Injuries can seriously drain you financially and emotionally, particularly if they were caused by someone else. The degree of your injury could affect your routine activities, result in expensive medical bills or loss of work. Some injuries require you to undergo specialized treatment and rehabilitation for the rest of your life.
When another person’s actions cause you bodily harm or loss of income, it’s important to file a lawsuit. Luckily if you don’t have the skills to undergo the legal process, a personal injury attorney can help you. Here is why you need a personal injury attorney.
1. Accessing the claim worth
You might think the value of your claim involves the loss of income, damages, and payments for future rehabilitation and treatment. However, it’s essential to think about the physical distress, suffering, pain, and effect on the quality of life.
Hiring a competent personal injury attorney helps you to receive compensation based on the exact value of your loss. Depending on the situation, the personal injury attorney will come up with the value by accessing your life before the injury, checking your medical records, and the pain and suffering caused.
Besides figuring the value of your claim, most personal injury lawyers will charge contingency rates when handling your cases. This allows you to pay for legal fees after compensation. What’s better? You can add the legal charges in the settlement. This eliminates further financial losses in case you can’t afford an attorney.
2. Save you time
Personal injury settlements require a lot of time for investigation and hearings. It may take a long time before you receive your compensation. However, a seasoned personal injury attorney will tell you how long your case will last and also help to speed the litigation process.
For example, claimants in New York have three years to file a lawsuit after an injury. However, due to lengthy medical procedures and other factors, you may find yourself filling late. A New York personal injury attorney will help you to complete legal procedures before that time lapses.
Time is among the most valuable assets you can ever own. Hiring a personal injury lawyer gives you the liberty to focus on other things while your legal team represents you in court and before insurance companies. You’ll also have the peace of mind to recollect yourself emotionally and heal physically.
3. Advise through the legal process
Sometimes representing yourself in a lawsuit can be tormenting since you may not be conversant with the courtroom jargon. Rather than having a difficult time handling the litigation, an injury attorney will help you understand the complex rules and terms.
A professional injury lawyer will bring you up to speed about what’s happening in every step of the legal process. You can also trust your lawyer to negotiate with the jury, insurance companies, and other entities on your behalf.
They will file for the lawsuit, gather the necessary evidence and present it before a jury. New York is among the few states that operate on complete comparative fault law. Comparative fault law means that all parties in an injury lawsuit can get compensation regardless of whether one party contributed 99% of the injury.
A qualified personal injury lawyer will guide you through this process. Besides, they will also advise and negotiate for more compensation for your injuries. Remember that without an attorney, the offending party may shift the blame to you.
4. Dealing with offending parties and insurance companies
Having a personal injury and medical records isn’t enough to recover compensation. Sometimes, insurance companies or the defendant may try to convince you to take a lower compensation than you deserve.
The defendant may also implement tricks to frustrate you by delaying the settlements. One of the reasons you should hire a professional personal injury attorney is that they’ll know how to negotiate with insurance adjusters and your defendant’s legal team.
Instead of negotiating with parties that aim to take what rightfully belongs to you, hiring an attorney will help you take the bull by its horns. You need peace of mind to recover, and so you don’t have to stress when there’s someone to speak on your behalf.
Conclusion
With a personal injury attorney, you will rest assured that you will recover all costs involved in medical treatment, income loss, and emotional suffering. If you have an automobile accident, brain injuries, and other injuries, you can trust a personal injury attorney to handle everything.