Driving a car is nearly universal in the United States, for business, travel, and leisure. Roads can be dangerous, however, when those operating motor vehicles are impaired, and car accidents are all too common. In fact, of all personal injury cases, 52% of them involve motor vehicle accidents, and every year in the United States, six million car accidents occur. Many of the drivers in such an accident are either driving drunk (DUI) or otherwise distracted, such as adjusting the car radio or looking at a mobile cell phone. Just in 2015, 3,477 people lost their lives due to distracted driving. It is clear, then, that road safety is a major concern, and for survivors of such an incident, legal help is essential. Hiring a lawyer can go a long way to settling a case.
Why Hire an Accident Lawyer?
Finding a DUI lawyer, or a personal injury lawyer, means getting professional help from someone who understands the law and who has many relevant contacts in various industries and businesses. A car accident survivor may be injured, and if so, will probably want to settle a court case against any guilty parties, but this can be challenging to do alone. An attorney is there to help.
Surviving an accident and sustaining injuries has a number of implications that a lawyer will consider. If the injuries are permanent and prevent the victim from having paying work, for example, the monetary implications of this will factor into the lawyer’s decision making, according to McCormick and Murphy. The seriousness of the injuries, and the cost of medical bills, will also be factored in, and a lawyer will ensure that his/her client gets the appropriate amount of compensation. And if there are multiple parties involved, assigning blame and spreading around settlement money can be very complicated, a process an attorney will handle.
There are more benefits to hiring a lawyer in case of personal injury, according to HG. An injured client may be emotionally turbulent, being hurt, angry, and disoriented, and he or she may not make the rational and objective decisions necessary for a legal case, but a lawyer can be objective and keep a cool head. A lawyer defending an accident victim also has experience with similar cases and dealing with other lawyers, and this experience can open up new possibilities that the client could not handle alone. Aside from this, reviewing all the paperwork for a case, such as medical bills, insurance paperwork, and more can be very time-consuming for the victim, so instead, a lawyer will handle this workload.
Hiring a lawyer for personal injury is often the best option right after the incident, and this gives the personal injury attorney adequate time to review the case and prepare it for a settlement in court. However, a client should also choose and keep a lawyer with whom s/he feels comfortable and can trust, to ease the process and make the exchange of ideas and data go more smoothly. Often, merely consulting a local lawyer will be an expense-free and convenient option, and is often a good first step for assembling a legal case for personal injury sustained on the road. Then, when the victim is ready, s/he can find the right lawyer for the job and begin the case.