A lawyer can do plenty for you after a car accident. Want protection from insurance companies’ attempts to underpay you? Hire a lawyer. Want someone who can file and complete a lawsuit on your behalf if you elect to go the legal route? Hire a lawyer. Simply want to focus on recovery without worrying about your case? You guessed it: A Phoenix car accident lawyer can help.
A lawyer’s services are comprehensive and valuable. From securing evidence of at-fault parties’ negligence to representing you against powerful insurance companies, your attorney will handle every detail of your case.
A Lawyer’s First Duty: Protect
Before a car accident lawyer begins building a case, the lawyer must ensure the client is safe. This means many things in the context of a car accident, and your attorney may protect you by:
- Dealing with insurance companies on your behalf: Your lawyer will be your representative with insurers. This is critical, as auto insurance providers (despite reaping immense financial rewards year after year) may try to avoid paying you fair compensation for your losses. Having a lawyer will insure you against the insurance companies.
- Rebuffing any attempts to withhold fair compensation from you: The insurers may use multiple tactics to try and avoid their financial responsibility to you. Misleading questioning, deception about policy details, lowball offers, and general pressure are among the tactics you might face. An attorney will cut through such bad faith attempts and hold insurance companies accountable for their policies.
- Referring you to medical professionals: Your lawyer will also want to protect you physically. They will ensure you get the medical care you need, as many car accident lawyers have relationships with medical providers. Getting medical attention is another way of promoting your case, as it will show the harm you’ve suffered because of the collision.
- Pairing you with a mental health service provider: A good car accident lawyer treats their client with humanity. It means helping you get treatment for any post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other forms of trauma you experience because of the accident.
Being protected by an attorney may bring you peace of mind. The protection may also prove valuable if your lawyer prevents any rights violations (or mistakes that, otherwise, will prevent you from receiving the compensation you deserve).
A Lawyer’s Next Duty: Advise
Your lawyer can dive into their advisory role once they know you are insulated from harm. Some ways that a car accident attorney advises their client include:
- Explaining what you should and should not do or say: Attorneys have a memorized list of do’s and don’ts for car accident survivors to follow. For instance, your lawyer will likely tell you not to speak with insurance representatives without speaking to the attorney first.
- Detailing your options for how to seek compensation: There are a couple of strategies your lawyer might employ after a car accident, with insurance claims and lawsuits being the two most common approaches. Your attorney will explain the potential pros and cons of each approach, and they will ask you for feedback.
- Proposing their strategy: Once your lawyer has explained your options and heard you out, they will likely give their two cents. Often, attorneys give insurance companies the opportunity to pay their clients fairly, but filing a lawsuit can be the first course of action in your case.
Many variables will factor into your lawyer’s strategy. For example, if an uninsured motorist hit you, there may be a greater chance you’ll need to sue (because uninsured motorists can’t offer compensation through an insurer).
Let your lawyer take the lead. The information they share will be easily digestible, and your lawyer’s advice will be intended to set you up for success.
Then, Your Car Accident Attorney Will Fight for the Money You Deserve
Everything your lawyer does has value. However, their actual work on your case may lead to you getting the money you deserve. Each case has its wrinkles and variables, but car accident attorneys most often:
Gather the Relevant Evidence as Soon as Possible
Some evidence is more valuable to a car accident case than other evidence. Your attorney will examine it all and promptly secure all relevant:
- Footage
- Photographs
- Witness statements (including from interviews your lawyer may conduct)
- Police reports
- Expert testimony
- Experts’ reconstructions
In most cases, a puzzle of evidence portrays a clear image of who is at fault. Your attorney will want to secure evidence as soon as possible because lawyers know well that most evidence does not remain available for long.
Speak with Their Client About the Effect of the Collision
When it comes to certain types of harm, you will be best qualified to testify about your accident. Specifically, your physical pain, emotional anguish, psychological distress, and other types of pain and suffering will be highly specific to you.
Expect your attorney to have a conversation about how your accident has affected your life. Take your time, be honest, and help your lawyer document your damages by telling them your story.
Independently Gather Documentation of Their Client’s Damages
Many types of documentation can illustrate the cost of a car accident, including:
- Medical images (which can include CT scans, MRIs, and X-rays)
- Your doctors’ in-depth diagnoses and observations
- Medical bills (which are especially useful, as they show the exact cost of accident-related medical care)
- The results of an evaluation by a mental health professional
- Invoices for vehicle repairs, ridesharing services or a rental vehicle, and replacement of personal items damaged during the accident
Virtually every body part is at risk of injury during a car accident. Therefore, your lawyer may seek documentation from specialists who evaluate and treat you following the collision. They will be comfortable doing so, as car accident lawyers often represent clients with complex injury profiles.
Set a Financial Target for the Case
Each of your accident-related damages has a financial value. However, that value is rarely obvious.
While some damages (like medical bills and vehicle repairs) can be relatively easy to calculate, others may not. Pain and suffering is a prime example of a difficult type of damage to calculate. To attorneys, calculating such complex damages is like second nature.
Negotiate a Settlement (Generally with Insurance Providers)
Many car accident cases conclude with a settlement. If this is how your case concludes, your lawyer will work hard to ensure it’s a good settlement for you.
The process of negotiating a settlement may require your lawyer to:
- Determine who owes you compensation (in most cases, it’s one or more insurance companies)
- Organize all documentation of your damages
- Calculate the precise case value and ensure its accuracy
- Present their settlement demands to liable parties (again, this is most likely to be insurance companies)
- Negotiate a deal if the insurance company takes issue with the initial settlement demands
The insurance company may offer you before your lawyer presents their demands. These are often lowball offers. Your lawyer will ensure you don’t accept any lowball settlement offer, and they will negotiate fiercely for the compensation you deserve.
Take All Necessary Legal Action (Which Can, Eventually, Mean Going to Trial)
Lawyers and lawsuits go hand in hand. While suing is not the only tool in your lawyer’s belt—and is not always necessary in car accident cases—it is an option.
If you choose to sue, your lawyer will oversee every aspect of the legal process, including:
- Determining who you should sue
- Drafting and filing the lawsuit
- Ensuring notification of defendants
- Completing pre-trial processes like depositions and evidentiary hearings
- Leading your case in court
Going to trial always comes with risk. The risk is, for some, worth taking. You and your lawyer will collaborate to determine if suing or going to trial are necessary or appropriate courses of action.
What Expenses and Damages Should a Car Accident Settlement Cover?
Car accident victims can suffer both economic and non-economic harm. Economic harm refers to financial losses, while non-economic harm has a non-financial component.
Some common examples of economic harm from a car accident include:
- Medical costs: Many car accident victims who hire attorneys suffered an injury. This means, in most cases, they face medical bills. Car accident lawyers always consider such medical costs when seeking compensation for their clients.
- Lost income: Accident victims who cannot work for any period of time risk losing income. Other potential professional damages include loss of bonus and overtime opportunities, diminished earning capacity, and lost benefits (which can happen when the accident victim has to leave their job or become a part-time worker).
- Vehicle repairs: As you probably suspect, the cost of repairing your vehicle will be part of your lawyer’s settlement demands. The accident’s severity, your vehicle’s financial value, and the damage’s nature are often relevant to vehicle repair costs.
- Replacement of totaled property: If any other personal property was damaged during the accident, expect your lawyer to seek compensation for the cost of the damaged property. Clothing, sunglasses, and items inside your vehicle when the accident happened are examples of such damaged property.
- Disability-related expenses: Car accident lawyers are familiar with and compassionate toward disabling injuries. These injuries can require the accident survivor to purchase medical equipment, receive long-term care, hire a caregiver, and endure other financial burdens.
The primary example of non-economic harm from a car accident is pain and suffering. Pain and suffering is a personal type of damage that varies from victim to victim and can include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Physical pain
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sleep problems
- Lost quality of life
If you have scarring or other types of disfigurement, those can also qualify as pain and suffering. If you decide to get treatment for pain and suffering, your car accident lawyer will account for the cost of care.
Wrongful Deaths Are Another Potential Outcome of Car Accidents
We have to talk about the most tragic consequence of traffic accidents. This is the loss of the accident victim’s life. This is a fate that nobody should suffer, yet thousands of families in America lose their loved ones each year because of negligence-related auto accidents.
Car accident attorneys serve those survivors, who often face:
- Intense, long-lasting grief (and other forms of pain and suffering)
- Sudden, unexpected financial insecurity (and, in many cases, the loss of the primary earner’s income)
- Funeral expenses
- Medical expenses
- Loss of the decedent’s contributions to their household
Anyone who has lost a loved one knows the irreplaceability of a family member. However, car accident lawyers seek some degree of justice and financial support for the survivors.
Some Questions You Might Have After a Car Crash
Answering questions is part of a lawyer’s job. However, some questions are so common among car accident victims that we can provide answers now. Those questions include:
How Much Money Will I Receive for a Car Accident?
Each car accident survivor is entitled to a different sum of money. Your attorney must familiarize themselves with your damages before they know how much compensation you deserve.
Will I Need to File a Lawsuit?
This is also a question a lawyer must answer on a case-by-case basis. One factor that often dictates whether a car accident victim sues is whether liable insurance companies offer fair settlements.
How Long Will My Case Take?
This depends on several factors, which may include:
- Whether or not drivers are insured
- The severity of injuries and other accident-related harm
- Whether insurance companies handle claims in good faith
- Whether you need to file a lawsuit
- Whether your case goes to trial
Your lawyer will work to resolve your case as soon as possible, keeping in mind that you receive fair compensation, which is the most important consideration.
Time Is of the Essence When Hiring a Car Accident Lawyer—Don’t Wait
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury in a car accident do not hesitate to call an attorney right away. There may be a deadline for your car accident case and many other time-sensitive considerations. Don’t wait to research car accident lawyers serving your city and hire the Phoenix personal injury attorney you are most confident in and comfortable with.