Things To Avoid Right After A Car Accident

Road accidents can occur at any time, despite being a competent driver. Committing some common mistakes after an accident can get you involved in legal hassles and lower your chances of getting insurance coverage. Here are a few things that the lawyers advise to avoid immediately after a car accident:

• Leaving the accident scene: You must remain at the site even if the accident is minor one. If you leave the scene, you may be charged with a hit-and-run case, which involves heavy penalties, particularly if someone is injured. When involved in a car crash, stay there and render help to the other driver and injured passengers.
• Ignoring any injuries: Considering any injuries as mere bruises or blow is a big mistake. It is essential that you seek medical attention soon after the accident, as you may have some internal injuries. Evaluate your injuries, as the accidents can be quite traumatic at times. Internal bleeding or any closed fractures can worsen with time, so you must seek immediate help.
• Not calling law enforcement: Whether the accident is minor or major, report it immediately to the law enforcement agency to record the statements. If someone is seriously wounded, call 911 immediately. Not involving the police and settling the incident with the other party is a mistake that you must avoid. If you will not report the accident, the insurance company cannot initiate the claims process due to lack of evidence of injuries and damages.
• Avoid calling the insurance company: It is advisable that you do not call your insurance company immediately after the accident, as you may be emotionally disturbed and stressed. Get yourself examined by a doctor to know if you have any serious injuries and consult your lawyer before calling the insurance provider.
• Avoid admitting the fault or taking any responsibility: If you apologize to the other driver, it shows that you are taking the responsibility of whatever happened, which is enough for the insurance company to refuse your claim, so make sure you do not admit any fault.

Questions To Ask Before Hiring A Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have suffered a slip and fall injury or hurt yourself in an auto accident, you must hire services of a personal injury lawyer. However, it is critical to choose the one who can keep you rights protected and work with your best interests in mind. During the initial consultation, you should ask the attorney various questions about his legal experience and qualifications. Communicating with the lawyer will help you decide whether he can handle your case efficiently or not.

Here are some questions that you should ask a personal injury lawyer:

• What is your specialization?

In order to get the best representation for your personal injury case, you should consider hiring a lawyer that specializes in legal matters like yours. This will ensure that the lawyer is familiar with the concerned laws and provide appropriate guidance.

• Have you handled a similar case before?

You must ascertain that the lawyer has the potential to handle your case well, you make sure that he is experienced. Choosing a lawyer with considerable experience in handling similar cases is always beneficial.

• What were the results of the cases taken to trial?

Make sure that the lawyer whom you select has a trial experience. Most of the lawyers cite past trial results on their websites, so you can either check out the website or ask the lawyer to provide it to you.

• Will you provide me regular updates? Can I contact you directly whenever I have concerns?

For a successful professional relationship, you must feel easy while working with your lawyer. A good lawyer will provide you regular updates about your case and keep the communication lines open. You can expect him to provide a prompt and honest to all your queries.

• Do you have adequate staff to work on my case?

The personal injury lawyers who have a lot of cases might not be able to pay individualized attention to each client. It is, therefore, important that the lawyer should have sufficient paralegal staff. Ask the lawyer about the details of the staff members who will work on your case.

• What is your contingency fee?

Personal injury lawyers often charge on contingency basis, which means you do not have to pay any legal fee unless there is a successful settlement of claim. Make sure you choose an attorney who works on a contingent fee basis and never charges upfront fees. Make sure you understand how the fee is calculated.

• What is the expected outcome of my case?

A lawyer can give you an idea about the worth of your case, which is based on liability and known medical issues. Your lawyer will explain the legal proceedings; however make sure you choose a lawyer who gives you a clear picture about the case.

Choose an attorney who offers satisfactory answers to your queries and assures complete legal assistance support throughout the trial.

Types Of Personal Injury

Personal injury involves lawsuits that allow an injured petitioner to file a claim for damage caused due to someone’s deliberate or negligent behavior. The damage can be medical bills, lost wages, recovery expenses, compensation for pain, suffering, loss of consortium, reduced ability to work, diminished quality of life etc. There are variety of situations that may lead to personal injury but not all can be held as a ground for a lawsuit.

Here are some of the most common types of personal injuries that entail liability of the party at-fault:

• Auto Accident Cases: Car accident cases cover a major part of all the personal injury cases filed in the US. When an accident occurs, it is usually because a person is not following the traffic rules or is driving carelessly. Thus, he may held responsible of the injuries suffered by the other party and recompense the damages.
• Slip and Fall Cases: These accidents are another common type of personal injury case and are based on premise liability laws. Property owners or tenants (in case of a rented property) have a general responsibility to keep their premises properly maintained to avoid injury to any visitor. If they fail to maintain proper safety standards and their neglect causes you to fall and suffer an injury, they can be held legally responsible and pay for your damages.
• Defective Product Cases: These lawsuits involve the use of substandard products that have caused personal injury or death. These cases may fall into three categories, defective manufacture, improper design or inadequate instructions. To receive compensation for the plaintiff, the product liability lawyer will need to prove that first, the product was certainly defective and second, the injuries are caused by using the product.
• Animal Bite Cases: In most cases, if a dog bites a person, the owner can be held liable to pay for the injuries suffered by the victim. Even if the dog has not shown aggressive behavior earlier, it is the owner’s responsibility to pay monetary compensation for the plaintiff’s medical bills, lost income, pain, suffering and property damage.

If you have suffered a personal injury, it is advisable that you hire an experienced lawyer who can represent your case in the court and get you the maximum amount of claim settlement.

Killeen Personal Injury Lawyer For Defective Products

If you or any of your loved ones suffer personal injury as a result of a dangerous or damaged product, you can receive compensation in the form of “damages” from the company responsible for manufacturing the product and putting in the market. You need to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer with knowledge of defective products litigation. The damages for such an incident should cover medical expenses, lost wage, as well as compensation for pain and suffering. Most lawyers in Killeen have a no-fee policy, according to which you do not have to pay any fee to the personal injury lawyer until you get results for your case.

Depending on the nature of your case, your attorney may suggest you to pursue a class action, whereby all the members of the public who have been affected by the product will fight the case together. You might want to choose a lawyer specializing in the nature of product that has affected you. For instance, you can get Depo-Provera lawyers, asbestos lawyers, car defect lawyers, and a wide number of other specialization lawyers in Killeen TX.

One of the most common cases of damage due to defective products include food poisoning cases, which include the sale of contaminated foods like beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, milk products, etc. your lawyer will determine whether it was a case of E.coli poisoning, restaurant food poisoning, or any other case of food poisoning, and pursue the case accordingly. Other more severe cases of defective product injury include injuries incurred at the workplace due to design defects in a machine, defects in children’s toys, design flaws in lawn mowers or other garden equipment, defective drills, flammable clothing, faulty ladders, inadequate safety restraints, etc.

Even if the injury does not appear to be directly caused by a defect in the machinery, you can sue the manufacturing company for not including clear warnings and instructions regarding the use of the machinery. If you suffer injury due to a damaged product, you must click photographs of the site of injury to serve as proof of your claim, take note of any witnesses to the incident, and preserve any medical bills that you pay for treating the injury. Collecting this evidence can help in making your case stronger, hence assisting your personal injury lawyer in winning the compensation that you deserve.

How Can A Custody Lawyer Help You?

Custody cases are amongst the most complicated and turbulent lawsuits and finding oneself embroiled in such a case is no less than a nightmare. However, with a well-experienced custody lawyer to help you, the process can be a made a lot easier and streamlined. To start with, such a lawyer plays the role of the middleman between both parties, eliminating the need for direct communication, which can often result in unnecessary friction. Moreover, a child custody lawyer helps you to have a clear understanding of the laws of your state surrounding child custody, increasing the chances of you working in the direction of a win.

The child custody lawyer will evaluate the individual parameters of your case, including your variables, as well as those of the opponent party, hence coming up with a clear picture of the course that the case is likely to take. By understanding the points that could possibly work against you, you can make certain efforts, with the help of your lawyer, to eliminate them or decrease their impact by the day of the court hearing.

Other steps could include joining parenting classes, making renovations in your home, getting a better job, attending counseling sessions, etc. Cases in which you have lost custody of your children once and are trying to get it back can be more complicated. In these cases, your child custody lawyer can recommend other precautionary measures, such as attending all hearings of the case, following restriction clauses, abiding by visitation rules, returning your kids on time, etc. Sometimes it might be a better idea to request visitation or shared custody before fighting for complete custody.

 While choosing a child custody lawyer in Killeen TX, it is a good idea to carry out some basic research beforehand. Make sure that the lawyer you choose has a positive track record, and previous experience in dealing with child custody cases. It also helps to discuss issues regarding the lawyer’s fee well in advance. You want to be clear about any additional costs that shall be incurred in the process of the case beforehand, and also be clear about clauses regarding winning fee, etc.

Personal Injury Claims: When You Need A Lawyer

Being involved in a case of personal injury can be a traumatic experience, with everything, right from the injury itself, to the medical bills and absence of work affecting your life. Add to this the pressure of dealing with dodgy insurance companies, and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. It is here that the role of a personal injury lawyer comes into play. While this might initially seem to be an unnecessary expense, the effect that it has on making you get what you deserve, and putting you in a strong position in front of the insurance company, makes it worth it.

The following list elaborates some situations in which it is a great idea to hire a personal injury lawyer-

• Long-term deformity- If the personal injury that you are fighting for involves a permanent or long-term deformity or disability, you can be entitled to a lot more than you could expect. Hiring the right lawyer in Killeen TX could help you correctly evaluate and fight for your rights.
• Severe injury- The severity of the injury usually plays a major role in determining how much you get in a case of personal injury. Various factors need to be taken into account in such a case, including the cost and duration of treatment, how the injury affected your normal life etc. Experienced lawyers in Killeen know just how to document such a case in your favor, making the judges see the details that they need to.
• Troublesome insurance companies- If you are lucky enough to have an insurance company that pays you what you deserve, you might be able to do without a personal injury lawyer. However, this is not always the case, and in case of fraudulent insurance companies, your best resort is to hire a lawyer to represent you.
• Medical malpractice cases- If you are embroiled in a case of medical malpractice, it is a good idea to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer, since it is usually difficult to get your way with such a complex case on your own.
• Toxic exposure- Despite the severity of toxic exposure, it can be difficult to gather sufficient scientific evidence in such a case. When you are in a legal battle against huge chemical industries, you need the support of a personal injury lawyer to portray your case strongly in court.