If you’ve been injured by another person, corporation or organization, you will probably benefit from hiring a personal injury attorney to handle your claim. This is especially true if you have to deal with medical bills, insurance companies, or significant injuries.
What To Know About Personal Injury Claims
Personal injury claims occur through careless or negligent acts of another person or organization. Personal injury cases arise when an injured victim is able to hold the wrongdoer legally responsible for the harm.
Common personal injury claims include car and bike accidents, medical malpractice, dog bites, nursing home abuse, to name a few. Recoverable damages from a personal injury lawsuit may include: pain and suffering, medical costs, wage loss, loss of future earning capacity, loss of consortium (loss of society and companionship), and punitive damages, among others. (Learn more about personal injury claims here.)
Although personal injury cases can go to trial, most settle before a lawsuit is even filed. And, even if a case does go to trial, many of those actually settle before the trial is over. In fact, most personal injury law firms are not staffed with trial lawyers. So, if one of their cases goes to trial, they would have to hand it off to another firm. Habush Habush & Rottier has more trial lawyers on staff than any other personal injury law firm in Wisconsin.
Benefits Of Hiring A Personal Injury Lawyer
- Focus on You: Personal injury claims are stressful. Hiring a personal injury attorney means you don’t have to deal with the stress of the litigation process. Let your lawyer fight for you. Instead, concentrate on improving your health, getting back to work or repairing your car.
- Avoid the Headaches: Experienced injury lawyers understand and identify potential pitfalls and red flags related to injury claims, like statutes of limitations. For example, if some government employees hit you with their car, you must file a notice of claim within 120 days. A knowledgeable personal injury attorney will be aware of this and can react accordingly if necessary.
- Negotiate a Fair Settlement: An experienced personal injury attorney should increase settlement value. Your attorney should get you more from the defendant while reducing your costs.
- Boost Trial Value: An experienced injury attorney will increase trial value. For example, if you choose to represent yourself, the insurance company knows you probably don’t know how to file a lawsuit. As such, they probably won’t offer the compensation you deserve.
- Get the Value of your Case: An experienced personal injury attorney understands the value of your case. At Habush, Habush and Rottier, for example, our attorneys have handled thousands of Wisconsin personal injury cases. This collective knowledge means we understand the value of your injury claim, can help calculate the lifelong costs of your injury, and can fight to get you what you deserve.
- Have Someone on Your Side: The insurance company wants to minimize their expenses. They will do whatever it takes to underpay your claim. A personal injury attorney will represent you with the insurance companies and fight for your rights, while guiding you through the claim process.
When Should I Hire A Personal Injury Attorney?
Reach out to an injury attorney immediately after you are injured. There are some types of cases with quick deadlines. For example, in Wisconsin, if someone runs you off the road but doesn’t actually hit you, you must file a police report right away.
Contacting an attorney right away also ensures evidence is collected in a timely manner, while considering time limits, statutes of limitations, etc. For example, a data recorder should be collected right away following a car accident.
While contacting an attorney after your injury is important, an experienced personal injury attorney will wait until you’ve reached a “healing plateau” to start settlement talks. Waiting until you’re 100% better, or until you’re in a position where doctors can tell you what to expect in the future, ensures you don’t settle too early, when you may still have an injury. This ensures you get the compensation you deserve. Remember — once you sign a settlement agreement, there is no way to go back and try to get additional money later – regardless of the nature of your injury.
If you need a personal injury attorney please get in contact with one of our attorneys here at Habush Habush and Rottier. Our attorneys proved free case evaluations.
