17. Personal Injury Lawyers

Who is a Personal Injury Lawyer?

A personal injury lawyer is a civil attorney who looks into cases of physical, psychological, emotional, and financial injuries. They can also focus on issues affecting your reputation for no fault of yours. Here, the lawyer will work on obtaining compensation from those who have harmed you to help you through the situation.

There are two types of personal injury cases that these lawyers look into-- negligence cases and intentional tort. Negligence cases involve situations where the person who has harmed you didn't do it with no intention of hurting you. For instance, if you were in a car accident where another driver hit your car from the back. If it is due to carelessness or without their knowledge, it becomes a case of negligence. Other examples of similar cases include slip and fall, a pet dog biting you unintentionally because of a lack of care from its pet parent.

Intentional tort cases focus on situations where a person has hurt you intentionally. Here, it can be someone punching you or hitting you with their vehicle to put you in pain.

Under these circumstances, your personal injury lawyer will investigate your case to find proof to prove that you have been wronged physically or emotionally. The lawyer will then look into the damage caused during the accident. The lawyer will speak with your doctor, other medical professionals, witnesses, and family members to find out the truth about your condition.

Besides, s/he will analyze the damage faced, including its past impact and current and future effects. For instance, if you have had a car accident, you might face emotional distress long after the accident. Here, you can facilitate the necessary information to your lawyer, and s/he can help calculate a settlement by considering all the factors.

While requesting a settlement, your lawyer will look into multiple medical expenses, lost wages, and damages to property, if any. The lawyer will also analyze insurance coverage, liability insurance in place, personal assets, and businesses owned by the person inflicting you pain. By considering these factors, your lawyer will apply for a settlement for the problem that impacted your quality of life.

Different Cases Where You Can Hire A Personal Injury Lawyer

In a nutshell, you can hire a personal injury lawyer if you have faced any form of injury affecting your mind or body. Therefore, a personal injury lawyer can look into money damage and attain the required compensation. Now, let's look at the different scenarios where hiring a personal injury lawyer can be helpful to you.

1. A personal injury lawyer will look into cases with a permanent disability or injury caused intentionally or negligence. Here, calculating or figuring out the expenses can be challenging if you plan to do this yourself. However, a personal injury lawyer can investigate the case by considering the damage faced and help you find the compensation you have to get.

2. If there are multiple people facing injuries, you will need a personal injury lawyer. It is because there can be counterclaims and cross-claims. If you proceed in such a case without legal assistance, there is a chance that your compensation would get lowered. It is because there are more people on the receiving end. Therefore, if you have a personal injury lawyer, s/he can assist you in attaining the compensation you deserve based on your injury.

3. There could be situations where the insurance companies try not to pay compensation to the deserving people. Here, they bring in different tactics, and if you have legal representation, it will be easier for you to opt for litigation.

There are different types of negligence and intentional tort cases. They include:

● Personal injury caused by a person intentionally or because of negligence

An example of negligence can be a case where a person's dog bites you because of their carelessness. When it comes to harm caused intentionally, it can be a person punching or hitting you on purpose with an intention to hurt you.

● Automobile accidents

Personal injury lawyers handle several cases related to automobile accidents. These cases can be due to sheer negligence or happened intentionally to hurt the person. Here, the lawyer will consider the physical and emotional trauma faced by the person while proposing a settlement.

● Usage of defective products

Consider that you have purchased a product, for instance, a cosmetic item. However, by using the product, you have faced some injury because the product was defective. Here, you can sue the company for the damage you have run into with the assistance of a personal injury lawyer.

● Medical malpractice

There have been cases where medical professionals carelessly provided medicines that affected their patients' well-being. Under such circumstances, a personal lawyer can sue the practitioner to help you gain compensation.

Things to Consider While Hiring A Personal Injury Attorney

Before hiring a lawyer, looking into their experiences in handling similar cases can be beneficial. You have to ensure that you will be comfortable discussing your case with the lawyer. It is essential because it can affect your case if you fail to provide relevant information to your lawyer. You can find more information about the lawyer by performing a Google search, speaking with their previous clients, and checking their professional background through your local bar association.

Apart from this, there are other factors to consider while hiring a lawyer, and they are as follows:

1. Cross-check if the lawyer has worked on similar cases

2. Ensure that the lawyer has the license to practice in your area

3. Know out more about their experiences, philosophy, and how s/he have dealt with their previous cases

4. Don't forget to look into their fees and how they prefer to receive payment!

5. Make sure that the lawyer is trustworthy and credible enough to share all the details related to the case