Personal Injury Attorney Pensacola
When you have an attorney representing you through the entire claims process, you can be confident that there is someone looking out for your best interests while you focus on your own personal needs and recovery. Stress is proven to have a serious negative impact on the process of recovering from physical injuries, so the sooner you have a personal injury attorney taking care of your Pensacola claims, the more time you will have to focus on a healthy recovery.
Take a look below to get a better idea of how a Pensacola personal injury attorney can help you get the money that you deserve, and be connected with legal representation today.
What Constitutes a Personal Injury?
For an accident and subsequent injuries to be considered under tort law, it must meet a few basic requirements:
- The defendant had a “duty of care” owed to the plaintiff
- The defendant failed to uphold their duty of care
- This failure led to an accident
- The plaintiff suffered measurable injuries in the accident
As you can imagine, there are many different situations that can be considered as a tort judging by these criteria, meaning that there is no exhaustive list of personal injury types in the US law books, and no two accidents are alike. Each of these issues will need to be determined and agreed upon by both the defendant and the plaintiff, and if no agreement is reached, then the only option may be to file a lawsuit and have the entire case heard by a judge and/or jury.
Whether you are certain that your situation will qualify as a personal injury, or if you are unsure of your rights and options moving forward, speaking with an experienced personal injury attorney is one way to understand your circumstances and gain insight into what you need to do next. Insurance companies will try to manipulate your stress and confusion in this period of time in an attempt to convince you to accept their low offer, but do not panic, and do not fall for it. There is a path forward for compensation, and your Pensacola personal injury attorney can help.
As an individual with little exposure to personal injury claims, it can be extremely stressful to try to make sense of your injuries and your rights at the same time that you are trying to come to terms with your injuries, get your life back on track, and move forward after this terrible experience. Your lawyer will be able to handle the administrative work, answer any questions that you have, and hopefully put your anxiety to rest so that you can have the mental and emotional space necessary to focus on your own needs.
Common Causes of Personal Injuries
The following are just a few examples of the many causes of personal injuries that can entitle a victim to compensation from the defendant or their insurance company. Remember that no two accidents are alike, and the type of accident does not necessarily dictate whether or not the victim can seek retribution – as long as the accident and injuries have the four criteria mentioned above, then you have a good chance of being able to move forward with your case.
- Drunk driving
- Texting and driving
- Speeding and other reckless driving
- Motorcycle accidents
- Assault
- Construction site accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Defective products
- Medical malpractice
Calculating Damages After a Personal Injury in Pensacola
The central issue to any personal injury case is that of damages, and how much the defendant owes the plaintiff. There are countless damages that a victim will need to gather and calculate, and once they have completed the calculations they will need to defend them through negotiations. As you can imagine, this process can be drawn out and stressful. Florida has a four-year statute of limitations for most personal injury cases, meaning that you and your lawyer will have four years from the date of the accident (longer in rare instances) to either negotiate a settlement or file a lawsuit. Once the statute expires, you will have little to no legal recourse available.
The following is an overview of the damages in a personal injury case, all of which your attorney will help you understand as they specifically relate to your situation.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the basis of a personal injury case and are composed of all of the financially-measurable impacts that you suffer as a result of the accident. They include things like your medical expenses, your lost wages from time missed at work, any vacation time or PTO that you have cashed in to cover missed work, and more. Your attorney will take a close look at your finances in order to identify all expenses connected to your accident and compile them to be presented to the insurance company as part of the damages that you are seeking.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are the other half of the personal injury damages that you and your attorney will seek compensation for, and they are much more complicated and more likely to be met with resistance from the insurance company. These damages seek compensation for impacts that do not have readily-measurable financial values associated with them, such as the actual pain and suffering that you have endured as a victim of the accident. While they are more difficult to calculate—and to defend during negotiations—they are no less important.