Before you file a lawsuit, your first step should be to hire a skilled personal injury lawyer.
If you have been injured and you believe that someone else is to blame, you may have grounds to file a civil action against them to recover monetary damages. Before you file your lawsuit, though, it is important to recognize that personal injury lawsuits are complex, and that working with an experienced attorney will improve the outcome of your case. Here is an overview of what you should know about the role of an attorney in a personal injury claim and why you should never file a lawsuit without a lawyer on your side.
The Role of a Personal Injury Attorney—How Your Attorney Will Help
A personal injury attorney wears many hats throughout the personal injury claims and lawsuit process. Your attorney will be responsible for handling various details of your case while you focus on your recovery. Ways that your attorney will help include:
- Investigating your case. One of the most important roles of an injury attorney is that of investigator. Your attorney will be responsible for piecing together exactly how your injuries happened and who should be liable for the damages you have suffered. This will involve sending spoliation of evidence letters, using the open records act, sending subpoenas for evidence, talking to eyewitnesses, hiring private investigators, accident reconstruction experts, and more. This is a job best left to a professional who knows how to properly investigate your case.
- Proving the elements of your claim. The next thing that an attorney will do after gathering evidence is to start putting together a compelling case that proves the elements of a personal injury claim: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. Your attorney will work hard to prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care, breached that duty through an act of negligence, and that the negligence was the proximate cause of your harm. This can be a legally complex process that, in many cases, will require knowledge of current law but also case precedent.
- Calculating your damages. You are entitled to compensation for the full value of your economic and noneconomic losses. Your attorney will be responsible for working with other experts and professionals to calculate the full value of your medical bills, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, permanent injuries, loss of enjoyment of life including hobbies and recreation, and pain, suffering, and emotional distress.
- Negotiating your settlement. Before your case goes to court, you should take full advantage of the opportunity to attempt to negotiate with the insurance company and reach an out-of-court settlement. You will want a skilled negotiator on your side for this, as insurance adjusters can be callous and quick to offer a low-balled settlement. Presentation of all of your damages is essential to obtain a full recovery for all of your losses.
- Litigating your case in court. If an out-of-court agreement cannot be reached, the next step is filing a lawsuit and litigating your case in court. Simply filing the right documents alone is a legally complex task, let alone actually litigation to include a jury trial.
Call Our Georgia Personal Injury Law Firm Today
If you have been injured, your best chances of recovering the compensation award you deserve is if you hire an experiencedGeorgia personal injury lawyer. For a free consultation with the lawyers at the office of Banks, Stubbs & McFarland LLP, call us today or send our Georgia personal injury lawyers a message online.
