Every year in the United States, there are more than 30.6 million visits to emergency rooms for injuries, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. There are also more than 146,000 unintentional injury deaths, caused by everything from motor vehicle accidents to falls.
If you’ve been seriously injured, getting medical attention and recovering from your injury is vital. If your injury was due to negligence, you should also be receiving compensation for your medical bills, time missed off work, pain and suffering, and more. Depending on the severity of your injury, there are many instances where contacting a personal injury attorney is essential for your protection. Here are some signs it’s time to get in touch with a personal injury lawyer.
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You Receive A Low Settlement
In some personal injury cases, a settlement offer may come forward from the insurance company that represents the party that caused the injury. The settlement may be very low compared to the pain and suffering the victim has endured, and sometimes there is no settlement at all.
One Birmingham personal injury attorney recommends comparing your case to others in your area that have settled. Consider factors like substantial medical bills, time missed off work, liability, and evidence when determining the fairness of a settlement offer. Settlement offers that are delayed or given quickly should also be examined closely, since the insurance company may be trying to stay out of court. If you have a suspicion that the offer is low, a personal injury lawyer can help with insight.
Your Injuries Are Severe
The severity of injuries is a significant factor in the success of personal injury lawsuits. Some signs that an injury is severe include:
- The injury required a trip to the hospital – an extensive stay is even more serious
- The injury caused loss of a previously held function, such as blindness, brain damage or an amputation
- The injury seriously altered quality of life, such as taking away a dancer’s ability to perform
- The injury caused substantial time missed off work or required quitting a job altogether, resulting in lost wages or delayed career progression
Serious personal injuries may also affect the victim’s life in other ways, such as damaging the victim’s ability to care for family members. Physical injuries can affect one’s mental health and result in the need for medication or counseling. All these factors are signs that an injury is severe and that a personal injury attorney should be contacted.
Negligence Is Clearly To Blame
When another party’s negligence is clearly to blame for a personal injury, this helps increase the likelihood of the success of a claim and its performance, should it be brought to trial. Evidence is the best way to prove negligence. Therefore, it’s so important that after a personal injury, despite the stress of the situation, if the victim can gather photo or video evidence of the accident scene and injuries, as well as testimony from witnesses, this can greatly benefit a potential trial.
Even when there is not an abundance of hard evidence, a personal injury lawyer can still help to present meaningful testimony while pursuing a claim. This includes helping the victim document a solid account of the accident, including important details that will affect a claim. Expert witnesses such as physicians may be brought in to explain why a personal injury happened and what should have been done to present it. A personal injury attorney can also help advise clients on what type of evidence can be gathered after an accident, and even return to the accident scene with the victim to help gather it.
You’re Unsure And Need Help
Personal injuries are jarring experiences. Many victims want to recover as quickly as possible and move on with their lives. Getting monetary compensation can help you more closely regain the life you had before your injury. Pursuing a claim can also help prevent other accidents that may result in injuries or even death because of someone’s negligence.
The good news is that most personal injury lawyer consultations are free. Many personal injury attorneys do not get paid unless their clients do. This means you can trust that an attorney who takes on your case believes in its validity and chance of success. Otherwise, you can contact an attorney, get more information that helps you move on, and don’t have to worry about payment.
Each state’s statute of limitations will vary depending on the type of personal injury case is being pursued, which is why it’s important to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after an injury so you have time to file a claim if you want to. When you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, talking with a personal injury attorney is wise.
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