The most common types of personal injury cases we see in Utah are usually car accidents or motor vehicle accidents. Most people who are involved in motor vehicle accidents are usually hit from the front-end; maybe a side collision or they were rear-ended. We have tried some trucking accidents and even have a case pending now, where a twelve year old boy was on a skateboard in a parking lot, and was hit and ran over by a car from a distracted driver. Those are the most common injury cases we see.
Why Do You Practice Personal Injury Law?
I practice personal injury cases because that is where my experience and knowledge lie. There are a lot of people, who are injured, and some people who have never been in an accident do not understand this, but once you have an injury, it is really hard to ever recover fully. For example, those who have shoulder or back injuries, even though this is what we call a soft tissue injury where no broken bones are apparent, the pain, the suffering people endure can cause them not to sleep, eat, conducive to work, and it can cause them problems interrupt their regular activities such as those who like to do recreational endeavors.
They are not able to do them with the same amount of satisfaction, simply because they are now in chronic pain. The truth is most people, when they even get a settlement, whether it is through a trial, the amount of money they receive can never replace the pain and suffering that they have felt and that they have endured. What it is for me is a way to try and help people get the most compensation they possibly can for the injuries they sustained.
What Are The Top Misconceptions About Working With A Personal Injury Attorney?
Some of the misconceptions are that everything happens quickly. A lot of people think that I have been injured and so I am going to go see an attorney and then I will have this big pot of gold or big pile of money come to me within a few hours or sometimes people think within the week. Most personal injury cases take at least four to five months, if not longer. To be quite frank, the more severe the injuries are, the longer the case takes and it is simply because we cannot even really start a case until the person who has been injured, complete all their treatments. It may take months even years and will they ever reach full maximum stability.
Most of the time, the misconception is it is going to happen quickly and that is rarely the case. So that is one of the big misconceptions. Another big misconception is that just because you were injured, that you are going to receive any money at all. Sometimes, if you are responsible for your own injuries or you have what we call some “Fault”, then that is going to reduce your award. And not only have that, just because you were injured, does not mean there is an insurance company or the person who injured you, offer you a settlement at all.
Managing expectations with clients is important part of the process. Sometimes people think they have a great claim when in reality, they either have no claim at all or their claim is reduced because of certain factors. Every case is different and so to throw a number out there is ridiculous because every case has different facts and facts really do matter in these types of cases.
What Are The Top Misconceptions About The Personal Injury Recovery Process?
In the personal injury cases that we represent, we do not require any retainer fees from our clients in advance. We work on what is called a Contingency Fee basis. Meaning, we only recover if you recover as well. We typically receive a third of whatever the insurance company or the other party we are suing sends as a settlement. If we do not recover anything, then we do not charge our client anything as well. Sometimes people think that they have to get the money upfront, but the truth is, personal injury attorneys, especially in our firm, do not require any upfront fees.
Is Filing A Personal Injury Claim A Relatively Easy Process?
Filing a personal injury claim really depends on the type of case and how well you lay out your claim. There are no easy cases in my mind, because every case has nuances. I once thought I had an easy case and it turned into a nightmare. I tend to go into cases never thinking that they are going to be easy. The one thing that we always have to be is thorough and complete. To be thorough and complete, it takes time and effort, because we need to review every medical record from every healthcare professional involved in the case, every photograph, and we need to review it carefully.
We need to understand how it plays a role in the case. When we do our settlements, we have to outline all the injuries, the recovery, their damages and that is never an easy process and it is not a plug and play type of thing. It takes customization, time, and it takes thorough analysis to do it right, the first time.
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