What Questions Should be Asked Before Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Seeking a personal injury lawyer is a very important decision when you feel that you deserve compensation as the result of an injury that is of no fault of your own. Once the initial shock of the injury is over, it is time to figure out what the next move needs to be. You certainly don't want to stand idly by while the person responsible for your injury gets away with it.

So there are some questions that you may want to ask yourself before hiring a personal injury attorney:

- Ask yourself if you have been injured due to the negligence of another person or by a company and if that negligence was intentional.

- As yourself if you suffered physical or mental distress, lost wages, or high medical bills as a result of the accident.

- Ask yourself if you have evidence that the injury was not your fault and what consequences there were as a result of the accident.

- Have you by any chance talked to the attorney of the defendant or talked to the defendant's insurance company? This is something you don't want to do because it could compromise the chances of receiving a settlement.

Once you have asked yourself these questions and written down your responses, it may be a good idea to search for a personal injury attorney. Great places to look are through the Martindale-Hubbell Network of Legal Professionals and the American Association of Trial Lawyers. They may be able to provide you with names of great attorneys in your area.

Good questions to ask an injury attorney in a face-to-face meeting before hiring them are:

- Whether they are payable via contingency in your case.

- What their contingency rate is. An ideal contingency rate is around 25% to 30% of the compensation rewarded.

- You want to make sure there are no conflicts of interest.

- Ask for promotional brochures and ask around about the firm to see what others have to say.

- Ask what their success rate is and how much experience they have.

Last but not least, you want to figure out how much time your case is going to take. The reason why you want to do this is because this is time that is going to be taken away from your job and time that is going to be spent going through the stress of a trial. This is very important when taking into consideration how much compensation needs to be received because it can cover such things as loss of wages and emotional distress.

These are reasons why it is very important to take on a personal injury lawyer who will get the job done and do it right and will not require they be paid until the trial is over. These are cases in which the attorney is only paid when the client wins. If the client loses, then the attorney doesn't get paid. This explains why personal injury lawyers tend to be selective in the cases they take. That is why you want to ask yourself the questions listed above because these are the same questions the attorney is going to ask when deciding whether or not to take the case. If they determine that there is not enough evidence that someone else was at fault, then they may say they can't take the case.

Don't let that discourage you, though. Each attorney differs from the next, so it is in your best interest to try another one. When they are paid via contingency, you are not out of any lawyer fees, but you do have the stress of the trial on your hands. Other than that, it is promising if a lawyer thinks they can win the case because they do not get paid unless you do.

We are a personal injury law firm that handles injury claims and injury settlements since 1972, with a focus on slip and fall cases.

When You Need A Personal Injury Attorney…

Submitted By: Peter Peckham

We’ve all seen the ads for a personal injury attorney on television, on billboards and in newspapers, but when should we consider consulting personal injury lawyers? A personal injury claim can be made when a person suffers an injury through the negligence of another person. Negligence is when a person’s actions are deemed to place another person in unreasonable risk. If this negligence leads to an accident then there is a case for a personal injury lawsuit.

Types of Personal Injury.

Personal injuries can be almost anything that leads to an injury. Whether this is a car accident caused by another driver, or whether you slip and fall while shopping or even at work these are all probably causes for personal injury claims. Tripping over badly laid paving slabs may lead to a successful personal injury claim. Dog bites, asbestos illnesses, a crash while on public transport or any accident that leads to bodily injury may mean you are entitled to claim. A personal injury attorney will be able to advise you whether you have a case or not.

The extent of your claim usually depends on the seriousness of your injury. You are entitled to claim for loss of earnings as well as compensation for bodily injuries and emotional distress. In some cases, for instance asbestos illnesses, your family is entitled to claim on your behalf.

What to do next.

If you have been involved in an accident, the first thing you should do is contact a personal injury attorney; they will be able to advise you whether you have a right to a personal injury claim or not. These consultations are usually free and quite often a personal injury attorney will not take any money unless they win the claim.

The pain and suffering caused by many accidents can be long lasting and not only physical but emotional and mental as well. It can take months or even years to recover from the anguish caused by some injuries.

Families and friends can be affected as well, the mental anguish for them being almost as traumatic as it is for you. You may need short- or even long-term care. Not all injuries are short-term. Many people who worked with materials that contain asbestos in the 20th century have developed lung cancer or mesothelioma. These are both very serious illnesses that can have adverse affects throughout life and possibly lead to death.

About the Author:
Peter Peckham is a freelance author from Wilson, North Carolina. For examples of other articles, see http://www.a1-personal-injury-attorney.net

Damages for La Verne Personal Injury Victims

by Jinky Belle Abelardo

La Verne is home to over 33,449 California citizens. It describes itself as a full service city. The city government aims to be more responsive to the needs and concerns of the community. They believe that citizens will attain better quality of life and superior level of service through their responsiveness and commitment.
Both these responsiveness and commitment are very important to citizens. Truly, every citizen’s needs and concerns should be rightfully addressed by the government. Otherwise, disorder and conflict in the community will arise.

One of the needs and concerns of citizens that should be properly attended to is the preservation of their rights. Laws should be applied appropriately, both criminal and civil. Any violation of these laws that has caused them injuries and suffering should grant them the right to legal remedy.

The government should also provide its citizens more information on torts since these are often unobserved and overlooked by many. The insufficiency of available information is one cause why several people do not understand the tort law.

Lawyers fill these insufficiencies in order for the victims to understand how they can proceed. La Verne personal injury lawyers are at hand to give them the legal assistance they will need in case they suffer a personal injury.

Like the government of the City of La Verne, personal injury lawyers also prioritize the needs and concerns of injured victims. They aim to provide victims a meaningful way to recover just compensation for their pain and suffering.

Victims of personal injury need to be compensated for every injury that is inflicted to them by responsible individuals. They are entitled by the law to receive damages. These damages measure in financial terms the degree of harm the defendant’s actions caused the plaintiff.

All costs that the plaintiff incurred because of being injured are assessed against the defendant. The purpose of awarding damages is for the recovery of the victims. They are generally considered as a corrective consequence of a tort. There are three major categories of damages, which are:

• Compensatory Damages are paid to compensate the claimant for loss, injury, or harm suffered. It is intended to restore the losses of the plaintiff as a result of the defendant’s wrongful act. o Special or economic damages compensate the plaintiff for the measurable financial losses incurred by the plaintiff. These include direct and consequential financial losses. Examples of special damages are medical expenses, costs of repair or replacement, costs of litigation, loss of earnings, and others.

o General or non-economic damages compensate the claimant for the non-monetary aspects of the specific harm suffered. This is usually termed as pain, suffering and loss of amenity. These include loss of companionship, loss of comfort, loss of guidance or training, loss of society, loss of consortium, physical and emotional pain and suffering, disfigurement, impairment of physical or mental capacity, etc.

• Nominal Damages are considered as a small sum given to a plaintiff who has a valid personal injury claim, but cannot present evidence to support his/her losses or injuries.

• Punitive Damages are awarded to a plaintiff, not for compensation, but to penalize a defendant for his/her unjustifiable wrongful deeds.

In order to obtain these damages, there are legal processes a plaintiff has to go through. Personal injury victims of La Verne should contact a lawyer right away.

Our Los Angeles lawyers expertly handle personal injury claims in La Verne. For more information on how to avail our free case evaluation services, please log on to our website.

About the Author
Jinky once aspired to become an hotelier. Now, she hopes of becoming a successful doctor. She intends to pursue this dream in the near future. In the meantime, she’s glad for the opportunity to enhance her writing skills while working as a content writer.