Hopefully you don’t have to make this decision often, but it’s important to understand when to hire a personal injury attorney.
If you’re ever hurt or injured in an accident, you should hire a personal injury attorney shortly after the incident. Although you can hire a personal injury firm at any time, the reason it’s important to hire one shortly after you’re injured is due to the fact that the process immediately begins and you want to avoid being without an experienced personal injury attorney early on.
Personal Injuries Can Occur in Various Ways
Car accidents are probably the first situations that come to mind when you think of when to hire a personal injury attorney, but personal injury claims can arise from many other situations as well. Serious injury can occur from unsafe property conditions that cause you to trip and fall, dog bites, negligent security, construction accidents, unsafe products, aviation and maritime accidents, excessive force by police, and medical or hospital malpractice. All of these claims can be handled by an experienced personal injury attorney.
Some Reasons Why You Should Hire a Personal Injury Attorney
- Cases Can be Complex
Some personal injury claims involve multiple parties, such as a multi-vehicle accident. Product liability that causes an injury will have to be supported by evidence and a case will need to be carefully built. Often the defense insurance company will try to make it seem you’re the one at fault. Building a case involving medical malpractice or defective products requires experts that are able to decipher medical records, or product designs. Expert medical professionals must be able to determine the extent of an injury and relate the cause to the incident. A competent personal injury attorney will work through the various intricacies of the law and come up with a solid case for you. - Major Injury or Trauma Occurred
What you may think is a minor injury can turn into life-changing, long term injuries. Major injuries could require lifelong care. A personal injury attorney will have the staff available to help determine the compensation needed to ensure you get the right care. This includes medical experts as well as investigative staff. - Your Interests are #1
Insurance companies, like any other business, need to take care of their shareholders. This means they are motivated to make as large a profit as possible. What does this mean for you? Your interests are not remotely considered. No defense insurance company has ever worried about doing the right thing. Your own personal injury attorney is only concerned with your best interests, and not the insurance company’s. Their only job is to ensure that you’re properly compensated for the injuries you have suffered. During every phase of your case, you should expect to be kept informed and treated with compassion and respect.
When to hire a personal injury attorney is an extremely critical decision. You should certainly consult a personal injury attorney before making any statements, recorded telephone calls, signing any documents or authorizations to obtain medical records, or accepting any settlement from an insurance company. It’s important to realize that insurance companies may offer what sounds like a reasonable settlement but which is in reality a much smaller settlement than they deserve in order to preserve their profits. Only an experienced personal injury attorney can help you determine whether an offer of settlement is reasonable under your particular circumstances.
If you’ve been injured and need a personal injury attorney in the DC/Maryland area, click here to contact Joseph, Greenwald & Laake. Since the firm’s inception, JGL’s experienced personal injury lawyers have achieved excellent results for seriously injured people in cases involving car and/or truck accidents, dangerous products, professional negligence, and premises liability, among others.
