Updated: 11/1/2022
When you have had a personal injury due to an accident, you will need a good personal injury lawyer to help you. If you have fallen and injured yourself, looking through the local slip and fall lawyers will show you the attorneys that have a lot of experience with these cases. A personal injury attorney will be there to help you through the case and to answer all of your questions.
If you have a personal injury claim, a personal injury lawyer will let you know who it is that is at fault for the accident. It may not be who you thought it was in some cases. There may be a maintenance company that neglected to do its job or the owner of a piece of property. Be sure to look at reviews of your attorney before you hire them to make sure their reputation is a good one in the area.
There is no guarantee about the outcome of a personal injury case, but your attorney can tell you whether you have a good case or not. This can be extremely helpful in knowing whether to invest the time into the case and to try to get a settlement.
Dealing with a personal injury accident can be difficult. There are a lot of ways that it could affect you. A personal injury accident can be anything from a car accident to workers’ comp situation and more. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and if that is you and you are unable to work, this can be a very stressful time. If your personal injury accident has caused you to be unable to work for a time, then the settlement that you receive should cover those lost wages as well as future wages and medical expenses plus more. Here are a few steps to follow if you find yourself the victim of a personal injury accident.
- Document the Personal Injury Accident
Right after the accident happens you should write your own personal statement of exactly what happened. Time can tend to fog our memories a little bit and you may not be able to remember exactly what happened later on. Details may slip your mind. That’s why you should write down every single detail right away, whether you think it’s pertinent or not. This way, once you hire a lawyer, you can show them your statement and they will be able to tell you what will be needed for a case and what you can leave out. Following the who, what, where, why, when and how method is a great way to make sure you don’t miss anything. Write down everything including what happened, where it happened, how it happened, when it happened, who was involved, meaning who made it happen and if there were any witnesses, why it happened; what were the circumstances surrounding the situation?
- Procure a Legal Team
Your next step should be to find a lawyer. You want to make sure you hire a lawyer that has handled cases similar to yours before. Just because they are a person injury lawyer doesn’t mean that they are good at their job. Find out how many cases they have handled like yours and how many times they’ve been to court and how many times they’ve settled out of court and what kinds of results those cases ended with. That will give you a better idea as to the outcome of your case. Especially if you are unable to work you need to be fairly sure that your lawyer will be able to win your case. The best way to find a lawyer is by word of mouth but if you don’t know anyone that has been in your situation before then make sure you take a thorough look at the lawyer’s references and reviews before deciding who you will hire.
- File Your Claim
Once your team is hired, they will be able to advise you on the following steps but pretty soon you’ll need to file your claim. You only have a limited amount of time to do so after the accident occurs so make sure that you do not wait to long. The time allowed to file will differ by state and sometimes by county so ask your lawyer what you need to do to make sure that you file your claim in time. If you don’t file in time, the statue of limitations may take affect and there is nothing that you can do after this point. Whoever caused you the harm will get off with no punishment and you will receive no compensation.
- Trust Your Personal Injury Attorneys
If you have properly vetted your lawyers, now is the time to sit back and trust them. However, this is not to say that you now do nothing. Your attorney may need you to go to doctor’s appointments, seek medical advise, get doctor’s notes, speak with investigators and go through interviews. It’s going to be a long and difficult process but you need to trust your lawyers and do everything that they ask of you. This is the only way to ensure that you will win your case. You could have the best lawyer in the world but if you do nothing they ask of you then you are ensuring yourself a failed case. Let them make the decisions but be cooperative.
