Riverside Personal Injury Lawyer

Your personal injury attorney in Riverside, CA, will ensure that your claim is filed effectively, efficiently, and promptly. While every claim is unique and has its own specific details and quirks, personal injury claims generally follow a basic trajectory:

• Most cases begin by filing a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company.
• Your attorney will skillfully negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf.
• After careful negotiations, if the insurance company is unwilling to adequately compensate you for your complete damages, your attorney will begin the legal process by filing the appropriate documents in court.

While you attend to the important work of regaining your health, your experienced attorney will guide your legal case toward its most favorable resolution.

A serious injury can leave you with considerable damages, including your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Each of these categories—as applicable—should be carefully considered and addressed in your claim. The future implications of these damages can be significant and should never be discounted.

The medical expenses you incur in a serious accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence are likely to be extensive and may include:

• Care from emergency personnel at the scene of the accident
• Emergency transportation from the scene of the accident
• Surgery and surgical aftercare
• Treatment and care from doctors and specialists
• Physical therapy and occupational therapy
• Prescription medications
• Ongoing treatment and care
• Home health care
• Adaptive physical devices and home adaptations

It can take a considerable amount of time for the full extent of your physical injuries to be appropriately assessed, which means that rushing into a settlement agreement is probably not in your best interest.

If you’ve been seriously injured, it will almost certainly affect your ability to return to work and to continue performing your job. The damages incurred can include:

• A loss in wages earned
• A diminished earning capacity into the future
• A change in the presumed trajectory of your career

If your career is seriously altered by the injuries you’ve sustained, it can have more than just financial consequences. Many people obtain more from their jobs than simply a paycheck, and this loss can lead to an altered sense of self. In other words, lost wages are often only the tip of the iceberg.

Pain and suffering refers to those non-economic damages that aren’t associated with a price tag, but that take their own unique toll on you. If you’ve been injured in an accident that was caused by someone else’s negligence, the pain-and-suffering component can include damages such as:

• The physical pain and emotional suffering you endured as a result of the accident
• Any physical scarring, which—when near or on the face—can be permanently disfiguring
• The loss of a limb
• The shock and grief you suffered
• The emotional effects you endured, including any increased anxiety, insomnia, and/or depression
• The extreme inconvenience you experienced
• The inability to enjoy your life the way you once did
• The inability to find pleasure in formerly pleasurable activities

This emotional component of your damages can be immense and should never be discounted. The amount attached to these noneconomic damages will be determined by the jury in your case, and they often represent the largest percentage of the overall damages.

If you have a personal injury claim, you no doubt want to know how long it will take for it to be finalized. The fact is that there is no easy answer to this question. Again, every case is unique, and the amount of time it takes for it to be successfully concluded depends upon several important factors, including:

The more complex your case, the more time it is likely to take to be resolved. With very complicated cases, your personal injury attorney will generally need to spend more time investigating the relevant facts, retaining experts whose testimonies support your claim, obtaining an accurate medical snapshot of your prognosis into the future, and much more.

Another important factor in determining how long your claim will take is how willing the insurance company is to negotiate in relation to your full range of damages. While settling with the insurance company early on will limit the duration of your claim, it is unlikely to elicit a settlement that adequately addresses your damages in their entirety. Often, you and your attorney will need to proceed to litigation to help ensure that you receive the compensation to which you are entitled.

Some personal injury cases are more highly charged than others. For example, if a company has had multiple high-profile cases related to a defective or otherwise faulty product, the insurance company involved may be more motivated to negotiate than if this wasn’t the case.

While you need to be compensated for the damages you’ve endured, it’s important not to rush the process for the sake of expediency. Obtaining your fullest recovery hinges upon you recovering compensation that covers the full spectrum of your damages, and this often means that you’ll need to commit to lengthier proceedings.

Personal injury claims are generally filed first with the insurance company involved, and this means that it’s important to understand the insurance company’s stance a bit more clearly. Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. Many people who’ve been injured in accidents caused by the negligence of another person or entity look to the insurance company involved to do its job and compensate them accordingly. Unfortunately, however, this isn’t the way it typically works. Insurance companies have deep pockets that allow them to hunker down and protect their own assets when they deem it worthwhile, which is often the case.

No matter how affable and conciliatory the insurance rep is, it’s important to remain firm in your commitment to obtaining compensation that adequately addresses the totality of your damages. In this effort, there are some important dos-and-don’ts to keep in mind, including:

• Don’t provide the insurance company with a written or recorded statement about the accident in question.
• Do carefully follow your attorney’s guidance regarding your communication with the insurance company.
• Don’t accept an early settlement offer in a misguided attempt to put the matter behind you without first obtaining your attorney’s go-ahead.
• Do allow your attorney to negotiate with the insurance company on behalf of your best interests.