Contact a Personal Injury Attorney in Monroeville After Being Seriously Injured
Serious injuries are devastating. A personal injury attorney should always be contacted if the injury occurred due to the negligence of someone else.
Defining a Personal Injury Lawsuit
As a rule, any accident or injury believed to have been caused by another person or business is viewed as a potential personal injury case. If you or a loved one is injured, and the injury was due to an individual’s or business’ negligence, it’s time to discuss acting to recover any losses.
Many people envision going to court and hearing testimony from witnesses and then having a jury decide who was responsible for the incident and whether damages should be awarded. That may happen in some cases, but it’s not the most likely outcome. As your Monroeville personal injury attorney, we will always review potential scenarios to ensure all options are considered when determining a strategy.
In most instances, personal injury cases are settled without the need to go to court. Because court cases tend to be expensive, insurers and defendants’ attorneys rarely see going to court as being advantageous. Of course, there are always exceptions. If no settlement can be reached, a case could end up being heard in court. While personal injury attorneys at Hadley Law Firm are fully prepared to go to court when necessary, it’s generally in your best interests to settle outside of court.
Another option that can be used is some form of alternative dispute resolution. Generally, it means going to mediation, but there may be times when arbitration is more appropriate. As your Alabama personal injury lawyer, we’ll explain the difference between mediation and arbitration and recommend the best course of action to resolve your case.
Act Fast!
In most cases, personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years. While that may seem like a long time, it really isn’t. Many injuries take longer to heal, which means it’s hard to determine the long-term consequences of some injuries in only a few months.
A traumatic brain injury is a good example. It’s not easy to accurately predict how long it will take for the victim to recover from a traumatic brain injury. In many cases, the victim will never fully recover, so it may be necessary to devise a formula for determining both short- and long-term damages.
What You Should Do
If there are questions about the viability of a personal injury claim, it’s important to contact our legal team well before the statute of limitations becomes an issue. Contact your personal injury lawyer Monroeville at Hadley Law Firm now so we can adequately review the case to determine an appropriate strategy. Reviewing the case in a limited period of time can create issues.
Getting Started
The first step in any personal injury action is to contact us to schedule a preliminary appointment. At that meeting, we’ll review what happened and go over any documentation you may have that’s related to the case. If there is a case worth pursuing, we’ll let you know how to move forward. We’ll also let you know what course of action might be more appropriate if there doesn’t appear to be a case.
Reviewing the Facts
Next, we’ll take steps needed to gather information and documentation. In most cases, that will happen quickly, but there may be situations when it takes time to investigate issues and obtain evidence to support your claim. That’s another reason it’s important to contact our office as soon as possible after an injury.
Offering to Settle the Claim
After the needed documentation and evidence are collected, we’ll prepare a settlement offer to present to the other parties involved. As a rule, it’s unlikely the initial settlement offer will be accepted. Insurers always want to negotiate, which means we must be fully prepared to deal with issues they may bring up. In most cases, it’s possible to reach a settlement without the case proceeding further.
Moving to the Next Step
If a reasonable settlement can’t be reached, it will be necessary to take the case to court. When a case goes to court, our Monroeville team of experts will do everything possible to make the journey as easy as possible for you or your loved ones.
When cases go to court, witnesses are generally called. That means you or anyone else involved will be asked to answer a series of questions describing the events and the injuries those events caused. Testifying can sometimes be an unpleasant experience, but our team will work with clients and family members to explain what will happen in court and how to respond to questions.
Again, the case may not actually be heard in court because defendants frequently make last-minute offers to settle rather than risking additional exposure by going to court. We always hope offers are fair; settling is far simpler for you and your family members.
Don’t Delay Contacting Us for Advice
If you or a loved one has been injured due to the negligence of another party, don’t delay contacting our Monroeville personal injury attorney legal team for advice. Your case should be reviewed as soon as possible because delaying can mean lost evidence or witnesses forgetting important details. Contact us now for advice.