Author: Jason Michaels

How Long Does It Take To Resolve Personal Injury Claims?

Jason Michaels0 commentsPersonal Injury Claims

Personal injury claims can proceed faster or slower, depending on these crucial factors. Cases involving more serious and extensive injuries may take longer than those associated with minor injuries. That's because typically the most serious injuries can:

  • Take longer to be fully diagnosed
  • Require much more documentation and evidence to demonstrate its severity
  • Involve requests for second or third opinions to verify the extent of injuries, as well as the nature of ongoing treatments necessary for recovery.

If Liability Is Questioned

When the parties involved in a personal injury lawsuit don't agree who is the responsible party (or who are the responsible parties), the case will take longer (compared to claims with undisputed liability)

This is largely due to the fact that liability disputes will require additional investigation and evidence to prove exactly who is at fault. Sometimes this can mean:

  • Hire additional experts
  • Wait for certain evidence, such as test results or certain records, to become available
  • Take additional steps to resolve the disputed liability so that a case can proceed.

Insurance Company Tactics

Insurers can do a lot to prolong personal injury cases, such as:

  • Require additional documentation or documentation
  • Require additional medical exams or second opinions
  • Using statements or potential evidence to try to blame the victim

Tactics like these are often used to try to:

  • Extend the duration of the claim
  • Increase financial pressure that injured parties may face
  • Force them to accept lower settlement agreements because they need compensation.

This is where an experienced personal injury attorney can provide essential guidance, take on insurance companies, dispel these types of tactics, and help the injured get the full compensation they deserve.

The availability of Evidence

Personal injury claims are as strong as the evidence behind them. If critical evidence (but not limited to this) is missing or unavailable, claims may be more difficult to prove and will generally take longer to resolve:

  • Medical records and bills
  • Vehicle data downloads
  • Witnesses to the incident or event that caused the injuries
  • Any report on the event that caused the injury, such as a police report or an employee incident report.

The Court Schedule

When personal injury cases cannot be resolved outside of court, the court's agenda will determine when the next stages of the claim may occur. Most courts have busy schedules, with significant backlogs in cases. This may mean that the progress of a case will take many more weeks or months, as it will be at the mercy of the court's schedule.

Your Options And Preferences

If a settlement offer is made at any time during your personal injury case, you will have to decide whether to accept or reject the offer. If you want to go to trial, your case will likely take longer to resolve. Ultimately, the amount of the offer, as well as your personal preference, will play an important role in determining how soon your case will be resolved.

…

Now Is The Time To File Your Personal Injury Lawsuit

Jason Michaels0 commentsPersonal Injury Lawsuit

When these factors are involved in your personal injury case, the sooner you file your claim, the better. Here we explain why.

Serious injury

Serious injuries generally mean more extensive and expensive medical treatments, as well as greater losses in terms of:

  • Permanent impairments
  • Pain and suffering
  • Long-term impacts on quality of life
  • Inability to work and the associated loss of income.

Preservation of evidence

When there may be problems obtaining or preserving the evidence in a case, filing a personal injury claim as soon as possible can help ensure that:

  • As much evidence as possible is preserved (for example, a video of the facility, occupational injury property status, data on CDRs and vehicle black boxes, etc.).
  • The injured party has the best opportunity to build the strongest possible claim.

For example, after a truck accident, filing a claim can help prevent a motor carrier from removing crucial evidence, such as (but not limited to):

  • Remains of the accident
  • Truck maintenance records
  • Registers of controllers kept by external providers
  • Videos of the dashcam (camera loaded in the vehicle)
  • Employee hiring records
  • Charging invoices
  • And much more.

Insurer’s negligence

When it’s time to recover from an accident, don’t expect insurers to be watching over you, your rights, or your claim. Insurers generally protect their employer and earnings. And that generally means they could do their best to try to:

  • Avoid the matter and go around
  • Delay your case
  • Neglect your claim
  • Avoid paying him what he may deserve.

When these unclear tactics come into play, filing a personal injury case with the help of an experienced attorney is the best way to protect your potential compensation rights.

Disclaimer of liability

When a guilty party refuses to accept responsibility, filing a personal injury lawsuit is critical to holding that party liable. The act of filing your claim will:

  • Formalize the process
  • Force a guilty party to demonstrate that he was not responsible
  • Give you the right to certain evidence that the guilty party may have, such as records, images or other elements

Filing your claim as soon as possible is also important when a guilty party can accept some guilt, but also try to blame it to some extent.…

How Do Personal Injury Claims Work?

Jason Michaels0 commentsClaims Work

Personal injury cases can go through all of the following stages or be resolved before the claim reaches the court. If there are no out-of-court decisions, the case can go through all of these phases.

Pre-litigation phase

The pre-litigation stage is the evidence gathering process, which may involve:

  • Additional investigations
  • Requests to preserve evidence
  • Witness statements
  • And much more.

During this phase, it is possible to discover additional negligent parts and perhaps additional options for financial recovery. For example, in the pre-litigation phase for a truck accident case, it may be discovered that a carrier or an equipment manufacturer, in addition to a trucker, was responsible for an accident.

Litigation

Once it is clear who is the responsible party (or parties) in a given claim, an attorney can present the necessary documents to initiate the claim and officially launch it. Other things that may occur during this phase of litigation may include (and are not limited to):

  • Meetings with experts
  • Evidence exchanges with the defense
  • Negotiations with insurance companies and others

During this phase, and at any time after that, a case may be resolved if:

  • The defense makes an appropriate settlement offer.
  • The plaintiff (the injured party) accepts the offer.

Judgment

In this case, a jury is selected, and both sides make introductory arguments.

  • The plaintiff and defense present their cases and have an opportunity to question witnesses for the other party.
  • Both sides make final statements.
  • The case goes to the jury (or judge) to deliberate and answers questions about liability and damages about the charge (verdict).

Appeal

If the trial ends in the plaintiff’s favor, the defense may have the option to file an appeal. For example, the defense may request an appeal for lack of evidence or incorrect instructions given to a jury.

When appeals are filed after a verdict on a personal injury claim, it will be up to the court to determine whether the appeal can be progressed or denied.

…