copies of the important items in your file, medical records for example, or your attorney should advise you that he or she will keep them for your future needs. Automobile Accidents: How to Find the Right Attorney.
Good luck to you. Please drive safely. Wear your seatbelt. Put your kids in car safety seats. Don’t even think about drinking alcohol or using drugs and then getting behind the wheel. We hope you never get into an automobile collision. If you do, we hope you don’t get hurt too badly. Remember to keep your perspective. Remember that you are more important than your car. Take your time with the legal matters ahead of you.
Driving Safely in Rainy Conditions: Most people are good drivers. However, when it is raining, it seems that many good drivers don’t adjust their driving habits to their new surroundings. Here are some simple tips to help you drive safely during the rain.
How Personal Injury Lawyers Help Accident Victims: If you’ve been injured due to the negligence of someone else you can avail the services of a personal injury lawyer to file a claim against them.
The best part is that the personal injury lawyers operate on a contingency basis; they only get paid when the jury awards a verdict.
Top Causes of Car Accidents in California: The majority of accidents in California happen due to negligent behavior of the drivers. Top causes of accidents in the state can be attributed to speeding, driving when impaired and distraction from cell phones.
In 2018, there were around 3,304 fatal car crashes in California. The number seems to increase year after year as drivers find more ways to get distracted on the road.