There are many reasons why you may need a personal injury lawyer when you suffer an injury due to someone else’s fault or negligence. But the overriding reason is that lawyers have the proper training and experience to handle a personal injury claim. They can get you the best settlement for the injury you suffered.
Some people who get hurt in an accident or suffer an injury try to pursue their claims on their own, and eventually accept the first settlement offered by the insurance company. Many of those who do this think hiring a personal injury lawyer entails unnecessary expenses, which would most likely be deducted from the settlement amount.
Reasons for getting a lawyer
Several life encounters would entail legal processes. Having a lawyer would be a valuable asset during such stressful events. Here are some sensible reasons why:
1. Trauma
When the accident has caused serious physical injury to you or a member of your family, it’s advisable you hire a lawyer to handle your personal injury claim. The damage may leave a traumatic impact on you and your family.
Thus, you might not make the best-advised decision when the insurer offers to settle your claim. You might not be thinking objectively when this happens. A lawyer could act as a support system and your first line of defense against such confusing moments.
2. Physical disability
If the accident or injury damages resulted in temporary or permanent physical disability, you should seriously consider hiring a lawyer to pursue your claim. The physical and mental effort required to build a case can be overwhelming, if not impossible to accomplish if you’re physically incapacitated.
3. Claims estimate
If you’re unsure of the full extent of your losses, consider getting a lawyer to give you an objective assessment and claims estimate. Personal injury lawyers would know how to make an objective and reasonable assessment of how much your claim is worth.
You can check out the Shiner Law Group website and others like it as they have information on how to assess exactly how much your claim for compensation is worth. Often, the data is based on claims, compensation and damages awarded, and settlement amounts in previous cases these companies handled, not on some arbitrary figure plucked out of thin air.
4. Gathering evidence
Personal injury lawyers know which pieces of evidence are relevant. Because of their training and trial experience, lawyers would know which ones should be preserved, gathered, collected, or analyzed to support your claim.
These legal professionals know how the case would play out in court, what defense the insurance company’s lawyer would raise, and what kind of evidence the court would give weight to and consider as relevant in deciding the claim.
5. Bargaining position
Hiring a lawyer can vastly improve your bargaining position and leverage because they know how to negotiate with the insurance company’s lawyers and adjusters. A lawyer would know how to present your claim to the insurer in such a way that the insurance company would understand you mean business.
The insurance company would see that you know how much your claim is worth and what evidence you have which can win the case. In addition, lawyers could present how much more damages you can claim should the case go to trial.
6. Doing the legwork
Hiring a lawyer is also a way of multiplying your time and efforts by keeping the case build-up and evidence-gathering focused. Personal injury claims are complex and require strong evidence to be proven.
Some examples of the evidence that could be gathered and preserved include medical records, hospital bills, accident reports, police reports, photographs, and eyewitness statements. Sometimes, the claim would need CCTV footage, reports of forensic consultants, psychologists, psychiatrists, opinions of surgeons and orthopedics, and appraisers of damages. All these things can be done more effectively and efficiently by legal professionals.
7. Low settlement offer
Lawyers and adjusters of insurance companies are trained in methods and tactics intended to deny or limit the claims compensation to the lowest minimum possible. Some even have a policy of outright denial.
Thus, you need an equally competent tactician by your side to understand how these mechanisms would affect you. More importantly, you need someone to defend you from such underhanded methods.
Conclusion
If you suffered trauma or serious physical injury, you should consider hiring a personal injury lawyer to give a claims estimate, help you gather evidence, improve your bargaining position, and do the legwork.
When you receive an early offer of settlement from your insurance provider and you find it too low or you’re unsure whether you would be making a sound decision to accept their offer, then it’s time to seriously consider that you may need a personal injury lawyer to guide you through such legal matters.
