Car Accident Lawyers

There is no legal requirement for hiring an attorney when you are filing an insurance claim; in fact, you don’t even legally need an attorney in court, either. However, the benefits of hiring an attorney have nothing to do with legality: when you are working with an experienced personal injury attorney, you are benefiting from their experience with personal injury claims so you can focus on your own needs without the added stress and emotional burden. In addition to the reduction of stress, the biggest benefit you will get from working with an attorney is the fact they will be able to take the insurance company on and negotiate aggressively for a settlement you truly deserve. 
One of the most important tasks a personal injury attorney will handle for you is going through all of your damages and making sure that each of them is included in your claim. Insurance companies will attempt to gloss over minor or abstract damages in the hopes of settling your claim for as little as possible, but an attentive attorney will work to ensure that all of these damages make it into the settlement negotiation process.

The answer to this question is highly specific to your own preferences and situation, but the best way to decide whether or not your case will benefit from legal support is to go contact us now for a free consultation. Many car accident claims are resolved without the help of an attorney, and if you speak with a legal professional and determine that you will only be seeking compensation for property damage without any other issues then it may not be worth it to work with an attorney. However, many people dismiss the possibility of working with a lawyer because they do not think their case warrants one, only to find out after they accept a low settlement offer that they could have gotten far more money if they had negotiated more aggressively. 
Since there are so many variables that go into deciding whether or not hiring a lawyer for your car accident claim is worth it, we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible to speak with someone about your unique situation.

Realistically, hiring an attorney before you contact the insurance company would be the best timing. This way, your lawyer will be able to handle every communication with the insurance company and the adjuster assigned to your case, all the way through to the day you accept a fair settlement offer. When your attorney is managing the entire claims process, you won’t need to worry about falling prey to the many common errors that the insurance companies leverage in order to settle claims for as little as possible. Something as minor as apologizing for something related to the accident could result in the agent pinning additional fault on you, which could ultimately result in a lower settlement.
To avoid any of the many missteps that insurance companies use to their advantage, work with an attorney as soon as possible. The best time to hire an attorney was yesterday, and the next best time is today. They understand the claims process, have a history of car accident claims they have worked through, and will be able to use this experience to help you get the settlement you deserve, not just a settlement the insurance company prefers.

People often mistake the issue of liability with that of compensation, but in reality, the two are very different parts of the same insurance claims process. Even if the other driver is irrefutably, 100% at fault for your accident, this only resolves the issue of contributory negligence (which would reduce your settlement by the percent you were at-fault for the crash), and still leaves the broad, complicated question of damages. Compensatory damages in a personal injury case include both economic and non-economic damages, each of which includes a wide range of specific damages, costs, and losses that you may suffer.
Remember, your attorney is not only there to prove that the other driver caused the accident; they are there to calculate and quantify all of the damages you have suffered, and aggressively negotiate for a fair settlement that includes all of these damages. Without an attorney acting as your representative, you would need to advocate for yourself in negotiations with the insurance company at the same time you are trying to recover from your injuries. The entire claims process is fraught with complexities and loopholes, all of which your attorney will make sure the insurance company is not able to unfairly leverage against you.

The attorneys that CarAccidentAttorney.com will connect you with all operate on the basis of contingency fees, meaning that they will only take payment as a percentage of your settlement or award, and will not take payment if you lose. Many people never even consider the possibility that legal support is within their financial abilities — particularly if they are facing massive medical bills and lost wages — when in reality, they would benefit from the legal representation and may ultimately take home much more than they would without an attorney. 
In order to get a sense of how these numbers might look in your unique situation, we encourage you to contact us for a free consultation today. Once connected with a personal injury attorney, you will be able to take a close look at your situation to get a sense of what they believe you are entitled to and how much your attorney would take for their fee following a successful negotiation or lawsuit.

There is no guarantee one way or another that you will either reach an out-of-court settlement or that you will need to file a lawsuit to get the money you deserve. You may, however, find comfort in knowing that as few as 10% of all personal injury cases ever see trial, and roughly 50% of all personal injury claims are settled before a lawsuit is ever filed. Of course, these statistics have no bearing on your own situation, and you may decide with the help of your attorney that you will be best served by filing a lawsuit before even attempting ongoing negotiations. However, like all other details of a personal injury case, this is highly specific to your unique situation.
One thing to avoid is waiting to hire an attorney until you think you may need to file a lawsuit. Oftentimes, an experienced legal professional will be able to take control of the claims process from the start and lead an aggressive negotiation towards an out-of-court settlement. In most cases, these direct settlement agreements are less than the award a victim may receive in court, but it saves time and money in court fees, court dates, and long waits between appearances in front of a judge. Depending on your unique situation, you and your attorney will determine which approach makes the most sense and will continue to adjust your approach as new information emerges.

As with the rest of the questions and answers provided on this page, the answer to this question depends on the many variables that make your accident unique. Some claims may be extremely straightforward and can be resolved within weeks, while others are extremely complex and may take years before a final agreement is reached. Fortunately, there are financial services that can support personal injury victims while they work through this process. These can be essential when the case takes months or years to resolve. 
One of the most important things to remember about this question is that you may need to hold out to get what you truly deserve. Again, though, the only way to get a realistic estimate is to work directly with an attorney while understanding that they will not be able to give you a certain answer, either. The most important thing to do is to start working with a lawyer as soon as possible so they can start building a strong case on your behalf and start fighting for the money you are entitled to following your car accident.