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If you are involved in a personal injury accident, you’ll likely hire a personal injury lawyer who will help you determine if you really do have a personal injury claim or case to file against another party.You and your personal injury lawyer in Hamilton need to know if you have a valid personal injury claim or case because many personal injury accidents are not ‘cut and dry’ in terms of determining who was at fault. Your personal injury lawyer will tell you that the following factors need to be present for you to have a personal injury case.
The severity of your injuries
Personal injury lawyers know that your injuries would have to be of at least moderate severity for you to have a pursuable personal injury case or claim. This is the case with most personal injury accidents. It’s also the reason why you and the defendant and your lawyers will spend many long hours negotiating either or out of court for a settlement amount that is acceptable for all of you!
If you do go to court, expect it to be a lengthy and drawn-out process. Your case will probably wait for a year before being heard by a judge and jury. Also, expect you and your lawyer to be subjected to many depositions, interrogations, and an independent medical exam upon the insistence of the defense. The defense will likely choose the doctor who will perform the independent medical exam. Obviously, going to court is risky because of all of the steps involved and all of the factors at work.
Has another party already compensated you for your losses?
Though this may seem to be a strange and irrelevant question to ask, it is really an important question to ask. It’s not uncommon for an insurance company (either yours or the defendant’s) to compensate you for some or all of your injuries and losses before you receive a settlement. You’d have to pay back all money that the insurance company paid you from the settlement in this instance. Also, if you were reimbursed by your own insurance company, you can generally expect your premiums, insurance rates, co-pays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses to increase.
Keep in mind that insurance generally can’t compensate for the emotional loss, depression, anxiety, loss of consortium, loss of companionship. These are generally grouped together under the umbrella term of pain and suffering. You and your personal injury lawyer must be able to convince either an insurance adjuster or a judge and jury that the defendant is legally responsible for the bodily injuries/property damages that resulted from your personal injury accident.
Expect a long and drawn out legal battle between you and the defense if you were even 1% at fault for the personal injury accident. You should also keep in mind that you could be sanctioned and fined by the court if your case is determined to be frivolous and ‘thrown out.’ The defense can sue you for libel in this case.
Personal injury law is complex
You need to hire a personal injury lawyer to guide you when determining if your personal injury accident is worthy of a case or claim. This is because personal injury law is complex.