When Should I Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Injuries happen in many ways, and always when you least expect them. While no when can prevent all injuries, when you’re harmed in a preventable accident due to the negligence of someone else, the party at fault owes you compensation for the damages you suffer as a result.

Damages are typically paid out through the liable party’s insurance provider. Unfortunately, insurance companies rely on taking in more money in premiums than they pay out in claims in order to make their profits. This means it often takes a skilled personal injury attorney to use their investigative and negotiating skills to help you recover full compensation for your damages.

Common Personal Injury Claims in Seattle

All injuries are painful and traumatic, but they are particularly distressing when they happen because someone else was careless. Some of the most common personal injury claims highlight the dangers we face every day in Seattle and elsewhere. You should hire a lawyer if you were injured in any of the following ways through the fault of someone else:

• Traffic accidents including car, truck, pedestrian, motorcycle, and bicycle accidents
• Workplace injuries
• Slip-and-fall accidents
• Dog bites
• Medical malpractice
• Defective product injuries

Financial compensation is the only way the courts can address the harm caused by the economic and non-economic damages you suffer after a personal injury. You should always hire a lawyer after suffering significant damages from an injury that would have been prevented if the party at fault had taken reasonable precautions.

What Can a Lawyer Do for Me?

When you’ve suffered an injury in Washington’s at-fault insurance state, you’re required to show by the preponderance of the evidence that the other person is at-fault for your injury. A lawyer understands how to investigate the accident, gather evidence of liability, and calculate your damages. Your lawyer will then draft a strong demand letter to the appropriate insurance company to recover full compensation.

In most cases, some back-and-forth negotiation takes place, during which a personal injury attorney will aggressively represent your best interests. If the insurance company doesn’t offer an ample settlement for your damages, your lawyer is more than ready to litigate the matter in court for a substantial jury award.

Because attorneys work on a contingency-fee basis, they only take a fee if they secure your compensation.

Proving Liability After a Personal Injury

In order to prove liability on the part of the at-fault person or entity in a personal injury case, your attorney will use their resources and skills to effectively show the following legal points of liability for your injury:

• The at-fault party owed you a duty of care to use reasonable measures to prevent injuries such as a store owner’s duty to quickly mop up spills or secure shelving, or a driver’s duty to avoid distracted driving
• That the party at fault breached this duty through an act of negligence, wrongdoing, or reckless behavior
• That the breach of duty directly caused your injury
• That the injury caused you to suffer real damages

By showing the above points, your attorney can craft a compelling case for your claim. You should hire an attorney soon after your injury so they can help you calculate your economic and non-economic damages and file your claim in a timely manner.

What Damages Can I Recover in a Personal Injury Claim?

Injuries are painful and temporarily or permanently debilitating. They also cause financial stress by preventing victims from working while they undergo medical treatment and recover from their injuries. A successful personal injury claim can help you recover compensation for:

• Medical costs
• Future medical expenses if you need ongoing care
• Lost income
• Diminished earning capacity if you’ve been left disabled either temporarily or permanently
• Pain and suffering
• Any other appropriate non-economic damages like emotional trauma, PTSD, disfigurement, or loss of quality of life

An attorney understands that while financial compensation can’t erase your injury, it can help you gain access to medical care and maximize your physical and financial recovery. Once you begin to understand the full scope of damages caused by your injury, it’s time to speak to an attorney about filing a claim for recovery.