Is it Worth Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney?

Whether it is worth hiring a personal injury attorney depends on the specifics of your case such as:

• The severity of your injuries and damages
• Who is at-fault for the accident
• Whether you want to move forward to trial

It’s almost always worth hiring legal help if you suffered an injury that left you hospitalized or out of work. Any personal injury case where damages are too great to ignore may require the assistance of an attorney.

What is the Role of a Personal Injury Attorney?

A personal injury attorney seeks to recover compensation for the damages you suffered in an accident involving another party’s negligence.

The tasks needed to fulfil this goal are multilayered and vary from case-to-case. They may gather evidence, talk to insurance companies, and represent you in trial, if needed, so you get the settlement you deserve.

When to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer For Your Case

Although there are no guidelines on when to hire a personal injury lawyer, there are scenarios where legal help is almost essential.

Insurance companies have the money, legal staff, and adjusters to help them avoid paying your damages in full. There’s a risk of settling for less than you deserve if you handle your case alone.

There have been studies indicating that attorney involvement directly benefits your settlement and your chances of approval.

If the below scenarios apply to you, consider having an attorney analyze your case. You may be leaving money on the table by not having legal help by your side.

1. You’re Facing Serious Injuries

Personal injury cases may involve serious conditions that can physically and emotionally derail one’s life. Examples of such injuries may include:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Spinal cord injuries
• Burn injuries
• Musculoskeletal conditions

This fails to mention the financial burden caused by thousands of dollars of medical bills while in recovery.

When faced with such adversity, it’s especially important to retain a lawyer who can at least earn you the compensation needed to recover and start again.

Even for injuries that don’t seem significant, they can develop into something more serious over weeks of time. An example of an injury that develops over time is whiplash.

It may be worth hiring a personal injury attorney if you believe your condition will develop further. Accepting a settlement offer too soon may fail to cover future expenses if your injuries worsen.

2. Liability is Not Clear

There is another factor that determines your personal injury settlement amount: how liable you were for the accident.

For states that follow comparative negligence, your total settlement may decrease if you’re found partially at-fault.

It’s worth it to hire a personal injury attorney to straighten the facts and solidify liability, especially if your case involves more than two parties.

Not every case is clear-cut, and there are potential mistakes you can make to add liability to yourself if you’re not careful.

Personal Injury Lawyers and Duty of Care

The cornerstone behind liability and personal injury lawsuits is duty of care. This is the idea that everyone is legally obligated to act safely to prevent excess injury or harm to others and their environment.

If someone violated their duty of care and hurt you, a personal injury attorney has to prove three things:

• The perpetrator had a duty of care to keep you safe in that moment
• They violated that duty through their actions
• Their actions directly caused your damages

There are certain personal injury cases where a party owes a special duty of care to others. The legal system expects them to act more reasonably due to their influence, and violations may result in a higher settlement award.

Examples of such cases may be:

• A truck driver intentionally causing a fatal car accident due to the weight of their vehicle
• A surgeon leaving foreign material in your body after an operation
• A firefighter negligently causing a burn injury

Any disagreements in liability or duty of care may require an attorney to clear up. It may be worth hiring a personal injury attorney to make sure your settlement reflects everyone’s degree of fault.

3. Insurance Companies Refuse to Pay

The money from your personal injury settlement has to come somewhere, and oftentimes it comes from an insurance company’s pockets.

Since they’re a 1.4 trillion dollar industry, companies often delay or deny cases to avoid paying for your damages. They’ll use every loophole or trick to protect their profits, even if it goes against your best interests.

Sometimes you need the legal pressure an attorney provides to get these insurance companies to pay up. Even their initial settlement offer, albeit tempting, may not be the total amount your damages are worth.

A personal injury attorney is trained to effectively handle negotiations with insurance companies. They can help ensure there’s no unnecessary delays and that you’ll receive a payout that adequately covers your recovery costs.

4. Suffering From Lost Wages

The damages from lost wages pile up quickly for every missed workday caused by an injury. You can miss weeks or months of income, and your injury can even affect the income you may receive in the future.

If you missed work due to your condition, it may be worth hiring a personal injury attorney so your settlement reflects the income you lost.

The Main Advantages of a Personal Injury Lawyer

A personal injury attorney offers several advantages that are hard to replicate on your own in a case. You shouldn’t have to face a potential lawsuit by yourself while recovering from your own injuries.

These three reasons are especially important to understand if you’re wondering if it’s worth hiring a personal injury attorney.

1. Guides You Through the Complex Legal Process

The steps to bring a personal injury claim from submission to approval is stressful and complex. You may have legal questions that can’t be answered by your immediate friends and family alone.

Hiring a personal injury attorney can help ease your stress by advising you on what best actions to take in each step of your case. An attorney can help you by:

• Answering your legal questions in a timely manner
• Establishing what grounds you have in your case
• Gathering evidence to find out how much your case is worth
• Avoiding mistakes that may prove detrimental to your claim

Starting a personal injury claim is a huge undertaking that you shouldn’t handle alone. Even if your initial claim was denied, a personal injury attorney can help you file an appeal.

2. Handles Negotiations With Insurance Companies

If insurance companies refuse to offer an adequate settlement, a personal injury attorney can pressure them into a better deal.

Insurance adjusters often ask questions to understand the nature of your case, but also to reveal legal vulnerabilities. A personal injury lawyer can answer such questions for you to avoid revealing weaknesses that lower your claim’s eligibility.

An insurance company can also decide to drag your case, hoping you surrender to a lower offer than what your case is worth.

If you have an attorney by your side, insurance companies are less likely to resort to such tactics and feel more pressured to cooperate.

3. Keeps Track of Important Deadlines

Every step of the personal injury claims process involves deadlines that can derail your case if you’re not careful.

The most important deadline is your state’s statute of limitations, which is the deadline to submit your injury claim. If you’re too late and file outside the statute of limitations, your case may be barred from court.

A personal injury attorney will make sure you never miss deadlines when submitting evidence, filing forms, or showing up for court hearings.

Hiring an attorney can also make sure you file forms correctly, as each legal document has its own exclusions. It may be tricky to keep track of every form without error, but attorneys are trained to preserve the integrity of your case.

Is it Expensive to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney?

When you hire a personal injury attorney, their services work under contingency fees. This means your lawyer’s compensation is contingent on them winning you a settlement.

On the off chance they fail to secure you a settlement, you pay nothing.

If an attorney accepts your case, they cannot charge any upfront fees for their legal services. Only when you win your case will they deduct a percentage out of your total settlement amount.

This system allows injury victims who may not be able to afford an attorney hourly to acquire legal assistance.

Schedule a FREE Personal Injury Consultation Through LegalASAP

If you’re still wondering if it’s worth hiring a personal injury attorney, you can schedule a FREE consultation to find an attorney right for you through LegalASAP.

We’re an attorney referral service connected to a 500+ law firm network throughout the United States, ready to assist you with your legal needs.

If you want to connect with an attorney in your state, fill out this short evaluation form or call 1-888-927-3080 to speak to one of our representatives directly.