Top Rated Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me in Santa Cruz County
Get Legal Solutions for Your Personal Injury Needs in Santa Cruz County.
Call 602-989-1759 Today!
What a Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me does:
Has a loved one or you become hurt in an accident or by way of the willful negligence of others? At times issues can be settled through personal insurance or through a small claims case. Occasionally it can be probably a good idea to walk it off and get on with your life because it may cause you more headache than it is worth .
But there are times you really need someone to get your back. Someone that will fight for you. A professional who will fight for your side. Those are the times you really should retain a Santa Cruz County personal injury professional that will fight for your rights, both financial and individually, so you can roll back to your life prior to when the incident happened.
Being injured by a crime, accident, or negligence is not ever enjoyable. It’s a very trying time, and being objective is challenging. However, remaining cool and collected can make the difference between getting the appropriate price that you deserve or going home broke.
A successful Santa Cruz County personal injury lawyer can act as an advocate between you and the near-impossible situation, making it much easier to work with the ins and outs of our challenging legal system. If you are like most people, you may not even comprehend the full breadth of what could happen until speaking with a legal professional. A legal adviser can help you realize all of this objectively, determine if a claim exists and whether or not they can help with your case, and help you move ahead with the process of any potential claim.
Ask Us Anything About Your Personal Injury Legal Needs:
What is a Santa Cruz County Personal Injury Attorney?
To begin with, personal injury lawyers (PILs) fall into the broader spectrum of civil lawyers. Civil lawyers are usually hired to recover money or other financial instruments from a person or legal entity for another person or legal entity.
This means that when a person brings a civil action suit against someone else, a civil attorney is usually hired to bring the lawsuit and another civil attorney is retained by the person or entity being accused to defend against it. In the case of bodily injury, the injured person could retain a personal injury professional when said dispute involves reimbursement or payment of expenses caused by the injury such as medical costs, mental health problems arising from the injury, and other possible costs.
After the legal professional has been retained, they will gather everything in the case that they are legally entitled to. They will talk with all witnesses that are available, research any and all documents in relation to the claim, and use all their available resources to verify all of their is accurate.
Then he or she will first try to negotiate a settlement in the case. If negotiation doesn’t work, the lawyer will consider filing a lawsuit in response. But what cases can a personal injury lawyer take?
The PIL generally takes a wide number of cases that can be separated into two primary fields. The first field includes negligence and accident cases such as medical malpractice, legal malpractice, car accidents, child negligence, and wrongful death cases. Wrongful death is usually at the hands of a doctor, nurse, or other medical practitioner. In most of these cases, someone is injured (or worse) due to the carelessness or incompetence of another person.
The other primary field of a PIL is the purposely executed injustice case. An intentional tort happens when one person purposely hurts another person. This includes violent crime, assault and battery cases, slander, theft, and other similar situations. Really the possible causes for a personal injury case is essentially endless.
In addition, and in contrast to nearly all other fields of law, PILs usually work on a contingency fee basis. This means that they are not paid unless the person who they are representing has overcome the case. It means that there should be no upfront payment, for consultation or any other service. Their fee is based strictly upon a percentage of the financial compensation received by their client.
What Could Happen in a Personal Injury Case?
Of course, sometimes even the final steps of the process aren’t so simple. The injured party could send back a counteroffer if they feel they are not receiving in their eyes a fair compensation. It is when these offers wind up floating back and forth in limbo or an offer is unacceptable that a personal injury claim could potentially end up going to trial.
However, it is rare for a personal injury case to get to the trial phase. And this is for a variety of reasons:
First, a settlement initiates a situation where the defendant can control risks and avoid unnecessary legal fees. If the other party is fully aware that they are at fault for the incident that led to the claim, they might not want the case to get in front of a sympathetic jury that could give much larger damages.
Secondly, a settling the case will keep it low profile. This is especially important for publicly known people or large high profile companies. A lengthy trial brings big publicity. And even a small trial can bring unwanted attention. A settlement is conducive to letting anyone involved to fully negotiate terms, including those terms regarding non-disclosure.
Thirdly, a settlement can decrease the time for proceedings. Lengthy court cases can take an eternity, lasting for months or longer. Not only that, if the other party appeals, the outcome can remain in the system for an additional length of time. The plaintiff may want financial payment in the near term rather than later. Or they may just not want to go through the never-ending process of putting on a case, presenting evidence, and doing whatever it takes to win a legal battle.
And finally, settlement allows the plaintiff a guaranteed win. A trial is more of a ‘the higher the risk the more the reward’ type of situation, which is not always for the best. The accusing party would rather settle for a little less in a guaranteed win. This, versus holding out for maximum dollar amount but also risking either losing the court case or having a judge or jury give a much lesser amount.
What are the PIL Duties?
First they will take care of finding evidence and finding the responsible party, whether it be an insurance company, individual, or other legal entity.
Once the lawyer has built a case, they draft and send an official letter of demand to the defendant. This letter includes a breakdown of what happened, of injuries incurred, and the amount of financial compensation requested.
Next, the lawyer attempts to negotiate a settlement, and depending on how the negotiation turned out, chooses if they will bring the claim to trial. This is determined by how much the defendant agrees to the terms of the settlement put forth by the plaintiff.
Choose the Successful Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me in Santa Cruz County
Here at DeLozier Law, we have over 4 decades of experience in successful personal injury law. We have won many cases for our clients and helped them get the settlement they deserved. We offer a free consultation so you can see if we can help you with your claim, too. Give us a call today at 602-989-1759!