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What a Wrongful Death Lawyer Near Me does:
Has a loved one or you been injured either in an accident or through the neglect of others? Sure, sometimes incidents can be solved by personal insurance or through a small claims case. Every once in a while it’s probably a good idea to drop it and get on with your life.
But sometimes you really need someone to take your side. Someone that will really gun for your cause. Someone who will really fight for your side. Those are the times you really should have a Santa Cruz County personal injury professional that will fight for your rights, both in regards to finances and personal, so you can roll back to your life prior to when the injury happened.
Being hurt in a crime, accident, or negligence is not enjoyable. It’s an emotional roller coaster, and being objective is nearly impossible. But remaining calm and collected can be the difference between getting the best compensation or quitting the case feeling horrible.
An experienced Santa Cruz County personal injury lawyer can act as an advocate between you and the difficult situation, making it much easier to handle the ins and outs of the legal system. Most people may not even fully realize the potential consequences of what’s happening until speaking with a professional. A legal adviser can help you see all of this in a more objective light, determine the claim and whether or not they can help with your case, and help you move ahead with any possible claim or case.
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What is a Santa Cruz County Wrongful Death Attorney?
To start, personal injury lawyers (PILs) fall within the larger category of civil lawyers. Civil lawyers are generally retained to recover money 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 someone else, a civil lawyer is usually hired to initiate the lawsuit and a different civil attorney is hired by the person or entity being accused. In the case of bodily injury, the injured person will hire a personal injury attorney when said claim involves reimbursement or payment of expenses derived from the injury such as health costs, mental health problems caused by the injury, and more.
After the attorney has been retained, they will gather everything from the case that they are legally entitled to. They will talk with all witnesses that can be found, get any and all documents in relation to the case, and use all their available resources to make sure all of their is accurate.
Then he or she may first attempt to negotiate a settlement in the case. If negotiation falls through, the legal professional can file a lawsuit in response. But what cases does a personal injury lawyer take?
The PIL generally handles a wide number of cases that fall into two primary categories. The first field includes negligence and accident cases such as medical malpractice, legal malpractice, automobile accidents, child negligence, and wrongful death cases. In most of these cases, someone is injured (or worse) due to the negligence or incompetence of another.
The second primary field of a PIL is the purposefully perpetrated wrongful case. A purposeful tort occurs when one person purposefully hurts another person. This includes violent crime, assault and battery cases, slander, theft, and other similar situations. Realistically speaking the potential reasons for a personal injury case is essentially endless.
In addition, unlike pretty much all other fields of the legal universe, personal injury lawyers generally work on a contingency fee basis. What this means is that they are not paid unless the person or entity that they are representing beats 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 Are the Implications in an Injury Case?
Of course, sometimes even the last steps of the process aren’t necessarily easy. The injured party can send back a counteroffer if they feel they are not getting in their eyes a fair compensation. It is when these offers wind up floating back and forth in limbo or an offer is totally unacceptable that a claim may end up in front of a judge.
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 unneeded legal fees. If the party that is liable is 100% 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 award much larger damages.
Secondly, a settling the case will keep it out of the news and the public eye. This is especially important for well-known people or large high profile companies. A big 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 trials can take an eternity, lasting for months. In addition, if there are any appeals, the outcome can remain in court for even longer. The plaintiff probably wants financial payment sooner rather than later. Or they may simply not want to complete the ridiculously long process of putting on a case, presenting evidence, and doing whatever it takes to beat the claim.
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 of benefit to either party. The accusing party may in many cases rather settle for a little less in a guaranteed win. This, versus demanding the 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 getting 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 detail of what occurred, of injuries incurred, and the amount of financial compensation required.
Next, the lawyer attempts to negotiate a settlement, and depending on whether both sides reach an agreement, chooses whether or not to push to bring the claim in front of a judge. This is determined by how much the other party agrees to the terms of the settlement.
Choose the Successful Wrongful Death Lawyer Near Me in Santa Cruz County
Here at DeLozier Law, we have over 4 decades of experience in successful personal injury law litigation. We have won many cases for our clients and 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!