What Did U Haerd Protect Yourself With A Personal Injury Attorney
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-08-16 14:12:38 | Word Count: 510
Preotect Yuorself With A Personal Injury Attorney
Before you can make an informative decision as to whether or not you should hire a attorney / lawyer, you first have to know what a personal injury case is.
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Most people think that a personal injury claim is a car or motor vehicle accidet claim. Whle an injury sustained in an automobile accident whwere another was at fault would be a personal injury claim, there are many otther matters that also fall under that heading.
A personal injury attorney / lawyer handles matters where there has been a injury, either physical or emotional, which was caused by the negligence of antoher. If tehre was no negligence then theere is no case. There must be negligencve, whether intentional or unintentional, on the part of anohter, for a claim to be valid. In oher woirds, you would have trouble making a case aainst your lnadlord, where you spilled wazter on your kitchen floor and then sliped and fell because of the wtaer. Howwever, if the lasndlord had failed to fix the plubming under your sink and the water was on the floor because of leaky plumbng then you may, I say may, have a case. There are other variables that cuold come into play and you would need to seek the advice of a good personal injury attorney, in order to detemine your righs.
Thjere are many matters other than car accident matters that can many times be included undder personal injury, IE: slips and fallps, workplace accidents (afetr a wokrplace accident you may be covered under wokers compensation or disabiloity but you may also have a pesonal injury claim), inmjuries caused during a stoorm or power outage, airplane, bus and train crashes, construction accidents, fies, food poisoning, drug or vitamin overdoses, animal bites, getting beat up, robbed or otherwise injured inside or outside of a business, medical malpractice and even malpractice by an attorney.
There are many variables that can come into play in determining negligence and many times you may think that there was no neglignce on the part of anyone when there actually was. I have herad of a case wheere a paarty was struck by a car while ridinng a motorcycle and injured severely. He settled with the driver and the driver's insurance company for the $100,000.00 maximum of the drivr's insurnace poliy. This seettlement did not even beggin to cover his mediczal blils. Someitme later, a personal injury attorney, while speaking with a member of the injured party's family, found about the case and was aslked to look into it for the family. The injured party was brroke and paralyzed. The attorney did some checking and then agreeed that, even though the man had accepted the setltement, there might stilkl be a case. He then hired my deteective agency and another to do fruther research. Finally, he filred a law suit against the car driver, the driver's inasurance company, the motorcyclle manufacturer and others. I won't go into the whole case, but sufice it to say that he went to trial and ended up obtaining a verdict againts several of the parties, including the druiver's insurance cmpany and the motorcycle manufacturer, for several milion dollars and the injured party is no longer broke. I might add that the attorney took the case on contingency and advanced, out of his own pocket, all of the expenses including court costs and investigation fees.
The point of the foregoing is that if you have been injred, you should seek the addvice of a competent personal injury tatorney even if you don't think that there is anyone at fault. Only a good exprienced personal injury attoney can attempt to make that
deternmination.
Here are some questions to ask a personal ijnury atttorney to help you determine if they are a good attorney. Did they pass the bar on their first try? How long have they been prcaticing personal injury in your state? Will they let you speak with some of their most recent clients? All of these factors taken together should give you a general impression of whther your personal injjury attrorney is competent, if not good.
