While pursuing legal action may not be the first thing on your mind after you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury because of another’s negligent or reckless actions, you and your family’s future may largely depend on whether or not you are properly compensated for your injuries. If another individual caused the accident—whether they were fully or only partially responsible—you may be entitled to restitution. Further, the damages you may be able to receive can include, but are not limited to, medical expenses, out-of-pocket costs, missed wages, loss of earning capacity, emotional suffering, physical pain, and more.

Having a personal injury attorney fight for you has various benefits most commonly including:

• Explain your legal rights and options for recovering money for your injury claim
• Protect you from bad faith insurance tactics
• Help you avoid mistakes that could hurt your claim
• Investigate your accident case and gather evidence to prove fault and liability
• Identify the parties responsible for your injuries
• File insurance claims and handle all communication with the insurance provider
• Retain experts to assist with the case
• Help you document your damages
• Calculate the maximum value for your personal injury claim
• Negotiate a fair settlement for your injury claim
• Negotiate with medical providers and health insurance providers to lower medical liens and subrogation claims 
• File a personal injury lawsuit, if necessary

While all of the above are benefits a personal injury attorney can offer you, below are the five most important reasons to hire a personal injury lawyer.

You Sustained Serious Injuries

If you sustain serious injuries from the negligent or reckless actions of others, recovering appropriate damages is complicated for many reasons. For example, suffering severe injuries increases the financial damages you may be able to receive, pushing the other party involved to try and lower their liability. However, by hiring a personal injury lawyer, documenting your damages, and keeping records of lost income, medical bills, and other expenses stemming from the accident, you are much more likely to win your claim.

Additionally, many severe injuries result in long-term disabilities such as brain damage, amputations, and spinal cord injuries. If you have sustained any of these injuries, the court may likely require you to enlist medical experts who can prove that you actually have these disabilities and how your life will change because of them.

Finally, personal injury attorneys working on severe injury cases must also utilize expert witnesses who can state the future damages these injuries may cause along with their estimated financial value.

The Insurance Company is Acting in Bad Faith

An insurance company working for an individual or business who caused your injuries should act in good faith when dealing with your legal claim. However, certain insurance companies will utilize predatory practices in order to try and avoid liability. Examples of bad faith insurance practices include, but are not limited to:

• Failing to investigate a claim
• Causing unnecessary delays
• Providing misleading information
• Requiring unnecessary and cumbersome documentation
• Denying to pay a valid claim
• Changing the terms of the policy
• Using overly aggressive methods to pressure victims to accept an unfair settlement offer

If an insurance company utilizes any of these practices, an attorney is vital as they can negotiate for you as well as filing a separate legal claim against the insurance company. In general, it is always in your best interest to speak with a knowledgeable and experienced personal injury attorney before discussing the accident or injury with an opposing insurance company.

The Insurance Company or Other Party States that You Contributed to the Cause of the Accident

As most individuals have no experience with personal injury claims before the accident, they do not know that many insurance companies and defense lawyers try to blame the victim for their injury. For example, insurance companies could state that you texting while walking was the real cause of your injury and not the driver. If you were in fact texting or not paying attention, the courts may agree that you are partly responsible for your injuries.

However, insurance companies and defense lawyers will try to overstate your responsibility for your injury in order to try and get you to settle for less than a court would award you. If an opposing insurance company or lawyer reaches out to you claiming that you were responsible for your injuries, you should contact an attorney immediately. Further, do not speak with anyone about your injuries aside from your attorney. Any statements you make could be used against you in court.  

You do Not Know the Value of Your Personal Injury Claim

When an accident occurs because of another’s negligent or reckless actions, you may be able to receive financial compensation. The most common types of damages you can receive compensation for include financial loss, pain, and suffering. However, without any experience with personal injury claims, calculating the value of your claim is extremely difficult.

Economic damages include the financial losses caused by the accident and your injury. Examples of financial losses include:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Travel expenses 
• Help with household chores
• Personal care 
• In-home health care

Estimating the value of economic damages is easier to calculate as you can simply total up the bill and financial losses you experienced because of the injury. However, many insurance companies may argue that some of your expenses were not reasonable and deny you compensation.

Valuing pain and suffering is more difficult. This is because putting a price on a person’s physical, emotional, and mental suffering can be complicated and confusing. Further, several factors impact one’s ability to recover damages for pain and suffering.

The Case Involves Complicated Areas of Law

Personal injury law is complicated and becomes more convoluted to more seriously you are injured. Further, depending on the specifics of your case, you may have to deal with multiple parties or government entities. Additionally, the personal injury timeline is difficult to gauge. The reason for this is that one case may take a week to work through while others can take years. Settlements are typically a good idea. However, a personal injury lawsuit may be necessary to receive the compensation you and your loved ones deserve.

Contact Our DC Law Office for More Information

It is vital that you do not wait long to contact a personal injury attorney once you have been hurt. The reason for this is that the statute of limitations for different types of injuries may limit your ability to be compensated if you wait too long.

Finally, for more on five reasons to hire a personal injury lawyer, contact us at 202-803-5676. You can also directly schedule a consultation with one of our skilled attorneys. Additionally, for general information regarding personal injury law, check out our blog.