When Should You Seek Legal Help

Professional legal help, helps people get through some of their darkest times. A personal injury can be physically overwhelming and emotionally overwhelming. Legal help can ease some of the stress.

Getting the right legal help can make a real difference in the outcome of any case but especially so when it comes to personal injury matters. There are a wide range of situations that warrant legal help.

Statistics Regarding the Legal System and Legal Help

If you live in the United States finding legal help is easy. About 80% of the attorneys around the globe live in the US. In the US we spend about twice as much on filing lawsuits as we do on purchasing two cars.

Not everyone in the US is happy with the civil litigation system. Surveys that were conducted show that around 80% of US citizens feel that frivolous lawsuits (lawsuits without merit) are too easy to win. There are around 15 million lawsuits filed annually in the US for civil cases. Over 50% of Americans surveyed think that there needs to be some changes made to the civil law system. Many believe that they were not treated fairly by the system.

About 55% of the time the plaintiff (the person that files the claim) wins the case. The average length of a civil trial is about 3 days. Auto injury lawsuits account for about 20% of all lawsuits filed. About 13% of lawsuits are triggered by product liability.

What does all this mean to you? It means that if you find yourself in a position where you have sustained a personal injury whether it is because hot coffee was spilled on you at your local eatery or you have developed an illness that can be tied back to your job, you need legal help. Most personal injury victims agree that the right legal help makes all the difference in their claim.

What is a Personal Injury?

A personal injury typically is used to describe an event that results in an individual becoming hurt or sick that can be related directly to that event. For example:

• A car accident can result in a personal injury
• A workplace accident can result in a personal injury
• Medical malpractice, slip and falls, product malfunction can all result in a personal injury

All of the above are the most common ways to sustain a personal injury because of someone else, but that is not a final list of things that you can ignite a personal injury lawsuit.

Things That Make You Sick at Work

Many people have found themselves in situations where they wind up in an urgent care center for a work-related injury, but what happens when you believe that illness stems from working with hazardous materials at work? If you do not know something is making you sick you don’t go to get immediate care as you do with an acute injury.

In the last decade or so there has been a heightened awareness when it comes to the dangers of certain materials like asbestos and the illness that it can cause for people that work with it. In some cases, particularly dangerous materials that have caused illness in many people.

Illness that is caused by the work that you do is covered under the law. In some cases, the connection between your illness and the workplace can be difficult to establish, but in most cases, the case never even makes it to court.

Around only 25% of injury claims that are work-related ever make it to court. The rest are settled outside of court. The average payout for an injury case related to the workplace is about $60,000 but can be a lot more or less depending on the merits of the case and the expertise of the legal help on the case.

Protecting Your Rights

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that if they have been in a car accident or there was a work-related mishap that resulted in a personal injury that they are covered. Being involved in a car accident does not mean that your right to medical treatment and compensation will kick in automatically.

Being injured on the job or suffering from a job-related illness does not automatically mean that you will be covered for medical costs, and compensated for your time lost from work. Legal help can ensure that you get the medical care and compensation that you deserve regardless of the source of your personal injury.

There are millions of Americans that suffer from a disability that was incurred because of someone’s negligence. A lot of people realize that if there is an injury like a back injury they may be covered under worker’s compensation laws, but they do not realize that illness contracted from work duties can also be a compensation case.

Many people also do not realize that if you have been in an auto accident, even if you were charged with the accident, you may be entitled to compensation. The same is true if an injury results from a property owner’s negligence, product failure or medical malpractice.

Legal Help With Personal Injury

The very first thing you should keep in mind anytime an injury occurs that is due to someone’s negligence is that the insurance company is not necessarily your best ally. You may get phone calls from the insurance adjuster that seem friendly and caring.

The fact is the insurance adjuster works for the insurance company. The insurance company has only one goal in mind and that is to save money, even if that means denying you your right to medical care and compensation.

It is vital that you get legal help from the onset of the injury or illness (we address work-related illnesses below). The right legal help can help you to build your case against your employer if necessary, another driver, a medical provider, a product manufacturer, and a property owner.

They have the expertise to gather the proof that your injury is directly related to someone’s negligence. They can request:

• Digital video surveillance footage for the car accident scene
• Real estate inspections including mold inspection services, asbestos inspection services and more to prove property management responsibility
• Collect witness statements

Legal help is a necessity when you are dealing with any type of personal injury if you want to ensure that your rights are protected and that you have the help that you need to manage your case. If you are trying to heal from an injury that the last thing you need to do is worry about how to manage a case that you do not fully understand.

How Does the Claim Process Play Out?

Let’s say you are injured at work. You immediately report the injury to your supervisor, then you head to the nearest urgent care to get medical treatment. When you go to the urgent care center, they will test you for drugs and alcohol once you tell them that this is a work-related injury.

While drug and alcohol testing is not compulsory in every state after a work-place injury, it is in many. Your state may require this type of testing. You may wonder why the local urgent care or ER is testing you for drugs and alcohol for a workplace injury.

The fact is from the very start of your claim, the insurance company is looking for a way to deny your claim. Let’s say that your tests came back drug and alcohol-free. The next step will be verifying your claim with an insurance adjuster, and this part is true of all personal injury claims.

The insurance adjuster, once again, works for the insurance company. They will do whatever it takes to thoroughly investigate your claim including things like pulling CCTV footage from your workplace to verify your side of the story.

While all this is happening you are working hard to get back on your feet. It is not unusual for insurance companies to send out home inspectors to watch you while you are navigating around your home for evidence that your injury is not as bad as you claim.

Many victims of personal injury report being harassed by the insurance adjusters and the insurance companies. They can make it very difficult for you to get the medical care that you deserve and often will push for you to return to work before you get medical clearance from your doctor.

Speaking of doctors, the insurance company may want you to see their doctor. That is a doctor that is on their payroll to help dispute your claim. If you have legal help, this is something you do not need to worry about.

Once you have gone through all the things the insurance company demands you do, they will come back with a low ball offer to compensate you for your pain and suffering and lost wages. If you have legal help they won’t bother.

All of the above is the process when you are trying to manage the claim on your own. When you have legal help, your attorney takes the brunt of the burden off your shoulders. The attorney will deal directly with the insurance company. The attorney will fight for your right to medical care and compensation. You can focus on healing and getting back on your feet.

Maximum Medical Improvement

Maximum medical improvement is determined by your doctor. It means that you are at a point where no more medical treatment is available to improve your condition. It is often referred to as MMI. When you reach maximum medical improvement, if you have the right legal help, your attorney will file a final claim with the insurance company.

The insurance company will either agree to the claim that your attorney files or they will refuse it. At that point, a case will be filed with the civil court. Typically, once the case is filed, the insurance company will return with a counteroffer to avoid court.

It is between you and your attorney as to whether you will accept the offer or move forward and take it to trial. Having experienced legal help is really important at this stage. Your legal help will help you to make an informed decision about how you want to move forward with the case.

It Takes Time

It can take months or years sometimes to settle a personal injury claim. It largely depends on the severity of the injuries, the cause of the injuries, and the merits of your case. In all cases, having experienced legal help on your side will help to keep the claim moving forward.

It can be a very frustrating situation to have to deal with. The right legal help will ensure that you get the medical attention that you deserve and help you to get the outcome that you want for your claim. They have the expertise to collect information that supports your claim and will protect you from the insurance adjusters.

The system is not set up to protect the individual unless you have legal help on your side. The insurance companies have teams of legal experts on their side, you should have legal experts on your side as well. Professional that can verify mold inspection services and the extent of your illness are necessary as well.

If you believe that you have a personal injury claim because of negligence, the best way to enact your rights and get the support that you need is to hire a lawyer that specializes in personal injury law. You deserve to have your rights protected.