The Top Three Reasons to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney

If you or a family member has recently suffered a severe injury—whether as of a result of a car accident, a lapse in work safety, or any other cause—calling a personal injury attorney should be one of the first things you do after seeking and receiving medical assistance. While history is littered with frivolous personal injury lawsuits, the fact is that pursuing legal action is in your best interest. Not convinced? Here are three reasons that hiring a personal injury attorney is the best course of action for you and your family following a serious injury.

1. You never know how much your injuries are going to cost. Calculating the cost of an injury is an exercise in futility. Medical bills can vary drastically depending on the injury, the hospital, the doctor, the location, whether or not you have to go to the emergency room and dozens of other factors. In addition, you can’t predict what the ongoing costs of the injury are going to be over the next year, or over the course of the next decade. With studies indicating that America’s medical debt crisis is only going to worsen in the coming years, you need to protect yourself and your family by doing everything you can to avoid debt. If someone else was at fault or partially at fault for your injury, then hiring a personal injury attorney and filing a lawsuit can often be the best way to dodge debt.
    
2. An attorney will get you a better payout. Never discuss the accident or incident that led to your injury with an insurance adjuster. If for instance, you are hurt in a car accident where the other driver was clearly at fault, an adjuster from that person’s insurance company will only try to twist your words and foist the blame on you. If an adjuster can get you on tape admitting to a portion of the blame for the accident, your insurance payment will plummet. Hiring a lawyer to negotiate with the other driver’s insurance company—or, frankly, any insurance company involved with a personal injury case—will increase your likelihood of getting an advantageous payout. Always remember that insurance companies are looking after their own bottom line; to compete with them, you need someone looking out for yours.
    
3. You will have a better chance of winning your case. Some people assume that worker’s compensation and personal injury laws are relatively straightforward, but that assumption is incorrect. While choosing to represent yourself in a personal injury case might seem like a good plan on a number of fronts—you’ll save on attorney fees, after all—you will be putting a lot of stress on your plate and probably cutting your settlement payment significantly as well. Lawsuits involve a lot of complicated paperwork and demand compliance with certain laws, regulations, and unwritten rules of court etiquette. Navigating through all of this can be incredibly difficult without the help of someone who chose the law as his or her profession. Worse, if and when you come up against the defendant in court, you won’t be doing battle with them, but with their lawyer. Hiring an attorney makes sure you aren’t outmatched, frees you from having to deal with paperwork and learn all of the rules, and earns you more money. According to a 2004 study done by the Insurance Research Council, plaintiffs who hire a personal injury attorney for their cases tend to receive 3.5 times more in verdict or settlement money than those who represent themselves.

As you can see, hiring an attorney in the case of a personal injury has enormous benefits and not many drawbacks. So protect yourself and your family and lawyer up. In all likelihood, you’ll win more money and get a more just verdict with someone else fighting on your behalf. Personal injury attorneys at Nelson Macneil Rayfield recommend utilizing the free consultations that law firms provide to get additional resources.