You’ve heard the term personal injury lawyer tossed about at dinner parties. You’ve seen commercials on television and billboards as you drive down the road. You may have even been told you need to hire one.
But what exactly is a personal injury attorney? Let’s go back to the basics and discuss what types of cases that a personal injury lawyer typically takes on; and how they can assist you should you find yourself in need of legal assistance.
What Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Do for You?
The main practice area for a personal injury attorney is negligence-based claims. Negligence claims originate from an allegation that an individual committed an act that resulted in injury or damages which harmed another person. The majority of personal injury claims are based on this theory of negligence.
How is Negligence Defined? Negligence is defined as failure to take proper care in doing something. For a building owner, this may mean that they didn’t repair a broken step. For a retailer, this may mean that they did not clean up a spill in a timely manner and it caused a fall.
One of the most common personal injury claims are based in motor vehicle incidents, which comprise a significant portion of all personal injury law.
The typical car accident case asserts that another driver failed to obey a certain rule of the road. The claim is that they were negligent in their operation of the motor vehicle.
Other frequent personal injury cases involve someone hurting themselves on private or public property; or being harmed as the result of a product defect. Product liability law is a subset of personal injury law, and provides recourse for people injured by a consumer good which was designed to be dangerous, has a design flaw, or malfunctions so as to cause harm.
What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do for You?
You may wonder if you really need a personal injusy attorney to represent you. Many people are worried about looking “mean” or “unreasonable” if they sue a person or entity. This is the first area in which an attorney can be of assistance. We can listen to your situation, advise if you have a case, and take it on if you do.
Once you have a personal injury lawyer, you will notice right away that much of the pressure is relieved. An attorney can:
- Help you to gather all necessary documents and evidence.
- Negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf.
- Advise you in regards the settlement offer (is it fair?)
- Level the playing field if the other side has a lawyer.
- Perform due diligence and uncover other layers which may reinforce your position.
- Gather needed human resources such as private investigators or medical experts.
- Determine if the opposite party’s “evidence” is suspect.
- Keep you on schedule, filing all motions and documents in a timely manner so as not to jeopardize your case.
- Gicve you guidance as how to best deal with insurance companies, employers and medical creditors.
- Be by your side for any needed arbitration, mediation, or a court date.
Aside from the legal expertise and moral support, a personal injury attorney will often maximize the amount of the settlement you receive. This is due to their expertise regarding how much of a settlement is fair based on precedent and similar cases. This is information most private citizens are not aware of, and the insurance company will often try to settle for far less than you deserve.
A Sarasota or Tampa personal injury lawyer can help you in a wide variety of circumstances. If you have any questions, give Probinsky & Cole a call. We can help.
