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Duties of a Public Transportation Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me:
Have you or a loved one been hurt either in an accident or by way of the negligence of someone? Sure, sometimes things can be settled through insurance or through a small claims case. If it is very minor it’s probably 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 maybe you need someone to have your back. Someone that will really gun for your cause. A professional who will really fight for your side. Sometimes you really need a Santa Cruz County personal injury lawyer that will fight for your rights, both financial and individually, so you can get back to your life prior to when the injury occurred.
Being the victim of a crime, accident, or willful negligence is not ever fun. It’s an emotional roller coaster, and seeing things objectively is very hard. But keeping cool and logical can make the difference between receiving the fair compensation or leaving the case feeling like you should have gotten a more appropriate solution.
An experienced Santa Cruz County personal injury attorney can act as a counselor 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 get the potential consequences of what could happen until discussing the matter with a legal professional. A legal adviser can help you see all of this objectively, determine the claim and if they can be of service, and help you move forward with any possible claim.
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What is a Santa Cruz County Public Transportation Personal Injury Attorney?
To start, personal injury lawyers (PILs) fall within the larger category of civil lawyers. Civil lawyers are generally hired to recover cash or other financial instruments 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 another person, a civil attorney is usually hired to bring the lawsuit and another civil lawyer is hired by the defendant. In the case of bodily injury, the injured person can retain a personal injury attorney when said case involves reimbursement or payment of expenses caused by the injury such as medical reimbursements, mental health problems caused by the injury, and legal costs, etc.
After the PIL has been hired, they will gather everything in the case that they are legally entitled to. They will talk with all witnesses that can be contacted, gather any and all documents related to your claim, and use all their potential resources to verify all of their is accurate.
Then they will first try to negotiate a settlement in the case. If that negotiation fails, the attorney may file a lawsuit in response, depending on the potential for a win. But what kinds of cases could a personal injury attorney accept?
A PIL generally tackles a wide variety of cases that can be separated into two primary fields. The first field includes negligence and accident cases such as medical malpractice, legal malpractice, vehicle accidents, child neglect, and wrongful death cases. In most of these cases, someone is injured (or worse) due to the carelessness or incompetence of someone else.
The second primary field of a PIL is the intentional injustice case. A purposeful tort occurs when one person willfully injures another person. This type of act occurs in a violent crime, assault and battery cases, slander, theft, and other such situations. In the end, the possible causes for a personal injury case is essentially endless.
In addition, separate from most other areas of the legal universe, personal injury professionals generally 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 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 a Personal Injury Case?
Of course, sometimes even the last steps of the process aren’t necessarily easy. The injured party could counteroffer if they feel they are not getting enough compensation. It is when these offers wind up floating back and forth in limbo or an offer is just flat-out refused that a case will end up in court.
But it is unusual for a personal injury case to get to the trial phase. And this is for a lot of reasons:
First, a settlement creates a situation where the defendant can control risks and avoid unnecessary legal costs. If the defendant is fully 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 provide much larger damages.
Secondly, a settlement can help keep the case on the down low. This is especially important for publicly known people. A lengthy trial brings big publicity. And even a small trial can provoke unwanted attention. A settlement agreement is conducive to letting all of those involved to negotiate terms, including those terms regarding privacy.
Thirdly, a settlement can hasten the process. Lengthy court cases can take an eternity, lasting for many months. In addition, if anyone appeals, the outcome can remain up in the air for an additional length of time. The plaintiff may want financial payment as soon as possible rather than later. Or they may just not want to finish the exhausting process of putting on a case, presenting evidence, and doing whatever it takes to win a legal battle.
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 the best situation. The accusing party may in many cases rather settle for less in a guaranteed win. This, versus holding out for maximum dollar amount but also taking the chance of either losing the court case or having a judge or jury award a much lesser amount.
What are the PIL Tasks?
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 attorney has formed 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 requested.
Next, the lawyer attempts to negotiate the settlement, and depending on whether both sides reach an agreement, chooses whether or not to push to bring the case in front of a judge. This is determined by how much the defendant agrees to the settlement terms put forth by the plaintiff. If the other party agrees to everything proposed, then there would be no reason to file a court case. If the other party agrees to some of the terms but not all of them or partially agrees to terms, it will be up to the plaintiff to decide if they will push for additional negotiations, agree to the new terms, or file a claim in court.
Choose the Successful Public Transportation 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. 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!