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Duties of a Medical Malpractice Attorney:
Have you or a loved one become injured either in an accident or by way of the willful neglect of someone? Sometimes incidents can be solved through insurance or through a small claims case. Every once in a while it’s a good idea to forget about it and get on with your life because it may cause you more headache than it is worth fighting for.
But at times you really need someone to take your side. Someone that will fight for you. Someone who will fight for your side. Sometimes you really should retain a Flagstaff personal injury attorney that will fight for your rights, both financial and individually, so you can get back as close as possible to your life before the incident occurred.
Being the victim of a crime, accident, or negligence is not fun. It’s an emotional time, and seeing the situation objectively is challenging. But keeping calm and logical can make the difference between getting the appropriate price that you deserve or leaving the case worse off than before.
An experienced Flagstaff personal injury lawyer can act as a buffer between you and the difficult situation, making it much easier to handle the ins and outs of our challenging legal system. If you are like most people, you may not even realize the implications of what might occur until talking with a professional. A lawyer can help you realize all of this objectively, determine the potential of a claim and whether or not they can help with your case, and help you move forward with any potential claim.
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What is a Flagstaff Medical Malpractice Attorney?
To start, personal injury lawyers (PILs) fall within the bigger arena of civil lawyers. Civil lawyers are generally retained to recover money or other valuables from a person or legal entity on behalf of another person or legal entity.
This means that when a person brings a civil action suit against someone else, a civil lawyer is usually hired to bring the lawsuit and another civil attorney is retained by the person or entity being accused to defend it. In the case of bodily injury, the injured party might retain a personal injury attorney when the claim involves reimbursement or payment of expenses coming from any injury such as medical costs, mental health problems arising from the injury, and other possible costs.
After the attorney has been hired, they will gather all of the information from the case that they are legally able to get. They will speak with all witnesses that can be contacted, get any and all documents related to your claim, and use all available resources to make sure all of their is accurate.
Then he or she will first attempt to work out a settlement in the case. If that negotiation fails, the attorney could fie a lawsuit in response. But what cases does a personal injury attorney take?
A PIL generally takes a wide number of cases that fall into two main categories. The first field includes negligence and accident cases such as medical malpractice, legal malpractice, auto 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 negligence or incompetence of someone else.
The other primary field of a PIL is the purposely executed injustice case. An intentional tort occurs when someone intentionally hurts another person. This includes violent crime, assault and battery cases, slander, theft, and other similar situations. Considering everything mentioned here, the possible reasons for a personal injury case is basically endless.
In addition, unlike most other fields of the legal universe, personal injury lawyers nearly always work on a contingency fee basis. This means that they are not paid unless the person or entity that they are representing is successful in the case. It means that there is no upfront payment, for consultation or any other service. Their fee is based just upon a percentage of the financial compensation received by their client.
What Could the Result Be in an Injury Case?
Of course, sometimes even the final steps of the process aren’t necessarily easy. The injured party can counteroffer if they feel they are not receiving enough compensation. It is when these offers wind up floating back and forth in limbo or an offer is unacceptable that a case could potentially end up going to court.
However, it is unusual for a personal injury case to get to the trial phase. And this is for many reasons:
First, a settlement lends itself to a situation where the defendant can control risks and avoid unnecessary legal fees. If the party that is liable is totally aware that they are at fault for the incident that led to the claim, they probably do not want the case to get in front of a sympathetic jury that could award much larger damages.
Secondly, a settlement can help keep the case on the DL. This is especially important for publicly known people. A big trial brings big publicity. And even a small trial can provide unwanted attention. A settlement allows all parties involved to fully negotiate terms, including those terms regarding confidentiality.
Thirdly, a settlement can decrease the time for proceedings. Protracted court cases can take an eternity, lasting for many months or longer. Adding to that, if anyone appeals, the outcome can remain in court for even longer. The plaintiff may want financial payment in the near term rather than down the road. Or they may just not want to complete the never-ending process of putting on a case, presenting evidence, and doing everything else that is necessary to win a legal battle.
And lastly, settlement allows the injured party a guaranteed win. A trial is more of a ‘the higher the risk the more the reward’ type of situation, which is not always what either party wants. The plaintiff would rather settle for a little less in a guaranteed win. This, versus holding out for highest dollar amount but also risking either losing the claim completely or having a judge or jury give a much lesser amount.
What are the Personal Injury Lawyer’s Tasks?
First they will take care of locating 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 suffered, and the amount of financial compensation requested.
Next, the attorney may try to negotiate a settlement, and depending on the outcome of the negotiation, decides if they will bring the case to court. This is determined by how much the defendant agrees to the settlement terms put forth by the plaintiff. If the other party agrees to all terms, then there would be no reason to file a court case. If the other party agrees to some terms but not others or only partially agrees, it will be up to the plaintiff to determine if they will push for additional negotiations, agree to the new terms, or file a claim in court.
Choose the Successful Medical Malpractice Attorney in Flagstaff
Here at DeLozier Law, we have over 4 decades of experience in successful personal injury law litigation. Our clients are extremely pleased with us because we helped them get the settlement they needed and 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!