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What a Negligence Car Accident Attorney Near Me does:
Has a loved one or you been hurt in an accident or by way of the neglect of someone? Sometimes issues can be worked out by personal insurance or through a small claims court. Every once in a while it’s probably best to drop it and get on with your life.
But at times you really could use someone to take your side. Someone who will really fight for you. A person who will fight on your side. Those are the times you really should have a Santa Cruz County personal injury lawyer that will fight for your rights, both financial and personally, so you can get back to your life before the injury occurred.
Being the victim of a crime, accident, or negligence is not ever fun. It’s an emotional roller coaster, and being objective is hard. However, keeping cool and collected can be the difference between receiving the fair compensation or going home with nothing.
A great Santa Cruz County personal injury attorney can act as an advocate between you and the difficult situation, making it easier to work with the ins and outs of our challenging legal system. If you are like most people, you may not even realize the full breadth of what could happen until conversing with a legal professional. An attorney can help you see all of this objectively, determine the potential of a claim and if they can help with your case, and help you move ahead with the process of any potential claim or case.
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What is a Santa Cruz County Negligence Car Accident Attorney?
Well, personal injury lawyers (PILs) fall into the bigger spectrum of civil lawyers. Civil lawyers are generally hired to recover cash or other assets from a person or legal entity for another person or legal entity.
This means that when someone brings a civil action suit against another person, a civil lawyer is usually hired to initiate the lawsuit and another civil attorney is hired by the defendant. In the case of bodily injury, the injured person could retain a personal injury attorney when said claim involves reimbursement or payment of expenses caused by the injury such as health expenses, mental health problems caused by the injury, and other possible costs.
After the PIL has been hired, they will gather all of the information from the case that they are legally able to get. They will confront all witnesses that are available, gather any and all documents in relation to your case, and use all their possible resources to verify all of their is accurate.
Then he or she will first try to negotiate a settlement in the case. If that negotiation falls through, the legal professional can file a lawsuit in response, depending on the potential for a win. But what kinds of cases can a personal injury attorney take?
The PIL usually takes a large number of cases that fall into two primary categories. The first field includes negligence and accident cases such as medical malpractice, legal malpractice, car accidents, child neglect, and wrongful death cases. In most of these cases, someone is injured (or worse) due to the carelessness or incompetence of another.
The second primary study of a PIL is the intentional tort case. A purposeful tort occurs when someone intentionally hurts another person. This includes violent crime, assault and battery cases, slander, theft, and other similar situations. In the end, the possible causes for a personal injury case is nearly endless.
In addition, and completely different from most other areas of the legal universe, PILs almost always work on a contingency fee basis. This means that they are not paid unless the person who they are representing beats the case. It means that there is no upfront payment, for consultation or otherwise. Their fee is based strictly upon financial compensation received by their client.
What Could Happen in a Personal Injury Case?
Of course, sometimes even the last steps of the process aren’t necessarily easy. The injured party can counteroffer if they feel they are not receiving in their eyes a fair compensation. It is when these offers do not get agreed upon or an offer is just flat-out refused that a personal injury claim can end up in court.
But it is rare for a personal injury case to get to the trial phase. And this is for many reasons:
First, a settlement initiates a situation where the defendant can control risks and avoid unnecessary legal fees. If the liable party is 100% 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 settling the case will keep it on the DL. This is especially important for high profile people or large high profile companies. A large trial brings big publicity. And even a small trial can provoke unwanted attention. A settlement allows anyone involved to fully negotiate terms, including those terms regarding confidentiality.
Thirdly, a settlement can decrease the time for proceedings. Protracted trials can take an eternity, lasting for months. Adding to that, if there are any appeals, the outcome can remain in court for even longer. The plaintiff probably wants financial payment as soon as possible rather than having to wait. Or they may just not want to complete the ridiculously long process of putting on a case, presenting evidence, and doing whatever it takes to win the case.
And finally, 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 for the best. The plaintiff may in many cases rather settle for a little less in a guaranteed win. This, versus demanding the highest dollar amount but also taking the chance of either losing the court case or having a judge or jury award a much lesser amount due to unknown circumstances pretrial.
What are the Personal Injury Lawyer’s Duties?
First they will take care of gathering 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 opposing party. This letter includes a breakdown of what occurred, of injuries incurred, and the amount of financial compensation required.
Next, the lawyer may attempt to negotiate the settlement, and depending on whether a settlement is reached, chooses whether or not to bring the claim in front of a judge. This is determined by how much the defendant agrees to the terms of the settlement. If the other party agrees completely to all terms, then there would be no reason to file a case with the court. If the other party agrees to some terms but not others or only partially agrees, the ball is then put back in the plaintiff’s court to decide if they will push for additional negotiations, agree to the new terms, or go to court.
Choose the Successful Negligence Car Accident Attorney Near Me in Santa Cruz County
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 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!