As soon as you discover that someone’s negligence has caused you to suffer injuries or lose a loved one, it’s time to retain a Tampa personal injury attorney.
As you will see below, there are serious risks in waiting to hire a lawyer. Therefore, any honest lawyer will tell you to meet with and hire your attorney as soon as you can. A few things, including seeking emergency medical treatment, should come before you hire a lawyer. This is how time-sensitive it is to find legal representation.
Why Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer Is a Pressing Concern
There are a few reasons why you should hire your lawyer as soon as you possibly can, with some of the most notable reasons including:
- Statutes of limitations: The statute of limitations in each state sets a deadline for taking action in civil court. For example, in Florida, you must file a lawsuit within two years of the injury or wrongful death. A lawyer often also faces deadlines related to insurance claims, while the law may require you to report injuries within a certain period of time. In any case, you must not wait to hire your attorney, as there might be deadlines looming.
- The time-sensitive nature of evidence: Evidence is a key feature of personal injury and wrongful death cases, but not every case has the same caliber of evidence. One reason why a case may lack compelling evidence is because the client waited to hire a lawyer. This hesitation may prevent the attorney from securing all useful evidence while it is available.
- Attempts to undermine your case: Those who owe you compensation—like insurers and negligent parties—probably don’t want to pay you more than they have to. Therefore, these parties might try to blame you for the harm you’ve suffered, coax you into admitting fault, or convince you to accept a lowball settlement offer.
- Your need to put your recovery first: Those with injuries need to put their health above all. The same is true of those who lose loved ones. You may only be able to recover as you need to once you have hired a lawyer to take care of your claim or lawsuit.
You may experience a wave of relief as soon as you hire a lawyer. You will know that your legal team is leading the fight for your financial recovery as you rest and recover.
How to Evaluate Personal Injury Lawyers
Once you recognize the need for a personal injury lawyer, you must then decide which lawyer is right for your case. Some of the common criteria clients use to choose their attorneys include:
The Firm’s Case Results
As a prospective client, you can ask a law firm, “What have you done to earn my trust?” One objective measuring stick you can evaluate law firms by is their case results.
Specifically, you should look at law firms’ results to see:
- How large of financial recoveries it has secured
- Whether the firm has secured a mix of settlements and verdicts, as verdicts indicate the firm’s willingness to go to trial (when necessary)
- Results specific to cases similar to yours
- The average settlement and judgment value the firm obtains (roughly)
Keep in mind that different clients deserve different amounts of compensation. A law firm might secure a $50,000 settlement, which might look small compared with a multi-million-dollar settlement. However, the client who received $50,000 may have received more compensation than expected.
If a law firm has obtained large recoveries, it indicates its lawyers’ ability to succeed in high-stakes cases.
The Firm’s Reviews
Former clients can guide you to a highly capable, compassionate legal team. By the same token, disgruntled clients can help avoid a firm that will not handle your case as it should be handled.
Pay attention to reviews from former clients, especially when you notice trends that run through many reviews.
The Fee Structure the Law Firm Uses
Many personal injury lawyers handle cases on a contingency basis. This means:
- The law firm pays for all case-related costs, like expert fees and filing expenses.
- As the client, you agree that your lawyer will receive a percentage of any settlement or judgment they negotiate or win.
- The attorney only receives payment for their services if they secure compensation for their client.
This contingency fee structure ensures that clients pay no upfront or out-of-pocket compensation to their attorney. It also means that your attorney will have to earn their fee, which means getting you paid.
The Firm’s History, Experience, and Practice Areas
You should understand the ins and outs of any law firm you’re going to trust with your case, which includes:
- How long the firm has been in business
- How experienced the firm’s attorneys are (and specifically the lawyer who is going to lead your case)
- What practice areas does the firm handle
- Where the firm is located
You will ideally find a firm near you that has extensive experience handling cases similar to yours and has been effectively serving clients for many years.
How You Feel During Your (Free) Consultation
Free consultations are part of the vetting process for anyone seeking a lawyer. These consultations are often phone calls but can be in person, Zoom-based, or hosted in other ways.
Use free consultations to your advantage by:
- Extracting information the firm does not provide on its website (like case results)
- Asking the firm which attorney(s) will handle your case (so you can research those attorneys)
- Asking the firm’s representative why you should choose that firm to lead your case
Your consultation will provide greater insight into a firm, for better or worse. The more information you have about a law firm, the more informed a decision you can make.
Events That May Prompt You to Hire a Personal Injury Attorney
Clients hire personal injury lawyers for a variety of reasons, including in response to injuries, illnesses, and wrongful deaths related to:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Rideshare accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Slip and falls
- Trip and falls
- Other accidents on dangerous properties
- Harmful events caused by defective products
- Animal attacks
- Boat accidents
- Bus accidents
- Train accidents
- Workplace accidents
These are just some of the case types of personal injury lawyers handle. If you or a loved one suffered injuries, became sick, or lost their life, and you believe someone else is responsible, it is time to hire a personal injury attorney. They can review what happened and advise whether they can take your case or, if not, potentially refer you to a trusted colleague who can.
What a Personal Injury Lawyer Will Do for You
Your personal injury attorney will handle a wide range of responsibilities for you. Should you choose not to hire a lawyer, these responsibilities will be yours. Left to your own devices, you might not manage these duties as you should, and your case can suffer.
Some of a personal injury lawyer’s most common responsibilities include:
Securing Evidence of Liable Parties’ Negligence
Your attorney will secure any evidence that helps prove fault and liability for your case. The circumstances of the injury, illness, or wrongful death will be relevant to which evidence can help your case.
Documenting Your Damages
Your legal team will detail your damages in as much detail as possible and may use:
- Medical bills
- Doctors’ diagnoses and notes
- Medical images of injuries or signs of illness
- A mental health expert’s detailing of your pain and suffering
- Invoices related to property damage
- Proof that you have lost income, which may come from employment records and past pay statements
Your attorney will also obtain your account of how you’ve been harmed due to someone else’s negligence, especially when it comes to pain and suffering. These details may be immensely helpful when proving the financial value of your case.
Calculating Your Case Value
Every personal injury and wrongful death case (as well as every insurance claim) has a specific financial value. Your attorney will consider current and future damages as they calculate the exact value of your case.
Negotiating a Settlement
Once your attorney has determined the specific financial value of your damages, they can start negotiating with insurers or civil defense lawyers.
Your attorneys will enter negotiations with specific settlement demands. They will supplement those demands with evidence of fault and documentation of your damages. Your attorney will be ready for liable parties to challenge their demands.
Filing a Lawsuit, If You Need To
If an insurance company or negligent party does not offer a fair settlement, you can sue liable parties. Your attorney will discuss this option with you should your circumstances warrant it.
If you choose to, your attorney can:
- Draft and file the lawsuit
- Notify defendants in the lawsuit that they are being served
- Continue negotiating a settlement after filing the lawsuit
- Move forth with trial if liable parties still will not pay the compensation you deserve
Going to trial will lengthen the time it takes to resolve your case. However, there are many cases where going to trial leads to the financial outcome the client deserves (while settling will not have).
Your Attorney Will Evaluate the Cost of All Your Recoverable Damages
Many clients do not realize how much their case is worth until they hire a lawyer. As a frame of reference, the average economic cost of an auto accident resulting in disabling injuries is hundreds of thousands of dollars. This does not reflect unusually costly cases or account for non-economic harm, including pain and suffering.
With a lawyer’s help, you may find that your case is highly valued. Some of the damages that may contribute to your case value are:
- Healthcare costs: Plaintiffs in personal injury cases often need compensation for emergency services, X-rays and other imaging, surgeries, hospitalization, medications, and other items and services.
- Pain and suffering: Some common types of pain and suffering among plaintiffs include physical pain, psychological distress, emotional anguish, lost quality of life, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Your attorney will ensure you see a mental health professional who is qualified to diagnose and document your pain and suffering.
- Professional damages: Your lawyer will seek fair compensation for all of your professional damages, which may include lost income, diminished earning power, lost bonuses, lost benefits, and other professional harm.
- Property expenses: Those involved in traffic accidents often face property expenses, including the cost of repairing or replacing their vehicle. There are other case types where property expenses are relevant. You should also receive fair compensation if you must purchase medical equipment or other items related to your case.
- Disability-related challenges: Those with disabling injuries can seek compensation for medical equipment, caregiver costs, pain and suffering, and any other financial and non-financial difficulties related to the disability.
Trust an experienced lawyer to make a complete record of your damages. Your attorney will then cite that record as they fight for the settlement or verdict you are entitled to.
Your Lawyer Will Work to Prove Liable Parties’ Negligence
Proving negligence is one of the essential hurdles your lawyer must clear. Your attorney will prove this by:
- Establishing that the at-fault party owed you a duty of care, which requires someone to act in a reasonable manner (especially when preventing others from injury, illness, or wrongful death)
- Proving that the at-fault party breached their duty of care in one or more ways
- Establishing that the at-fault party’s breach of duty of care caused you harm
- Proving the harm you have suffered because the at-fault party breached the duty of care
Experienced attorneys make this argument in each case they handle, tailoring the argument to the unique details of each case.
Hire Your Personal Injury Attorney in Tampa Today
Remember that there are often deadlines for filing insurance claims, personal injury lawsuits, and wrongful death suits. If you contact attorneys as soon as possible, you reduce the risk that the statute of limitations expires before you can seek the compensation you deserve.
You can decide which law firm to hire by doing online research and completing free consultations. Don’t wait.
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