What Can A Personal Injury Lawyer Do For you?
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
One of the great things about the Internet world that modern Floridians live in is access to useful information. In the past, if you wanted to learn something, you either asked others, consulted your home’s encyclopedia, if your home even had a set, or went to the library and did your research.Today, however, search engines, social media, websites, and video portals like YouTube provide many of the answers people seek. This kind of resource is immeasurably useful and cost-effective when it comes to simple do-it-yourself situations, such as addressing low water pressure in a single faucet. However, some people take things too far and believe this kind of fast answer can render expertise in just about anything. This is certainly not the case regarding a legal matter as serious as a personal injury case.
Experts Still Matter
There is a world of difference between looking up a quick fix for a home problem and the sustained, ongoing demands of trying to secure the compensation that rightfully belongs to you when those responsible deny their accountability. It is the right of every American to decide to take legal matters into their own hands and represent themselves in a court of law to settle a legal dispute. However, while this solution may, on the surface, appear to be more cost-effective, the reality often means people lose the compensation they are owed, with enormous financial losses as a result of their attempt to save money.
An experienced personal injury lawyer advocating for your legal and financial welfare is the best way to handle these situations. Here are just a few of the things that a lawyer can do if you need to go to court for compensation that fairly and rightfully belongs to you.
Research An Appropriate Amount
One of the first things that an experienced personal injury lawyer can do is use that knowledge to assess exactly how much compensation will meet your needs quickly. Many people make the mistake of thinking that the total cost of medical treatment and maybe the salary that was lost during the period when the injury didn’t allow for work are the only figures accident victims have to worry about.
However, it can often go much further than that. Some injuries, for example, will require additional treatment and physiotherapy well after the initial surgery if there’s going to be a full and successful recovery. In other instances, a full recovery is impossible because the injury is so severe as to leave the accident victim with a lifelong handicap, such as deafness, wheelchair use, or the loss of a hand. Further trauma, such as PTSD, may also interfere with the ability to fully return to a normal life.
In all these instances, an experienced personal injury lawyer can use past precedent and draw on medical and legal resources to accurately assess how much a person has suffered—and will continue to suffer—and arrive at an appropriate figure for compensation.
Collect Evidence
Whether a lawsuit is presented to a judge or a jury, the goal remains the same: to collect facts and present evidence that supports a claim or refutes a denial. Personal injury lawyers have the skills, experience, and resources to investigate a case, interview witnesses, talk to experts, and get both professional opinions as well as whatever evidence is left n the aftermath of an accident to support a client’s claims or call into the question the denials of plaintiffs.
This requires an extensive network of associates and consultants in different areas of expertise. For example, a doctor specializing in traumatic brain injury can bring more clarity as to the financial and medical ramifications of having TBI and how this will affect the future of an accident victim. Accident reconstruction experts can analyze the claims of a plaintiff and defendant to understand what actually happened in an accident and to whom. All of this is crucial if a legal dispute gets to the point where there is no recourse but to go to trial.
Negotiate With Insurance Companies
Perhaps most importantly, the world of insurance policies and finances is incredibly complex. Years of administrative and financial bureaucracy have created a system that can’t be easily negotiated with a quick search consultation, especially with regard to individual insurance policies.
Personal injury lawyers, however, have years of experience navigating the labyrinth of insurance complexity. They can help sort out legitimate insurance issues, and come to a resolution, as well as spot bad faith insurance denials and help clients recognize the threat, fight them, and get what rightfully and legally belongs to them.
If you or someone you know has been injured due to someone else’s negligence, get the compensation that is rightfully owed. Talk to a personal injury attorney about the next steps you should take to ensure the people responsible are held accountable for their negligence.