If you have been involved in some sort of accident and have been injured then chances are, you will be needing an accident attorney to represent you during the case proceedings. An accident lawyer can help you in several ways. Here are some things that you should know before hiring from a personal injury law firm.
- There are many specialists.
So, being a personal injury lawyer in and of itself is specializing. However, you can get even more specific within that category. Burn injury lawyers, slip and fall lawyers and more all available to you, depending on the type of accident you have had. You want someone that specializes in your accident because they will already be familiar with the types of things that you and they will need to do in order to get you a win for your case. - A lawyer does not guarantee you a win.
Just because you hired a burn injury lawyer to represent you after the oven at work blew up in your face, does not mean that you are automatically going to get a settlement. It will definitely up your chances but it does not offer any guarantee. On the other hand, if you do not employ a lawyer then your chances plummet immensely. You’ll have better luck with legal representation but a burn injury lawyer, or any other specialist can only do their best and the rest is up to the facts. - The lawyer isn’t going to do everything.
There will still be things that you need to do in order to help your cause. For example, you may need to go through medical appointments, interviews and other things. You will need to write up a statement of what happened and be willing to do whatever else your lawyer thinks is going to help you win the case. You can’t just pay the lawyer and then expect them to work magic. If you are going to have your best chance, then you need to be involved in the entire process. - It could take a very long time.
These kinds of proceedings are not usually done and over with in a few days. It could take months, even years, depending on the situation. What takes the longest is all of the paperwork that has to be filed and sorted through. Your lawyer can only do so much to expedite the process. Once the papers are out of their hands, they can do no more, for the most part. There are instances where a few well placed phone calls may help things along but generally speaking, they don’t have a part in that part of the process. - Going to trial is up to you.
Basically, if you are set to win the case, hands down, chances are, the company will offer you a settlement. This is usually done in mediation, without a judge or jury and is purely an agreement between the offending and offended parties. Say you get hurt at work and all the facts line up, your work’s insurance may tell your burn injury lawyer that they will offer you a certain amount of money in exchange for certain agreements, such as dropping the charges. If you decide to decline that money, there is no guarantee that you will win the case and get any more money but the case will then go to trial. - Standing on principal could cost you.
It is an excellent thing to stand up for what you believe in but if you are only doing it to grandstand and make a point, the point will be lost if you end up losing the case at trial and getting nothing out of it. If you are offered a settlement, you should think hard about it and accept any advice from your lawyer. They may be able to advise you on whether or not you may be able to get something more out of a trial or if this is as good as it gets. Sometimes, the principal of the matter is solved by making the other party pay for their mistakes rather than making a huge deal of it all in trial and then risk losing everything.
