When Should I Call a Personal Injury Attorney?
Most of the time when people get injured, they refer to it as an “accident.” Either we don’t assign blame, or we don’t want to think anyone would hurt us intentionally. But sometimes, the word accident just doesn’t apply. In those cases, you need to call an attorney.
The purpose of getting representation has much less to do with wanting to punish someone for an action than protecting your resources from being depleted by an action that you had no control over, and is now costing you money. There are a few situations in which this is especially true:
· Medical Malpractice – In a medical malpractice case, you trusted your doctor and/or hospital to give you the best care possible, and they didn’t. All healthcare providers make mistakes—they are human. The purpose of a medical malpractice case isn’t to punish someone for being human. It’s to identify a doctor or other healthcare provider who is harming people by careless mistakes or operating beyond their scope of practice. A malpractice case doesn’t just help you recover from your injury; it also protects the next patient from being harmed.
· Severe, Long-term, or Permanent Injury – These kind of injuries aren’t just expensive–they affect your quality of life on a daily basis for the entire length of your recovery. The expense alone is a good reason to hire an attorney, since every bit of what you recover can help you recover both financially and physically. In these cases, you may also be compensated for some of the intangible damages you have suffered, such as physical impairment, pain and mental anguish.
· Exposure – People come into contact with more chemicals on a daily basis than we ever have before. We are just now becoming aware of some of the dangers. When a chemical or product that was advertised or proven to be safe turns out to be harmful, the companies that promoted and advanced those products need to be held accountable for the harm they have caused.
Sometimes, your injury or accident may fall into none of these categories. If you are in an accident that didn’t result in serious or permanent injury, but your insurance company or the insurer of the person at fault is refusing to pay, that’s a good time to seek representation.
Seeking representation for an injury doesn’t automatically mean your case will go to court. Most cases result in settlements, not trials. However, it is important to have a legal professional on your side that is competent to try your case if it is not settled. Having representation for these settlement negotiations insures that you don’t take any unnecessary risks in getting the compensation you need for your accident.
Robert Greening is the principal attorney at GreeningLaw, P.C. He has dedicated his 24 years of practice to the litigation of wrongful death and serious injury cases. If you have a question about a recall or injury, contact GreeningLaw, P.C. at 972-934-8900.