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Lawyers and your Injury – Basics of your Personal Injury Claim

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Get to grips with your personal injury claim and learn what a lawyer does for you.

When you are injured through an accident that was not your fault, things can quickly become overwhelming. From medical bills to expenses garnered travelling back and forward to appointments: you are entitled to compensation for all of it.

However, when you do choose to pursue that personal injury lawsuit, it can be so confusing that you do not know where to turn. In this tough time, you need to buckle down and get the best possible team in your corner. This means hiring a personal injury lawyer for you, exactly when you need it.

What are the other basics of a personal injury claim? We found out in advance…

The Basics of Personal Injury

Source:westmorelandinjurylawyers.com

Let us run through each of the small points of personal injury claims and why each step is important.

Hiring an Attorney

You can find any number of lawyers capable of representing your personal injury lawsuit – but how do you find one that you trust? DDRB Lawyers have an excellent reputation in this department – but why do you need a lawyer in the first place? Can you represent yourself in a personal injury claim? The answer is a resounding no.

Hiring an attorney is not really an optional thing. If you research, go to court, and try and defend yourself, you will end up with nothing. This is not about politics or how much you know, it is about a lawyer’s business. Think about it. They represent people just like you, every day of the week. This makes them ideally placed to administer better representation than you can get for yourself.

Besides anything else, we hire an attorney during personal injury claims because sometimes, you are injured beyond being able to represent yourself. If you are in a coma, or otherwise incapacitated, your personal injury lawyer acts as your voice to ensure nobody takes advantage of you.

Sure, you might be able to represent yourself… but why would you invite that kind of stress into your life when you are already suffering?

Getting to the Doctor

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Apart from getting an attorney, you need to start getting a case together. To make this happen, you need to visit a doctor for a record of our injuries. This is especially important if your personal injury happened as the result of an accident. A trip to the ER will place a time and date of your injuries and allow a point from which you can get treatment. That initial visit is helpful in proving what happened to you and when it first occurred. Without it, your case will be flimsy at best.

Reporting the Incident

Source:insuremyworkcomp.com

When you are injured severely and it is not your fault, this is because someone has been negligent. If you are on a construction site and something falls on you, you need to visit the ER and report the building site to your local government office. If you are hit by a car, the police need to be involved. If you are in a fire, the fire brigade, and so on.

The point is that you need to report your incident to have the best chance at a successful personal injury claim. Not reporting the accident means there is no legal record of it happening. You cannot prove that you were injured if there is no record of the accident… So, make sure the authorities are involved.

Gathering Evidence

Now that we have covered why the attorney should be the first step, we can move on to gathering the evidence that will help your case. Providing you did not skip step one; this step should be easy. Your attorney will help you in evidence gathering and in advising you on what documentation you should need.

Some common evidence gathering steps are as follows:

Source:1800lawguys.com
  • Taking photographs of the area where the accident happened. You should carefully note where any items of furniture or debris are, as well as photographing any scuff marks on the floor and the position of the accident.
  • Keep a journal of your injuries and recovery, this is an evidence gathering tool which ensures you do not forget to report any of your symptoms to your medical professionals. Your personal injury attorney can also use it to keep track of your injuries.
  • Take witness statements wherever you can. If possible, retrieve phone numbers and statements from all those who saw what happened. Look for stores which would have been open when the accident happened and ask staff members if they saw you that day.
  • Write out your own memories of what happened that day. Writing it down will help you stick to the same story if you are cross-examined.

Why Gather Evidence?

Why do we bother doing all of this? To give ourselves a stronger case. The opposition in any given personal injury lawsuit, is there on behalf of your insurance company. The whole aim of them being present is to try and prove that you are lying. They will try to defame you, so try to avoid the following things…

  • Do not talk to anyone (who is not your attorney) about your case.
  • This means no posting about your injuries on social media.
  • It means staying off work for as long as it takes to make a complete recovery.
  • Do not lie – if you say you are wheelchair bound, they will be watching you.
  • Stay home if you are too sick to go out. You may be followed by a Private Investigator to ensure you are as sick as you say you are.

Once the pitfalls of personal injury lawsuits have been avoided, you will be free to leave the matter in your lawyer’s hands until the date is set to go before the judge.

Source:lawesjuridic.com

Further things to Remember about Personal Injury Claims

Remember to account all your damages and keep all receipts. You will not have to go before a jury, but you will have your case heard by a judge. Most importantly, listen to your lawyer and do exactly as they tell you. They may be the best chance you have at getting compensation.

Why You Should Embrace Jury Duty Instead of Dreading It

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Nearly 200,000 Americans are sent a summons for jury duty each year. According to a recent survey, nearly 67 percent of Americans believe that serving on a jury is a key ingredient of being a good citizen. Regardless of what your views of jury duty are, you stand a good chance of receiving a summons one day that it is your time to carry out this task.

Some people think that they can just ignore this summons, but this is not the case. According to lorenzandlorenz.com, skipping jury duty can result in the judge issuing a bench warrant for your arrest.

Instead of dreading jury duty, you need to embrace it and use it as a learning experience. Read below to find out more about the benefits of jury duty and why every American should take the chance to have this experience.

A Great Way to Learn About the Legal System

Source:uscourts.gov

For most people, finding new and unique ways to learn more about the world around them is important. If a person wants to get an inside look at how the legal system in the United States works, there is no better way than to participate in jury duty. Being able to get a look at how lawyers use their knowledge to either exonerate or convict a person is simply fascinating.

By participating in jury duty, you can get a front-row seat to various types of trials. The more you know about the legal system and how it works, the easier you will find it to handle your own legal issues when they arise. Instead of looking at jury duty as something you are being forced to do, be positive about this experience and use it to learn more about the world around you.

Jury Duty Comes With a Lot of Free Time

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Receiving a summons for jury duty doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to get picked to serve on a jury. Generally, you will have to go through a lengthy interview process before you find out whether you are actually serving on the jury. If you are ultimately chosen, you will have a few days downtime before the trial actually starts.

However, these days will be spent sequestered, which means you will not be able to do things like go to work. Most jurors use this downtime to catch up on rest or relax. After all, most jobs will pay you for the time you are off serving on a jury. This means you can relax and wait for the trial to begin without worry.

Meeting New People is Always a Good Thing

Another jury duty benefit that tends to get overlooked is the ability it gives a person to meet a diverse group of individuals. You will usually be on jury duty with around 11 other people. Since you will be sequestered, it will allow you a lot of time to get to know each other. Taking this opportunity to meet and interact with new people can help you make friends or even engage in meaningful conversations.

Usually, the cases you will be involved in will last a few days. This is plenty of time to forge some new friendships that can carry on into the real world once your stint as a juror is over.

Source:rewire.org

Make the Most Out of This Situation

Keeping a positive attitude can help you get through the jury duty process with ease. If you go into this experience with bad thoughts, you are going to have a bad time. Making the most out of your time in the juror box will help you gain some legal knowledge and make some memories at the same time.

 

Benefits of hiring car accident lawyers

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A car accident can rip you away from normal life. One can suffer from bad injuries, financial burden, temporary disablement, or even can lose their loved ones. Whenever you stuck into such circumstances, it is always advised to hire a well known and reliable lawyer. In your hard and financial breakdown time, your lawyers can suggest you with some fair compensation and will tell insurers to offer best for the loss that has occurred.

Why should you hire a car accident lawyer?

To prove negligence

source: halt.org

To claim the compensation for your injuries it is obligatory to show that the accident has been caused due to other driver negligence. If you feel the burden to prove this, you can take help of car accident lawyer Atlanta. Any skilled lawyer will help you by demonstrating all elements of negligence occurred during the accident.

Gather evidence

Some strong evidence is required to prove that calamity was caused by others negligence.  Your lawyer will give you a proper guideline what evidence is required to support your injury claim. Evidence can include-:

  • Traffic camera recording
  • Witness statement
  • Report prepared by law enforcement officers
  • Medical reports which show your injuries caused in a mishap.

Knowledge of laws that applies to your case

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You can face a difficult time in understanding the rule and laws applied to your case if you don’t have good knowledge of the laws. This includes traffic laws negligence which opposite party violated by causing the accident. Your lawyer will surely have years of experience in dealing with such accidental problem.

Determine the value of your claim

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It is difficult to claim car accident value as many aspects are involved in it. Initial offer offered by your insurance company may be to low to get fully recover from the loss. Your lawyer can only help you to claim the best value for your injury so that you can cover the cost associated in your injury.

Some facts that are to be considered while calculating the value of your claim

  • Wages loss, because your injury doesn’t allow you to work.
  • Lost earning which you would not be able to earn in the future due to some permanent disability in a body.
  • Replacement and repair cost of the property damage (Vehicle).
  • Medical treatment cost

Handles insurance company for you

source: wideinfo.org

If you are thinking to file property damage or injury claim for compensation with the insurer, you have to communicate within the company so that your claim can proceed. This person will never be on your side and will always try to save the company money.  He will surely try to do the things mentioned below

  • Blame that your injuries are pre-existing or are from some other incident
  • Will try to limit your claim at very less value
  • Try to make you the culprit in accident occurrence.

The fault is not clearly described

source: lawyerguide.net

If police are not filing your report with the facts occurred while accident and in return puts you at fault. At this time your lawyer will help you to determine who is responsible for damages.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority: All You Should Know

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The CICA administers a compensation scheme throughout mainland UK and is responsible for awarding damages to the innocent victims of violent crime by paying compensation for mental trauma or physical injury and also certain resultant financial losses. If the application is refused or the award is considered to be inadequate, then an appeal may be lodged. The CICA Appeals Panel which is independent reviews CICA decisions and its findings are binding on the CICA.

Victims of violent crime can apply for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). Damages can be awarded to cover mental anguish, physical trauma, and certain resulting financial losses. If you are the innocent victim of a violent attack and suffered an injury. As a result, even if your attacker is not convicted or is not caught, you can still make a compensation claim. Over £200,000,000 is paid out every year by the CICA which has offices in London and Glasgow. Northern Ireland has a similar scheme which is administered from Belfast offices.

Most solicitors deal with CICA claims using the risk-free no win no fee scheme. This arrangement guarantees that if your application is refused, you will not have to pay one penny. Most solicitors claims are risk-free, and if you decide not to proceed after an initial consultation, you will usually walk away and incur no expense. The criminal injury board does not pay legal costs, and if the claim is successful, legal fees are deducted from the final award.

Img source: fletcherssolicitors.co.uk

Tariff Scheme

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority decides the value of damages to be paid using a ‘tariff scheme’. Individual values are pre-calculated for all potential injuries, ranging between £1,000 and £250,000. The three most serious injuries are used to determine the value of the award. Percentage discounts are applied to the two lesser injuries before adding all three values together to calculate the final award. The maximum amount payable for personal injury is £250,000. Resultant financial losses can be awarded up to £250,000. The total maximum award is £500,000.

Internal Re-consideration

During the course of consideration of an application for compensation, there are many decisions taken by CICA officials and these decisions do not always satisfy the applicant. In almost all cases when a decision is notified, the applicant has the right to ask for internal reconsideration of the decision. In most cases, the original decision is upheld which leaves the applicant with little another alternative than to accept or take the disputed matter to appeal.

No Win No Fee

Specialist solicitors should deal with your no win no fee claim on a risk-free basis. Any legal work carried out by no win no fee solicitors is only chargeable should the claim be successful. A successful claim is one in which the applicant is awarded compensation by CICA or by the CICA Appeals Panel. If the application or the appeal is rejected, you will not be charged legal fees. As a CICA applicant or a CICA Appeals Panel applicant you are not usually expected to fund your application to the CICA in any way.

Img source: timpanolegal.com.au

Rejected Applications

Applications for compensation can be rejected for a number of reasons in a criminal injury claim:

  • failure to report the incident as soon as is reasonably possible
  • previous unspent convictions – Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
  • the behavior of the applicant, before, after and during the violent incident
  • the injury is not severe (6 weeks symptoms & two doctors appointments)
  • a no win no fee criminal injury claim will fail if the applicant has not given adequate co-operation to the police

CICA Appeal Panel

The CICA administers a compensation scheme throughout mainland UK and is responsible for awarding damages to the innocent victims of violent crime by paying compensation for mental trauma or physical injury and also certain resultant financial losses. If the application is refused or the award is considered to be inadequate, then an appeal may be lodged. The CICA Appeals Panel which is independent reviews CICA decisions and its findings are binding on the CICA.

Claims may be rejected, in which case you can launch the appeal process. You may also appeal if you deem that the final award is inadequate. An independent Appeals Panel administers appeals. The result of the appeal may result in the Appeals Panel agreeing with the original decision, or they may offer an alternative award. The decision of the Appeal Panel is binding on all parties.

An applicant can usually ask for decisions to be re-considered by the CICA. Following an unsuccessful re-consideration, an appeal can be made to the CICA Appeals Panel which must be received within 90 days of the date of the review decision by the CICA. The 90 days may in exceptional circumstances be extended by the Appeals Panel if it would be in the interests of justice to allow a late appeal. Written notification of the outcome of the appeal, will be sent to both the appellant and to the CICA who must abide by the Appeal Panel’s ruling.

 

What I really learned (and didn’t learn) in Law School

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By Asheville, North Carolina Injury Attorney Lakota R. Denton

I have strong memories of the anxiety of law school. The exams. The professors. The classmate who asks way too many questions. Most importantly, the anxiety of not knowing if my $150,000 investment in law school would translate into a job. Was I learning what I needed to know in order to actually practice law? Weren’t there secret words you absolutely had to use when you filed documents with the court? Fortunately for me, I guess I learned enough to earn a living. I’m a personal injury lawyer in Asheville, North Carolina now in practice for myself. Having done this for 7 years now, there are lots of things I know how to do – some of which I learned in law school and many of which I definitely did not learn in law school. Here’s a list of the things you can expect to actually learn in law school and things you’ll have to get from somewhere else:

Source:lawtechnologytoday.org

I learned how to do legal research. My legal writing and research class was the most I learned in all of law school. Legal Research is pretty important for most lawyers. Figuring out how cases are cited, interpreted, how authoritative they are, and how to use precedent to your advantage is complicated stuff that you cannot really teach yourself very easily. This is what law schools should be all about. I learned how to read a case and take from it only what I needed for my research. I learned how to build an argument using cases from different courts (appeals court, supreme court, etc…). I learned the basics of writing a good legal brief. Even if you don’t write briefs as a lawyer, legal research is critical – it informs your strategy on how to prepare any case for trial or hearing. Of course, this was only 1 class out of 40 I probably took in law school, but it was the most helpful by far. To know more about the Best Summer Pre-Law Programs read this blog article from Valuecolleges.com.

Source;tipsforlawyers.com

I learned how to speak legalese. The law is another language. Imagine an entire planet of people who think they are very, very smart and love to argue all the time and prove how smart they are. Now imagine what kind of language this planet would develop – that’s what the law is. The law uses Latin phrases a lot like “respondeat superior” and “res ipsa loquitor.” The law uses old-fashioned words like “hereinafter” and “theretofore.” The law uses legal-specific terms like “contributory negligence” and “summary judgment.” Now, the law school will teach you what these terms mean because you have to know them in order to read the cases and understand the law. Law school is good at teaching this new language. However, don’t think for a minute that this language is good for anyone but other lawyers and judges. Juries will hate you if you walk up in front of them and say “Hereinafter you all will hear about extraordinary contributing negligence which quite simply negates any effect of respondeat superior in this matter.” Nor would you tell your client that this is a simple case of res ipsa loquitor. They will hate you if you do. Law school teaches you the language of the law, but don’t think that means you have to use it to sound smart.

I learned that the practice of law is interpreting laws subjectively, there is never a definitive correct answer. This one is not something every professor will actually articulate. You’ll have to figure it out during law school. After reading all these court opinions and judges opinions and the opinions of professors and classmates it became clear to me that everybody is interpreting things however they want, usually based on their own biases. I learned that supreme court judges could interpret anything any way they want and even support it with valid legal reasoning. Good professors will point this out. It’s important to know that lawyers and judges are just like everyone else – they make mistakes and are biased and sometimes lazy and sometimes brilliant.

I did not learn how to file a lawsuit. In fact, I’m not sure I ever even saw a lawsuit of any kind while in law school. No one ever came into class and said, “This guy was just run over by a truck that was driven by a drunk driver, and his family is here wondering how to hold them responsible and also how to pay for the all the medical bills – now go write up a lawsuit for the family.” The cases you read in laws school don’t include the “complaint” or the allegations against the defendant. My professor never said what to include in filing a lawsuit. They left that stuff up for internships and jobs after law school. I guess they figured nobody in their right mind would walk out of law school and start filing lawsuits without having a boss or somebody to look over their shoulder. When I first filed a civil lawsuit, I used a template from another lawyer and copied all the same language even though I didn’t know what half of it meant. It had a lot of “heretofore” and “thereafter” in it.

Source:abovethelaw.com

I did not learn how to talk to juries or clients about the law. Law school does not help you interpret complicated laws into regular English. As a lawyer, people need you to tell them what the law is. You can’t use legalese. You have to explain it in a way they can digest. When I tell a jury what contributory negligence is, I tell them its when the defendant says the plaintiff contributes to his own injury in some way – like if the plaintiff should have looked where he was walking before he fell into a hole. Not only does law school not teach you how to talk to normal people, it actually teaches you to alienate normal people by using big complicated words. There should be a class on how to simplify what you’re trying to say to normal people. But there’s not.

I did not learn how to take my time and carefully examine all the possible strategies in a case. In fact, law school teaches you the opposite. Law school exams force you to look at a case as quickly as possible under timed conditions. In no courtroom that I’ve ever been in has the judge told me “Your client was just hit by a dump truck and seriously injured. Now, you have 90 minutes to file a lawsuit, and you can’t change anything after these 90 minutes. Go!” In the legal world, you have years to develop your case and identify all the issues you need to deal with. Law school exams teach us to be shallow, fast thinkers – just the opposite of good legal practice.

Law school is obviously essential if you want to practice law. But don’t be confused about what it can and cannot do for you. Knowing that you probably have at least $100,000 in debt for law school, make sure you understand what you are actually getting out of it. There are some obvious gaps in the legal education that you’ll need to fill on your own.

Asheville North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyer Lakota Denton

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Lakota Denton is an Asheville Personal Injury Lawyer who focuses on recovering for injured people. Lakota has been practicing law in Asheville, N.C. since 2011. His Asheville Personal Injury practice focuses on motor vehicle accidents, including auto accidents, truck accidents, bike accidents, and motorcycle accident cases.

The personal injury firm offers a free consultation, and Lakota can be reached 828-333-5996 or visit the firm’s website at https://lakotardenton.com.