Spodek Law Group

When to Call A Personal Injury Lawyer

If you’ve been injured, you’re probably asking yourself when you should call a personal injury attorney or if you should even bother. If you have an injury that’s serious, you should call an attorney. There is no reason to sit back and accept that your injuries are your new reality when there are so many options available to you. Here’s what you need to know if you’ve been injured and you don’t know if you should call an attorney.

Injuries Have Long-Term Consequences

If your accident caused an injury like a broken toe and nothing else, you needn’t really call a personal injury attorney. This type of injury heals quickly and relatively efficiently without requiring multiple visits to the doctor or hospital. The medical bills are minimal, and there are no surgeries involved in a minor injury such as this.

However, if your injuries are serious, they could have long-term consequences. Not only are you injured right now, you might be suffering from many problems you didn’t have prior to your accident. Did you have to spend time out of work because of your injuries? Did you lose out on income because you were not at work? Are you able to go back to work in the same capacity you were before your accident?

Some people’s injuries are so serious they’re unable to return to work doing what they did before if they are able to return to work at all. This means you might not just lose your income earning potential, you might lose your income as a whole. You also have medical bills piling up around you with injuries this serious. This financial setback doesn’t go away after time. You’re now saddled with medical bills from the accident, future medical bills for any therapy, checkups, and surgeries your new injury might require, and you don’t have a job or one that pays the same as the job you had before.

Financial Difficulties Are Not Your Problem

The good news is you aren’t saddled with these financial problems for the rest of your life if the accident was not your fault. If you were injured in an accident that was caused by someone else when they were negligent in any way, you could file a personal injury lawsuit to seek damages from their insurance company that will allow you to pay off your medical bills and live without your prior income. Damages in a personal injury lawsuit can include any of the following:

– Medical bills
– Pain and suffering
– Future medical bills
– Loss of consortium
– Loss of income
– Diminished earning potential
– Wrongful death

If you’re injured in an accident, you have new financial issues to deal with. You’re not required to face this problem alone if someone else is to blame for your injuries. You didn’t ask for your injuries. You didn’t ask for someone to hit you with their car or injure you at work, and you are legally entitled to ask them to pay for the damage they’ve caused.

Call an attorney if you’ve been injured in any type of accident. If the injury is serious, you have grounds to file a personal injury lawsuit. An attorney can help you fight this case, prove you were innocent and someone else was negligent, and they can guide you through the process of filing paperwork and working with the insurance companies. You have better things to do with your time than deal with the stress of handling all of this and your regular life as it stands.

There are many hidden benefits of hiring a personal injury lawyer. It is important to carefully weigh the costs against the potential benefits of using legal representation. The attorney is a professional who can help you to navigate the legal system and avoid making mistakes that will harm your case. When you are dealing with a personal injury, it can be difficult to think clearly and make good decisions. Having a legal adviser present can help you to weigh your options and make informed decisions about your case. This is one of the major benefits of using the services of a qualified legal representative, but there are others as well.

Personal Injury Attorneys, Benefits

Personal injuries comprise an entire section of the law, so it is important to understand what they are in order to benefit from legal representation. Personal injuries are often serious, and they can require more resources than are immediately available. However, it is a mistake to try to save money by not paying for legal representation. The costs of not having a lawyer are often much higher than the attorney’s fees. If you are suffering from a personal injury, it is important to get support as soon as possible.

There are many benefits of hiring a personal injury lawyer to represent you in the court.

• Without a legal professional on your side, you could be forced to pay for your own medical bills, for example. There is also a strict process in place that will award or deny compensation claims to victims who are suffering from a personal injury.

• Legal services are necessary to protect your rights in the courtroom. This is especially important when you are dealing with an aggressive lawyer who is usually representing the interests of a company or an insurance company.

• When you hire a personal injury lawyer, you have a better chance of winning compensation from the court. The lawyer understands the nuances of the law in this area, and this is a critical time. Without professional help, the legal team hired by the insurance company can easily defeat you in a court setting. This is true even if you think that the case is clear.

• Only a qualified attorney can take the case all the way to trial, and this is often necessary in order to win compensation for your injuries.

• An important benefit for personal injury victims is the ability to speak to someone who is knowledgeable about the situation. Just having someone to talk to about the case can be an important part of the recovery process. This can be especially important when friends and family are busy or too tired to lend an understanding ear.

Our Legal Team

Personal injury legal cases can be complicated and difficult on many levels. The legal system can often present injured people with a series of difficult steps that will exhaust the person emotionally, financially and even physically. In addition, the party responsible for the injury might have a lawyer standing by to undermine your case or put you in a position where you will make a mistake.

This situation can be difficult for anyone to handle, but it is even worse for people who are suffering from the discomfort that comes with a personal injury. Our team of qualified and experienced personal injury lawyers can handle any situation with due diligence, professionalism and compassion. If you are facing an adversarial legal team, you will need experienced and aggressive attorneys on your side. Contact our office for more information or to schedule a consultation.

Suffering injuries at work can be a devastating experience, and it’s one that leaves many people unsure of what to do next. You might not know you should call a personal injury attorney to discuss your options, or you might not want to call one if you are worried your job might be in jeopardy. There are many fine details and intricate considerations at hand when you’re injured at work, but you do have rights. If you suffer any type of injury on the job, it’s time to call a personal injury attorney to find out what you do next. This is what you need to know about work-related injuries and how to handle them.

Seek Medical Attention

If you suffer an injury at work, call the doctor immediately. Even if you don’t believe you are seriously injured, it’s always better to seek medical care. You could have internal injuries that will only get worse as they are left untreated. You need to have them diagnosed as soon as possible if they exist. Not only does this make them easier to treat, it also helps prevent them from becoming worse and more difficult to treat.

If your injuries are serious and you simply don’t realize it, having them diagnosed and treated right away helps if you are going to file a personal injury lawsuit or seek damages for the medical bills you’ll incur. Waiting to see the doctor until you suffer pain or realize something is wrong could be turned around against you in a court of law.

Report the Accident

The most important thing you’ll do following a trip to the doctor is report the accident. Most states have laws that require you report the accident at work in a very small timeframe. You have a few days to report the accident, so it’s to seek medical attention right away. You must also follow the proper procedures and the right channels if you’re going to report an accident at work. There are legal questions you’ll need to answer, there are forms you’ll need to fill out, and there are statements you’ll need to sign.

Call an Attorney

Now that things are moving at work as a result of your accident, call a personal injury attorney. Not only does this help you understand what you are signing and if you’re being asked to do things that are legal and correct, you also have someone gathering evidence for you. You have a chance to make things go smoothly or complicate them by signing away certain rights.

For instance, if you suffer serious injuries and you opt to file paperwork to receive compensation from your employer or their insurance company in certain forms, you might be signing away your right to file a personal injury lawsuit. If your injuries get worse, you might not have enough money from the company or their insurance company to help pay the cost of your medical bills. Calling an attorney means you’re protecting yourself against yourself. You don’t know what you’re signing if you’re not in the legal business, and some forms are written in a way that doesn’t allow you to easily understand what they mean.

Let an attorney help you if you are injured at work. You might fear how it looks, but you have rights and your job cannot terminate you for deciding to use your rights. You might be entitled to damages if the injury was a direct result of negligence at work, and your attorney can help you figure out if this is the case. Let your attorney do the work for you.

“”What is my personal injury claim worth?” That is a concern many people wonder when they come into the offices of a Queens personal injury attorney. The answer to that question depends on a lot of factors. However, an experienced attorney can review your case and give you an idea of what you might get if you took the claim to court.

Don’t Fall for an Insurance Company’s Initial Offer

When you suffer a personal injury that is due to someone else’s negligence or fault, you will likely be in touch with an insurance adjuster at some point. That adjuster is going to try to get you to settle the case immediately by making you an offer.

Don’t take the bait. The first offer you receive from an insurance company is going to be low and will not reflect the true value of your claim. If you accept that offer, you are giving up your rights to receive the amount of compensation you are actually due.

How to Determine the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim

The value of your personal injury claim begins with determining how much your medical bills are and may be in the future. You should get a full accounting of all doctors’ bills related to the injury.

Also, talk with your doctor about whether you will need treatment in the future. Some injuries can heal quickly and completely. Others may require on-going medical treatment. That information will factor into how much the Queens personal injury lawyer asks for to settle your case.

If you had property damaged when the injury occurred, the cost to repair or replace it will also be included in case. If you lost time at work because you had to seek treatment or because you couldn’t do your job, your lost wages can also be included.

When you add all of this up, you have the basic amount of your injury claim.

What About Pain and Suffering Along with Emotional Distress?

Now, personal injuries often go beyond just the monetary losses an individual suffers. It can involves a lot of pain and emotional distress. Is that worth something in the eyes f the insurance company or court? The answer is “it depends”.

The insurance company and the courts won’t just award money because you ask for it. You have to provide evidence of what you went through and are going through as a result of the injury. Some things taken into consideration:

Does the injury impact personal or work relationships?
Does the pain affect sleep or other parts of life?
Does the injury or the pain limit the ability of the person to handle day-to-day life?
Is this a long-term issue?

Insurance companies are notorious for refusing to offer any compensation for pain and suffering. You may have to take it before a judge and jury to get this type of compensation. But, if the injury is severe enough, it is definitely worth talking with NYC personal injury lawyers about.

Can Other Things Affect the Claim Value?

New York is a comparative fault state. That means that judges and juries can assign a percentage of fault to both parties, based on their actions or negligence in the case. The percentage of fault limits the amount of damages one party can receive from another.

For example, let’s say one party is deemed 80% at fault and the second party is 20% at fault. The second party could only recover 80% of his or her damages.

If you have been injured due to the fault or negligence of someone else, you need to speak with a personal injury attorney. The attorney will review your case and give you an estimate of what your case is actually worth.

Can I Be Found Liable If My Car Is Rear-Ended In A Crash?

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports rear-end collisions make up almost half of all two-vehicle accidents. Most people have a misconception about rear-end accidents and that the driver who rear-ends a vehicle is automatically the party at fault. While this may be true much of the time, there are instances where the front driver is partially or solely responsible for rear-end accidents.

The top three causes of rear-end accidents are distracted driving, speeding, and following too closely behind another vehicle. While studies show that most rear-end accidents are caused by the rear driver engaged in one or more of those three factors, it is also a fact that the front driving vehicle is at least partially at fault in some rear-end collisions.

There can be mitigating circumstances that allow for a defense for the rear driver. All drivers of motor vehicles are responsible for safely operating their vehicle and obeying all traffic laws, traffic signs and signals, and road safety rules. The following may be some of the reasons a front driver might be at fault, even partially, in a rear-end collision:

Failure To Signal
Looking in the rearview or side mirror in order to determine if you can change lanes must be accompanied by a turn signal as well as the space and speed in which to execute the lane change. Making lane changes without these factors present is illegal and the cause of many rear-end collisions.

Slamming on Brakes
New drivers can often be nervous in traffic situations which may cause them to unnecessarily slam on their brakes. They may perceive a danger when there is none or may overreact or overcompensate due to a perceived threat from another driver even under normal driving conditions.

Repeatedly Braking
Some drivers may “ride” their brakes or break constantly due to poor driving habits or they could simply be careless or thoughtless drivers putting everyone including themselves at risk for injury or fatality.

Aggressive Driving
Road rage has been a growing problem in the last five to ten years and is the cause of many accidents because of “revenge” driving such as cutting off another driver which causes that driver to rear-end their vehicle. Aggressive driving can also include driving too fast or too slow for traffic conditions or in bad weather. Many drivers on the road are in a state of constant hurry which creates dangerous situations for everyone.

Faulty Tailights
Keeping your vehicle in proper working order, including its lights and signals, keeps you and everyone else on the road safer. It is also a minor traffic violation to drive without taillights for the very reason that drivers need to know what other drivers on the road are doing. Without taillights, drivers try to rely on their perceptions of what they see in the mirror and it can be the cause of accidents.

Failure To Yield
Pulling out into traffic before you are able to do so safely and legally, not yielding the right of way to oncoming traffic or someone who has the legal right to turn before you pass, is another major cause of rear-end collisions where the front driver can be found legally liable for causing the accident.

Tailgating
Tailgating is a sure way to be involved in a rear-end collision. Not leaving enough space between the car in front of you leaves no room in the event the vehicle makes a sudden move, whether it is their own fault or because another vehicle cut them off or a pedestrian or animal darted into the road in front of them. If a police officer sees you tailgating another vehicle you can be assured of receiving a violation for unsafe driving.

There are also times that a rear-end collision involves three or more vehicles and the middle vehicle can be forced into a rear-end collision with the car in front of them. It could be possible in this case that the middle driver is not at fault at all and the liability rests with the third vehicle.

After knowing all the facts of a rear-end collision case, an attorney has the resources to successfully litigate on your behalf if you were the rear driver in a rear-end collision, and the accident was at least partly the fault of the front driver.

I Was A Passenger In A Car Accident Do I Have A Claim?

It is a misconception that passengers cannot sue drivers of the vehicles they are riding in when they are involved in an accident. Passengers in a car accident are third parties who are able to recover damages for their injuries whether the accident was the fault of the driver of the car they were riding in or the fault of a second driver. Each state’s laws are different and insurance laws in each state differ.

Some states are at-fault states, which means that the driver who caused the accident is the party responsible for the injuries and damages to the other parties involved in the accident.

Most states are no-fault states, which means that a driver does not have to prove the fault in an accident in order to be compensated for injuries and damages. An insurance company in the cases of accidents in no-fault states usually automatically pay medical costs for their injured drivers.

The downside to being in an at-fault state is that the legal system is overloaded with litigation claims due to accidents. The downside to no-fault states is that injured drivers cannot sue the other party for pain or suffering as a result of the accident unless their medical costs exceed their insurance company’s threshold or the injuries are considered severe.

As an injured passenger in a car accident, you don’t have to prove the liability of either driver. There are times when both drivers were at fault and a passenger can file a claim against both drivers of the vehicles involved in the accident in an apportionment claim or one that is of comparative negligence.

Another factor that can affect a passenger claim is if either driver is uninsured or underinsured. The Insurance Research Council (IRC) reveals that 13 percent of Americans drive uninsured each year. 2.3 million people are injured annually in car accidents, the medical costs of these accidents exceeding $230 billion.

If you are a passenger in a car accident it is certain that someone is at fault. You do not have to wait for the driver of the car you were riding in to file a claim nor the other driver if it was a two-car accident. Sometimes insurance companies refuse to pay a claim and one of the parties must be taken to court to recover damages.

If a case does go to a court trial, the court may find both parties to the accident equally liable or partially liable. The judgement may not be split equally between the parties and a passenger whose case has gone to trial may recover from both parties involved.

Each passenger injury claim is unique in the factors that are involved in the accident. No two claims are alike and only an experienced attorney can advise a claimant on the nature of their case and the possible outcome.

A passenger in a car accident has several different ways to pursue in order to recover for their injuries, medical bills, lost wages, and out-of-pocket expenses including drawing from their own insurance even though their vehicle was not involved in the accident. An exception to being eligible to file a claim as a passenger is if you are related to the driver of the vehicle you are riding in. In these cases, you are usually considered an insured party while a passenger in their vehicle.

If you were a passenger in a vehicle that was involved in a car accident, whoever is at fault, it is never the fault of the passenger and the passenger is eligible to recover full compensation for their damages and injuries.

Some people worry about making a claim against the driver of the vehicle they were riding in because they are friends with the driver. It is important to remember that you are not filing a claim against your friend but with their insurance company whom they pay a fee to in order to cover them in the event of just such an accident.

An attorney can advise a claimant how they will be able to recover, whether through the driver’s insurance or the other party’s insurance. And if an insurance company refuses to compensate, they have the resources available and the experience with insurance companies to successfully win cases against the insurance companies.