The nature of your job or the day-to-day tasks you carry out might provide the grounds for risk and putting yourself or others in harm’s way. While there are jobs and tasks which are obviously risky in nature, such as construction work, there are others which might not be as obvious. Common tasks such as driving your car in between destinations presents the risk of a car accident. You will be surprised how even the most basic of tasks can present risk into an individual’s life, often due to no act of their own. Very often the risk present in activities is not inherent, but rather a result of negligence. This negligence in turn may result in a serious injury which may harm all areas of an individual’s life. Safety measures under these circumstances become a necessity.
Since the chances of an injury or accident are high, as unfortunate as it may be, you might find yourself in such a situation. When faced with an accident, it is important that you know how to act to protect yourself and your loved ones to the best of your ability. One of the key things you should turn to when faced with an accident is a personal injury lawyer. A personal injury lawyer is a professional equipped with the legal experience to help you with your claim. Here are 10 reasons why you need a lawyer after an accident, and how they can help you get through your time of need.
1. Protect Your Interests
Accidents can have a number of consequences and repercussions on an individual’s life, both in the short-term and long-term. To accommodate these claims and damages in court, victims of accidents become entitled to some sort of compensation, whether from their insurance company, the negligent party, or both. This is when the importance of a good personal injury lawyer becomes evident.
Since some of these claims are hypotheticals and predictions of the kind of damage that may arise in the future, the compensation you get out of an accident becomes reliant in part on your ability to negotiate, how you present the facts of your case, and more importantly, how aware you are of personal injury cases and the damage that may arise in the future. Of course, this responsibility would fall on the shoulders of your personal injury lawyer, who should be well versed in these cases and should be able to employ their experience to serve your needs.
2. Compensation for Physical Damage
The most immediate effect an accident can have on an individual is to damage their physical health. Of course the seriousness of the accident will determine the seriousness of the physical damage, which can include a number of impairments affecting basic functions. An accident can result in impaired movement or motor function, which would make getting around a struggle. An accident can result in an impairment to senses, such as touch, smell, and vision, which would completely change how one engages with the world and their environment.
An accident can cause memory loss or impaired cognitive function, which would make expressing thoughts and emotions a struggle. These are some simple examples which show the different kinds of physical damage one can suffer as a result of an accident. Hiring a lawyer after an accident will allow them to assess and factor into your claim the damage incurred, both present and future, and ensure that you get what you are owed.
3. Compensation for Psychological Damage
Almost certainly, a serious injury which results from an accident entails more than just physical trauma. In the wake of an accident, victims suffer from psychological and emotional trauma, which in some cases can last a lifetime. This is another reason for which hiring a lawyer is a must, in order to seek compensation for the damages caused. For one, an accident will most likely result in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can dramatically disturb your day-to-day life, as the resulting anxiety takes a hold of you.
While some PTSD symptoms might be directly tied to the accident, such as reliving the incident in various ways, feeling edgy and alert, or blocking out your feelings and memories, it can also go on to affect aspects of your life that are not related to the accident itself. Victims of PTSD may start to form difficult beliefs and feelings related to trust, safety, anger, and guilt. Other psychological problems which may arise include depression, anxiety, and insomnia, all of which heavily impact one’s life and present a long-term struggle.
4. Reimbursement for Medical Rehabilitation
The treatment and rehabilitation process for physical and psychological damage which results from an accident can be a life-long process. In the most trivial of cases, treatment can last years, particularly where psychological damage is concerned, as victims attempt to identify the and remedy the root of the trauma. There are a lot of options and courses of action medical professionals can provide, but there will always be a cost incurred. More often than not, the cost of treatment will be directly tied to its effectiveness, and therefore the effectiveness for treatment will be directly tied to one’s financial ability.
While some of the compensation in a personal injury case is awarded for pain and suffering incurred, or punitive damages, there is a portion that is dedicated to medical treatment and rehabilitation. In this light, some of the compensation you are owed from your claim directly funnels into the expenses and medical bills which arise from the accident as some kind of reimbursement. A personal injury lawyer would ensure that accurate numbers are presented for a comprehensive treatment, to ensure that they maximize the compensation you get, and by extension funds guaranteed for your treatment.
5. Offset a Loss in Income
As the victim of an accident faces physical and psychological impairment, so does their ability to fulfill their duties at work. Under these circumstances, one might be temporarily or even permanently put out of a job, depending on the severity of the situation. This loss of income makes way for greater financial instability, in addition to the pressure applied from paying rehabilitative medical expenses. As a result, the individual in question struggles to support themselves and their loved ones financially, all because someone was neglectful towards personal safety.
Employing the services of a lawyer ensures that these damages are accommodated as well. You need to consider that even if you are temporarily put out of a job, this means that your career path has been delayed, promotions that may have happened sooner will definitely be happening later, and you can no longer leverage opportunities which may have presented themselves in the periphery to your main job. This greatly harms your ability to provide for yourself and your loved ones, and receiving compensation through these claims can significantly alleviate the financial struggle you face as a serious injury victim.
6. Damages to Quality of Life
Since the repercussions of an accident means physical damage, psychological damage, and a long treatment process, amongst many other things, one can only imagine the effect an accident will have on an individual’s quality of life. A serious injury victim will to some degree witness a reduction in their quality of life. As they attempt to resume their day-to-day activities or partake in the hobbies they love the most, they will immediately notice that they can no longer enjoy them as they once did. This will extend from how they engage with activities on an individual level, to how they engage with them in a social setting, which can cause a rift between them and their loved ones; the damage incurred to victims’ quality of life can add to their anguish.
While in part this is largely linked to the physical and psychological damage that is caused by the accident, changes to the quality of life offer separate grounds for a personal injury lawyer to claim compensation. Damages are no longer of a singular nature and impact interpersonal and social aspects of the individual’s life.
7. Level the Playing Field
You need to keep in mind that as the victim you are not the only person who has employed the services of a lawyer. The at-fault party will have also hired a defense lawyer to protect their own interests, and ensure that the compensation they pay is at a minimum. As such, the defense will attempt to question the integrity of some of the claims and the alleged extent of the damage. Naturally, the type of accident will dictate the type of personal injury lawyer you will employ and the experience they have.
One of the most common types of accidents is car accidents, which will require that you hire car accident lawyers who know the ins and outs of these types of cases and how best to rebut the defense. A good personal injury lawyer will be able to refute the defense’s claims with hard evidence, and relevant information, which support your claims and make your case solid.
8. Get Some Peace of Mind
Dealing with the fallout of an accident can be stressful, as you file for days off work, make medical appointments, assess the damage, and try to get things back on track. Adding legal specifics to your table does not necessarily take the load off either. However, when you hire a personal injury lawyer, they can attend to those specifics and take that responsibility off your shoulders. They act as an intermediary and save you lots of time, by collecting all the information and evidence needed to support your case, assessing and evaluating the extent of damage and the types of claims you can make, and handle all the legal paperwork necessary to move forward. In that respect, you can get some peace of mind knowing that a party is pursuing compensation on your behalf, without needing too much involvement on your part.
9. Nothing to Lose
Employing the legal services of a personal injury lawyer means that you have someone keeping track of your settlement claim and that you get the compensation you deserve. However, setting aside all the specifics and how they take on the bulk of that responsibility, you also have nothing to lose from hiring a personal injury lawyer. One of the main benefits is that most personal injury lawyers take cases on a contingency fee basis. What this means is that there is no fee paid to the lawyer in advance, nor is a fee paid if they lose your case.
So in that sense, you also do not have a financial burden to worry about. Your lawyer assumes the risk, and increases your chances for compensation. It looks like a great deal to have after an accident, which only demands a small-time investment on your part.
10. Get Help with Litigation
You may be surprised to know that litigation is not always necessary to get compensation from accidents. Negotiations with the at-fault party may get you the desired result, and appropriate compensation. In these situations, a personal injury lawyer still brings a lot of value with their experience in accidents. However, a personal injury lawyer brings more value particularly when the at-fault party contests your compensation claim, and litigation becomes necessary. A personal injury lawyer should be knowledgeable of the laws in the jurisdiction of which your case falls, and provide legal counsel which best serves your interests. It is important in these circumstances to be aware that the compensation you are owed is not an overask, and rather your right to accommodate for the different kinds of damage this accident has caused.
An accident can mean dealing with a lot of pain and suffering across the board. Serious injury victims’ lives, and the lives of those they love, sustain a lot of damage all because some party was neglectful and disregardful of personal safety. Abiding by safety regulations, and being cautious of danger can go a long way in ensuring that less people become victims of serious injury. However, in the event that you find yourself in the aftermath of an accident, hiring a lawyer as you can see is very important and has a lot to offer.
