Frequently Asked Questions on Personal Injury

Q: How do I know if I have a personal injury case?

A: First, you must have suffered an injury to your person or property. Second, you should consider whether your injury was someone else's fault.

But a physical injury is not always a prerequisite for a personal injury lawsuit. Personal injury claims are often based on a variety of non-physical losses and damages. In the case of an assault, for example, you do not need to show that a person's action caused you actual physical harm, but only that you expected some harm to come to you.

You also may have a case if someone has attacked your reputation, invaded your privacy, or inflicted emotional or financial distress upon you.

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Q: How much is my personal injury case worth?

A: This is one of the most difficult questions for a plaintiff's attorney to answer. The value of your case is based on five areas of damages. Plaintiffs in personal injury cases are generally entitled to seven areas of damages:

1. Past medical bills
2. Future medical bills
3. Permanency of injury and/or scarring
4. Past lost wage
5. Lost of earnings in the past
6. Projected future loss of earnings
7. Pain and Suffering

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Q: Do we have to use my insurance company if I did nothing wrong to cause this accident?

A: When a negligent person causes an accident, and they are uninsured or underinsured, meaning they either have no insurance or not enough to insurance to cover the full value of your injury claim, then you can make a claim provided you have paid a premium for that coverage with your insurance company. The short answer is that the client pays premium dollars for uninsured or under insured motorist coverage then in those cases it is there for your benefit when you need it.

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Q: How long will it take to bring my personal injury case to a conclusion?

A: The answer to this question also depends on the complexity of the case. In other words, the last thing we want to do is resolve a case while our client is still healing or does not have a good understanding about what future medical issues may arise. The last thing  a plaintiff’s lawyer wants to do is have a client sign a release and then find out a short time later that the client needs future surgery or face additional claim-related expenses. With this in mind, the average case is resolved within eight to 18 months after a lawyer takes it. This is purely an estimate, however. The actual time it will take to bring an individual case to a successful close depends entirely on the facts of the case and its specific circumstances.

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Q: Do we have to "file suit" and what does that mean?

A: Filing suit is the actual act of filing legal papers at the courthouse. This is done only with the client's permission after all efforts have been made to resolve the case in settlement before a lawsuit is filed.

When a case is actually filed that does not mean that it will end up in a jury trial. However, it does mean there is that possibility and although most cases resolve by the way of settlement before trial, there is that possibility that once your case is filed it can go to trial. However, based on our experience we are able to keep the client educated as to their options during this entire process and although our firm has great success in the courtroom, we still resolve a large percentage of our client's cases by always being prepared for trial if necessary. Oftentimes, when the other side knows you have done your homework and are prepared to try the case then they will settle the claim before trial for its full value.