There are many reasons why you may want to hire a personal injury attorney. Contrary to popular belief, personal injuries are not always harmless and innocuous. While some people may get lucky and only leave with a minor scratch or bump, others are not so fortunate. Millions of people end up with serious injuries because of the negligence of another party. These injuries result in medical expenses, while they may also cause you to miss work. This financial loss is significant, which is why you need a personal injury lawyer to help you get compensation.
Here are four main benefits of hiring a personal injury attorney:
- Higher Compensation
For those with a child who suffered an injury during birth, you may choose to file a claim against the doctor or the hospital for negligence. If this happens, you will need to determine a dollar amount that equates to the medical expenses, long term care required for the child and the child’s loss of future income, among other things. Cases like these demand an attorney because they are so complex and the dollars at issue are so high. You will almost always recover more in a personal injury case when you hire an attorney, but if the case involves a birth injury, an experienced medical malpractice lawyer is essential.
- Less Burden on Your Shoulders
One of the benefits of hiring an attorney is that you do not have to deal with all the day-to-day stresses associated with these situations. Whether it is handling phone calls with the other party, talking at settlement negotiations or completing paperwork, your lawyer will handle everything in relation to these cases. Obviously, your lawyer will also handle all the trial prep work. This allows you to focus on getting better and moving on with your life, instead of drowning in the demands and paperwork of these cases.
- Dealing with Opposition Lawyers
If you are dealing with a personal injury compensation case, you can bet the other party will hire a lawyer. It is either a lawyer for the other party or their insurance company. In either case, it is unwise to represent yourself against another attorney at a settlement hearing unless you have previous legal experience. You must counter their “lawyering up” with an attorney of your own. This is the only way to ensure your rights and best interests are top of mind when you go through a settlement conference or a court case.
- Handling Insurance Claims
Sometimes minor personal injuries result in direct dealings with the other party. For example, someone accidentally causes you to fall and you require stitches from the fall. The other person may offer to pay for your medical expenses and you can consider the matter closed.
But most personal injury cases are a lot more complicated. They involve large companies or corporations, who have their own lawyers and insurance companies to handle these matters. If you are dealing with an insurance company, you can bet it will pull any trick out of its bag to attempt to pay a lower settlement. The insurance company will attempt to discredit your story by claiming you were at fault, you were not injured or you don’t have significant expenses. In short, it will use any means necessary to try to get you to settle at a lower figure. Only your attorney can handle this situation properly.
This article was submitted by the Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.
