If you have been in an accident, then it’s in your best interests to hire an experienced legal team to help you navigate the complexities of your legal case. An experienced personal injury law firm has the history and knowledge to confidently fight for your rights to fair compensation on your behalf so you can focus on the most important thing – your recovery. There are a few specific reasons why hiring an expert legal team in Houston, TX is a good idea.
Advantages of Working With an Experienced Personal Injury Law Firm in Houston, TX
Whether your injury is related to a car accident, a workplace injury, or an explosion, an experienced personal injury law firm will have the time, energy, and resources to help you with your case. Ultimately, the greatest advantage of working with an experienced legal team is the time you will save. By saving time on your legal case, you can have more time to deal with your injury and get your life back on track. Other advantages include:
1. Protection From Bad Settlements
The chances are high that your legal case will be settled out of court with an insurance company, but this isn’t always a good thing. Insurance companies are interested in lowballing your settlement. This isn’t to say that insurance companies are nefarious, but they have very different goals from yours. Their goal is to save as much money as possible so that, as a business, they will make the largest profits possible. This is the reason businesses exist–to make a profit, which isn’t a bad thing in itself. But this does mean you can’t expect an insurance company to be primarily interested in getting you as much money as possible: but that is your lawyer’s job.
Your legal team will be in an excellent position to protect you from bad settlement offers. An expert personal injury law firm will have lawyers who can negotiate directly with the insurance company to maximize the settlement you are offered. And if that settlement offer is still too low in relation to your loss and suffering, then your legal team will be able to reject the settlement and take your case to court.
2. Know the Statutes
Knowing the statutes and other legal precedents related to your type of personal injury lawsuit is extremely important. In general, it’s best to pursue a personal injury suit as soon as possible since some types of accidents have deadlines. For example, the deadlines to file a personal injury suit for a car accident and for a workplace accident are different. Failure to file by these deadlines may prevent you from seeking compensation for your claim.
3. Follow Procedural Steps
Filing a personal injury lawsuit isn’t as simple as filing a claim at the courthouse. Several procedural steps will need to be followed, such as completing paperwork and schedules, submitting evidence, and gathering accurate documents about your injury that can be submitted to the court. Each of these procedural steps must be followed correctly or you risk your case being thrown out.
An experienced legal team will know how to follow these steps correctly and on time. From filing the first motion to gathering documents to filling out the correct legal paperwork, your legal team will handle every aspect of your case in the right order so that your case can proceed to court or a settlement.
4. Identify Additional Damages
For the most part, the compensation that people seek for a personal injury tends to be related to paying for medical bills and compensating for lost wages. In some cases, the settlement amount will even compensate for earning potential that is lost due to permanent or temporary disability. It’s also common for a settlement to pay for personal property damages, such as a damaged vehicle.
However, you may be entitled to additional non-economic damages. For example, damages related to pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of personal relationships, and other intangible damages that negatively impact your quality of life can also be calculated as part of the compensation you are owed for your personal injury. An experienced legal team will be able to identify these additional damages and negotiate for them on your behalf.
5. Proving Your Case
Proving a personal injury case is more complicated than you might initially assume. In Texas, proving negligence isn’t necessarily a black and white issue; for some cases, the opposing party may try to argue that part of the blame for your accident is your fault, which can affect how much your settlement will be at the end of the day. For that reason, it’s extremely important to prove your case down to the smallest detail.
A personal injury law firm will have the experience and expert knowledge to analyze all evidence related to your case, including witness testimony, to help prove negligence for the opposing party while also proving that you were not at fault for your accident. Because there are many elements involved in proving a personal injury case, it’s best to leave the case building to an experienced team.
6. Prevent Errors
It might not seem like it, but a personal injury lawsuit can be derailed by even the smallest of errors. For example, filing the wrong paperwork, not submitting the right evidence, or even saying something that may be used against you can all be reasons why a case is delayed or dismissed. However, when you place your trust in an expert legal team, you will be able to prevent the errors that might interfere with your case.
7. Know Your Worth
Finally, a personal injury lawyer will know the worth of your claim. This is an important advantage because not only will it help you receive a better settlement from an insurance company that is trying to settle, but it can also be used to identify additional damages for your case. The worth of your injuries and the consequences of your accident is ultimately something only an experienced attorney will know about in detail. The worth of your compensation may include:
- Ongoing medical treatment
- Medical bills in the past, present, and future
- Loss of wages
- Loss of job
- Temporary or permanent disability
- Personal property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
When Should You Hire a Legal Team?
If you’ve been in an accident and you don’t believe your injury was caused by your own actions, then it’s probably time to hire an expert legal team to help with your personal injury claim. The best time to hire a legal team is as soon as you are able after the accident. If you sustained an injury, missed work, gained a disability, or experienced negative emotional suffering as a result of the accident, then you are likely entitled to compensation.
It’s also a good idea to hire a legal team if you aren’t sure about the full extent of the damages related to your injury, or if an insurance company has contacted you about a settlement. Always consult with a legal team before initiating any contact with the insurance company, otherwise, you may not be able to seek the compensation you deserve.
An experienced personal injury law firm has the knowledge and know-how to help you with a personal injury claim. From protecting you from bad settlement offers to preventing errors that could get your case dismissed, an expert team is always looking out for your interests. For more information about filing a personal injury lawsuit, contact Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner in Houston, TX today.