Getting into an accident can cause a great detriment to your finances for a long time. You may want to go to court immediately to recover any damages sustained due to your injuries. However, this won’t always be the case. A majority of personal injury claims are settled outside of court for a variety of reasons.
You can speak to a personal injury attorney to discover when to initiate your personal injury claim and how the process works. Here is some information that can help educate you on why you are likely to file a personal injury settlement claim as opposed to going to court.
Your Attorney Has To Build Your Case
Instead of going straight to court, you should first talk to a personal injury attorney to build your case using evidence. They will direct you before you seek compensation without any reliable proof. You will have to get medical treatment to find out what wounds you have and how severe they are, as your medical bills are proof of damages and injury. Pictures are also important, which means you should take pictures of your wounds.
In the case of car accidents, an attorney can also review pictures to find out how the car accident occurred. They can also request additional information from relevant professionals as they investigate your personal injury claim. Examples include surveillance or traffic camera footage, police reports, toxicology tests, and inspection reports.
If your attorney believes that you are at fault for your personal injury, they could advise you not to pursue your case. This prevents you from wasting time seeking compensation for something that the other party can’t be held liable for. It is also possible that you are seeking compensation from the wrong party. An attorney can protect you from wasting time in court with a case that served papers to the wrong person.
Going To Court Takes Longer Than Settling Outside Of Court
An attorney can fight for your right to compensation and keep an ongoing conversation with the other party. They reach out to everyone involved and begin the process of negotiating your settlement. Your attorney can draft documents and share the case details with the other party. The person liable for your injuries can then properly compensate you based on the evidence provided.
Going to court lengthens this process. Once you go to court, multiple people get involved. Your case has to be processed by court staff, then the persons liable have to be served their papers. The discovery process takes the longest, as all the evidence has to be scrutinized and additional information found through an investigation.
The other party will likely prefer to settle outside of court because they may be required to pay the court fees if they lose the lawsuit. It is better for everyone if you receive compensation as soon as possible to help you with your medical bills and lost income.
When to File a Lawsuit
If the other party is not amicable and won’t budge on providing you with proper compensation, then it is time to file a lawsuit. They may have formed rebuttals, performed their own investigation with the help of their insurer, and done other activities to avoid paying you the compensation you are owed. When this is the case, your attorney can then file a lawsuit on your behalf.
Your attorney can represent your case before the judge or jury and reveal how the other party has harmed you. They can present the evidence in a meaningful way and request that any eye-witnesses appear in court. With their help, you won’t have to manage the complexities of a personal injury lawsuit on your own. Additionally, an attorney understands the laws surrounding personal injury cases, preventing you from making mistakes that could jeopardize your case.
When Is It Time To File A Personal Injury Claim?
Damages can get increasingly expensive over time, and the state of Arizona also has a statute of limitations that prevents you from filing past two years in most cases. As you recover from your injuries, you will have to continue paying for medical expenses as they build up. You may have also suffered income loss after taking time off from work.
When you are dealing with your injuries and financial deficits, you may also be experiencing pain and suffering, which create additional difficulty in your life. You deserve compensation for your damages. With an attorney’s help, you can recover this compensation. Our team at Wattel & York Accident Attorneys works on a contingency fee so that you don’t have to pay unless we wi