Accident lawyers deal with a variety of personal injury cases. Regardless of the cause, a personal injury can devastate your life, especially when your injuries have long-term effects, or you lose a loved one. The purpose of personal injury law, or tort law, is to provide you with a legal route to receiving compensation for the losses you sustained due to the defendant’s negligence. An accident lawyer will help you understand your legal rights and value your claim to ensure you recover all available damages.
What Is the Most Common Lawsuit Accident Lawyers Handle?
Personal injury is a broad category covering every type of bodily injury accident for which you could have a civil claim against another party. The most common type of personal injury lawsuit is an auto accident case. The vast majority of accident lawyers specialize in various auto accident cases. Some examples include:
- Car accidents. Car accidents are the most common auto accident cases. They typically involve two or more passenger vehicles and can result in minimal or substantial damages.
- Truck accidents. Truck accidents are among the most dangerous, especially involving smaller vehicles. Sometimes the question of liability in a truck accident case is more complex, as the at-fault party could be the truck driver, the trucking company, a product manufacturer, or a third party.
- Pedestrian accidents. Pedestrian accidents typically result in significant injuries and involve vehicles. Either party could be responsible, but pedestrians are sometimes injured as car crash bystanders.
- Motorcycle accidents. Motorcycle accidents are often the fault of other drivers failing to notice motorcyclists on the road. Still, the most common form of a motorcycle accident is collisions occurring during left turns.
- Bicycle accidents. Like motorcyclists and pedestrians, bicyclists are vulnerable on or near the road, which is why these accidents often result in severe injuries.
Any of these types of lawsuits can be further divided into specific types of collisions. For example, they cover various collisions, including head-on, rear-end, side-impact, and side-swipe crashes. Some are significantly more dangerous than others. For example, a rear-end motorcycle accident is more dangerous than a fender bender between passenger vehicles, and a head-on collision truck accident is almost always deadly.
What Does an Accident Lawyer Do?
An accident lawyer provides legal representation for victims of personal injury. The specifics of their daily actions vary depending on the type of cases they take on. Additionally, every case is different and has unique circumstances. However, some examples of what an accident lawyer will do for you include:
- Investigate your accident. When you file an accident lawsuit, the burden of proving liability and damages falls on you as the plaintiff. Therefore, your attorney will investigate your accident to collect the necessary evidence to support your demands.
- Communicate with the defense. Cases involving extensive damages require substantial payouts. Insurance companies are known to put the company’s interests above all else, sometimes even participating in bad faith tactics to avoid paying. This can be the most frustrating part of the process, especially when trying to heal from a severe injury. Your attorney will handle all communications and negotiations for you.
- Make demands. After conducting an investigation, your attorney will draft a demand letter to send to the defense. It should contain your claim for compensation and your summary of how the accident occurred.
- Prepare for discovery. During the discovery phase, your attorney will compile a list of questions to present to the defense and conduct depositions.
- Represent you at trial. Most personal injury cases settle during pre-trial and never reach the courtroom. However, your attorney will already have your case prepared for trial if the attempt to settle your case fails. Additionally, they will represent you in the court process.
Some accident cases do not require the help of an injury attorney. For example, if you sustained minor property damage and no bodily injuries in a low-speed, rear-end collision, a simple insurance claim should be enough to resolve the issue and recover compensation to fix your car. However, suppose your accident resulted in significant damages. In that case, you may need an attorney to talk to the insurance company for you and negotiate a fair settlement to ensure you are financially able to handle any present and future expenses related to your accident.
How Do Accident Lawyers Determine Liability in a Personal Injury Case?
Accident cases are the result of someone’s careless behavior. Therefore, the foundation of a personal injury case is the concept of one party being more irresponsible than the other. As the plaintiff, your attorney must provide the following to prove negligence:
- Duty of care. You must show that the defendant owed you a duty of care. For example, in a car accident case, all drivers owe a duty of care to follow road laws and drive safely.
- Duty of care violation. You must prove the defendant violated their duty of care by being negligent. For example, in a car accident case, speeding or driving while intoxicated constitutes a duty of care violation.
- Causation. You must prove the defendant’s violation of their duty of care resulted in the accident and that the accident was the cause of your injuries.
Additionally, you must have damages for someone to be liable in a personal injury case. As the person filing the claim, you must prove you suffered physical injuries, resulting in financial and emotional losses. Without damages, you have no grounds for a lawsuit.
What Are the Possible Defenses in a Personal Injury Accident Case?
Generally, the defense will respond to a personal injury lawsuit with a denial of any responsibility or a claim that the plaintiff shares responsibility. If you are partially responsible, the court will apply the comparative fault rule, which mandates a deduction from your damages award equal to your percentage of fault. In a pure comparative fault state, you can receive as much as the total damages or as little as 1%. In a modified state, your percentage of fault must be less than half, or you will not receive compensation. For example, if you are 49% to blame for the accident, you can receive 51% of the total damages. However, if you are 51% responsible in a modified comparative fault state, you will receive none of the total damages.
Why Hire an Accident Lawyer Near You?
When you consider all that a personal injury accident lawyer does to build your case and help you recover the compensation you need to get your life back, you can see why you should consider hiring legal representation. At Jason Stone Injury Lawyers, we handle personal injury accident cases daily and understand the physical and emotional struggles you face while collecting medical debt and losing income. To help alleviate some of the financial pressure, we charge no upfront fees to listen to the details of your case and get started. In addition, the first element of the Stone Cold Guarantee ensures our clients that we only receive payment when we secure a settlement or award for you.
We are here to provide you with legal representation and friendly support. Contact Jason Stone Injury Lawyers today to speak with an experienced accident attorney for a free consultation. We can answer the questions you have about your case and help you make the next best move. There’s No Obligation, Just Information (R).
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