Becoming a victim of personal injury or knowing someone who has is more common than you might think. There are around 31 million people in the United States who suffer a personal injury each year. That is a huge number of people negatively affected because they have suffered personal injuries due to slip and fall accidents, car accidents, workplace accidents, medical malpractice or product defects.
Personal injury is a serious matter and should be treated as such. When you suffer a personal injury, it is imperative that you take the proper legal steps to be compensated for the losses caused by your incident.
When searching for the right personal injury lawyer, it is essential to ensure that they are qualified. Fortunately, we have a list of questions to help you make a great choice.
The role of the Omaha personal injury attorney in the event of a moving vehicle accident.
An Omaha attorney has several roles in the process of compensating personal injury victims involved in any kind of accident.
It is important that the victim of the accident or his family not be guided by the insurance company, whether it is his own insurance or that of the driver at fault. While the law imposes certain obligations on insurers, keep in mind that the insurer can never be the victim’s advisor at any stage.
The first role of the personal injury and wrongful death attorney is to explain to the victim all the steps of the procedure to compensate for his or her personal injury in all impartiality and independence. A personal injury attorney must have a clear vision of the objectives to be reached and when to reach them.
In order for everything to go as smoothly as possible, here are our top five questions you should ask when filing a personal injury lawsuit.
1) What are the fees of the personal injury and wrongful death attorney?
For this type of case, your lawyer will not take any money from you upfront. What will happen instead is that they will take a percentage of the money awarded in your case. Therefore, it is essential to ask your lawyer what percentage of the awarded money will be received for their services.
2) Who is responsible for paying the costs of the personal injury case?
Under most circumstances, the victim is responsible for all expenses incurred by the lawyer with respect to litigating the case. Such charges are usually not paid upfront. They will be deducted from the final settlement, just like the attorney’s fee.
There are some alternative methods of payment or financial support if you feel you will not be able to pay your medical bills before your case settles. These include:
- Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
- Health Insurance
- Car Insurance with Medical payments coverage
- Workers’ Compensation for accidents in the workplace
- Compensation won with the help of the Personal Injury Lawyer
3) How and when will the attorney update the client on the personal injury case?
You will have an active role in your personal injury case. You will need to collect and submit documents, you may need to testify (if your case goes to trial), and there may be different legal documents to sign. You also will be instructed by your attorney if the other side wants to get your deposition.
But you have hired your attorney to help you with the processes that you are not able to handle. Therefore, you should ask your lawyer in what manner and how often he or she will stay in touch with you to support and keep you informed through the process.
4) Will the personal injury case end up in court?
In most cases, an out-of-court settlement is reached without the need to go to trial. Situations in which the case ends up in court are often the following:
- The insurance company of the person who is responsible for the accident believes that they will win the case so the victim is forced to settle for a pittance or nothing at all.
- The insurance company is unwilling or unable to provide a legal precedent for the settlement of the given personal injury lawsuit.
- The victim’s attorney’s demands are far too high for the insurance company and they will not accept it without litigation.
5) How many of the attorney’s personal injury cases have been successful so far?
In most cases, a settlement usually occurs before you set foot in a courtroom. Therefore, a judge and jury usually do not decide what happens in your case.
Yet, in the rare event that your case goes to trial, you will want to know how successful your attorney was in creating a favorable outcome for his or her clients. After all, you deserve the maximum compensation your attorney can get for you.
Listening to a former client and reading online reviews can help establish your attorney’s credentials. Doing so can give you the assurance that you have chosen someone who is qualified, experienced, and has a good track record.
Get in touch with the Demerath Law Office!
Demerath Law Office defends victims’ personal injury cases in their entirety. Throughout the entire procedure, the cases are handled with a personal touch, every client is treated like a family member. Our team is dedicated to the success of victims of personal injury, accidents, assaults, medical malpractice, and much more. Do not hesitate to contact us if you or your loved one is in one of these situations. We will do our best to get you out of this unfortunate circumstance as fast and as smoothly as possible.
We offer personal injury lawyers throughout Nebraska including: Omaha, Lincoln, Fremont, Columbus, Grand Island, Plattsmouth, and Norfolk for your convenience.
