Personal Injury Laywer Athens Georgia
What Kind Of Cases Does An Athens Personal Injury Lawyer Handle?
An Athens personal injury lawyer will handle cases where someone files a legal claim to recover compensation for an accident or injury caused by someone else. These cases can take place in civil court proceedings or out of court as part of a negotiated settlement. The reality is that many claims never make it before a judge, with skilled Athens Personal Injury Attorneys working with insurance companies to arrive at fair settlements on their own, saving the time and money associated with court cases.
Examples Of Personal Injury Cases That May Require An Athens Personal Injury Lawyer (Or Auto Accident Attorney)
Personal injury cases can be as wide ranging as there are ways for a person to get hurt. Some common examples of personal injury cases include car accident/injury claims, medical malpractice claims, premises liability claims (such as slip-and-falls), products liability cases and workplace injury cases.
How Soon Should You Look For An Athens Personal Injury Lawyer?
The short answer: as soon as possible. It is critically important if you have been injured in a Florida personal injury case to take action quickly. The reasons are many: first, the sooner you reach out to a skilled personal injury lawyer, the sooner the lawyer can begin assembling the information necessary to bring a claim. It takes time to assemble medical records, gather witness statements and conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. The more time your lawyer has to do this, the better. It is also important to move quickly because evidence has a tendency to disappear. The sooner your lawyer can start looking, the greater the odds that witnesses or photos or videos are still around and can still be preserved. The longer you wait, the less likely this is. Finally, the sooner you reach out to a personal injury attorney, the sooner you can stop worrying about the statute of limitation. Your lawyer will then be aware of the case and any important deadlines and will ensure that these deadlines are all met with sufficient room to spare. It becomes one less weight on your shoulders.
Fault – Utilizing The Services Of A Personal Or Car Accident Lawyer
When it comes to personal injury claims, there are certainly some occasions where one person is 100% at fault and the other person is 100% blameless. However, this is not as common as you might expect. As with many things, the world of personal injury claims is not always black and white. In some states, this can present serious problems for the victims of personal injury, with their claims for compensation being thrown out of court. That is why a good experienced accident injury lawyer cam be most beneficial. For instance, in a place like North Carolina, if a plaintiff is found to be even 1% responsible for the accident that resulted in their injuries, the entire claim will be thrown out of court, this despite the fact that the defendant may be 99% at fault.
Thankfully, that is not how things are done in Florida. That’s because Florida is one of 13 states to have adopted a system based on comparative negligence. This means that a person is allowed to bring a claim against someone else even if that person is partially responsible for causing the accident. A good illustration of this is if there is an accident caused by a reckless, speeding driver, but where the victim was found to have turned in front of the driver without a working turn signal. In this case, the jury may decide that the victim was 10 percent responsible for the accident, assigning the other driver 90 percent of the blame. In that case, if the jury determines the case to be worth $100,000, the plaintiff will collect $90,000, with his or her share of responsibility reduced from the ultimate damage award. This is why you should stick with lawyers in Athens especially when the car accident is in Athens.
Pure Comparative Negligence
Not only does Florida allow a person who is partially responsible for causing his or her injuries to sue for damages, Florida takes it a step farther and allows a person to sue even if they are more at fault than the other party. For example, in a state like Florida, which embraces a pure comparative negligence system, a party is allowed to recover damages even if her or she is 99 percent at fault. It’s important to remember that in these cases, the amount the person is entitled to recover will be reduced by his or her degree of fault. This is why if you are located in Athens GA. an Athens personal injury lawyer can help inform you.
What Is Personal Injury Case Worth – An Athens Personal Injury Lawyer Athens Can Provide Insight
Though it’s a question many people are eager to know the answer to, the reality is it is impossible to answer before hearing details of your case. This is because there’s no clear formula for how much a personal injury case is worth. Not even a seasoned car accident injury lawyer can know this, because no two personal injury cases are the same. The reason is the value of a personal injury claim involves accounting for many different factors. To find out more about what these factors are, keep reading.
Factors In A Personal Injury Claim – Car Accident And Personal Injury In Athens
The factors that impact the value of a personal injury claim (or an Athens car accident) can be divided into two broad groups: 1) economic damages and 2) non-economic damages. Economic damages include things that are tangible, things that you can add and subtract, clear costs that there is seldom much room to argue about. Examples of these kinds of damages include hospital bills, doctor’s bills, rehab expenses, property damages, time off work, etc. Non-economic damages, on the other hand, are much more difficult to ascertain with certainty. These include things like pain and suffering and diminished earning capacity. It can be hard to know exactly what these things are worth and, as a result, it is far more common for the parties in a personal injury claim to argue about them.
Should You Accept The First Settlement Offer – An Accident Injury Attorney Can Advise?
Though every case is different, it is almost always a bad idea to accept anyone’s first settlement offer. These offers are generally made knowing that the other side will push back and they are almost always low as a result, leaving room to negotiate upwards. Another problem with jumping to accept an offer too early is that you may settle a case too soon, before you understand the extent of your injuries. An example of how this can be especially dangerous is if you reach a settlement and later discover you require future medical care to address your injuries, such as subsequent surgery.
If the settlement has already been reached, it cannot be reopened to account for these new expenses, you will simply be out the cost on your own. Given this, it is crucial that you have an experienced Florida personal injury attorney review your case and any settlement offer. An Athens car accident lawyer will have the skill and experience to know whether the offer is fair and help you make an informed decision about whether accepting the offer makes the most sense for you.
Time To File Personal Injury Claim
Timing, when it comes to a personal injury claim in Florida, is critical. This is because of something known as the statute of limitation, a law which exists to set deadlines for plaintiffs to file lawsuits. In Florida, victims of personal injury have four years from the date of injury to file a claim against the responsible party. However, this can vary based on the facts of the case and the type of injury involved. In cases of wrongful death, the family of the victim only has two years to bring a claim.
What Happens If The Statute Of Limitations Expires?
Some people may decide to wait before bringing a claim, either because they did not understand the importance of moving quickly or because they thought there would be no harm in waiting. What happens if you wait to bring a case until after the statute of limitation has expired? If that happens, then a judge will most likely throw out your claim. Statutes of limitation are serious and exist for a reason, so that people cannot bring claims years or even decades after the event that caused them. This is why you should find a good Athens lawyers law firm and get free advice from an Athens personal injury lawyer about your accident today without delay. If you wait to file your claim until after the statute of limitation has expired, then your claim will be barred from court, no matter how strong of a case you may have. The good news is that the statute of limitation requires only that your claim be filed, not that it be complete within the time allotted.