Personal Injury Attorney in Burlington

A Burlington, VT personal injury lawyer can help you or a loved one when you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident caused by someone else's negligence. Whether it’s an icy road, a reckless driver, or some other incident in Vermont that left you with serious injuries, you need an attorney who understands the process to file claims and get you the fair compensation you deserve. 

If you or someone you love has had their life turned upside down by a tragic accident that wasn't your fault, you shouldn’t be the one who has to deal with the consequences. Your life has been forever changed, and you may have long-lasting injuries to cope with. In these situations, a Burlington personal injury attorney can help you file in court to get the support and the means you need to move on with your life after a devastating accident.

Understanding Vermont's Car Accident Statute of Limitations

Each state has specific laws about the time frame when you can file a lawsuit after you have been seriously injured. It is known as the statute of limitations, and if you fail to file your lawsuit within a timely manner in the state's statute of limitations, you will be barred from bringing a lawsuit. It is important to act quickly after the accident, but you can talk to a Burlington personal injury lawyer directly to confirm you are within the right timeline to file. 

Vermont is no exception to this rule, and Vermont has a three year statute of limitations for both property damage and personal injury claims. This does not mean that your personal injury case needs to be completed in this time frame, but simply that it must be filed within that time frame. As your Burlington personal injury attorney can tell you, it’s always in your best interests to file sooner rather than later. 

How Do I Know if I Have a Legal Case After My Vermont Car Accident? 

There are many different questions that must be answered after you have been seriously hurt in a Vermont car accident or other type of personal injury case. You may be investigating different ways to get legal assistance and determining whether or not you have grounds to file a legal claim. Some of the most important things to consider as you decide whether or not to open a lawsuit include: 

• Have you lost money? 
• Did someone else violate the law? 
• Was a contract breached? 
• Did you suffer some form of harm?
• Did you fall on something that should have been cleaned up by someone else? 
• Did a defective product fail to operate safely and left you with the consequences in the form of a severe injury? 
• Did someone else intentionally hurt or assault you? 

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then it is very possible that you have grounds to file a claim with a lawyer. 

Who Could Be Responsible for an Injury? 

One of the most important elements of a negligence lawsuit is being able to illustrate that someone else caused your injuries and left you with the consequences of this situation. You must be able to show that the other party was responsible for the injuries that you sustained and that it left you with damages. Many people are curious how one can illustrate damages. Some of the questions you can ask yourself in this process include:

• Have you already received medical bills for treating your injuries? 
• Have you had to pay for additional childcare costs? 
• Have you missed time at work? 
• Did you have to repair or entirely replace your vehicle? 
• Did family members have to step in and take care of you while you were recovering?
• Is there perceivable damage to your home? 

If you can show that another party was responsible for the injuries you sustained, this information can become the basis of a defective product or personal injury lawsuit. It is important to gather and keep any evidence you have related to these kinds of claims, as it could dramatically help you in filing a suit and moving forward with your life. Your Burlington personal injury lawyer can help. 

How Is Breach of Contract Different From Personal Injury? 

There are many different ways that someone can be wronged and owed compensation, and one such example is through a breach of contract case. A knowledgeable Burlington personal injury attorney can sit down with you to go over the specific facts in your case, but in general, this involves a claim that another person was legally responsible for adhering to the terms of a contract with you and, in failing to do so, left you suffering damages or harm. All of this information can become the basis of a breach of contract case. In order to file a breach of contract case, you must first prove that there was a valid contract between you and the other party. 

You must then illustrate that the other party failed to adhere to the contract and therefore breached it due to not meeting his or her contractual burden. Then you will need to show that you suffered some form of economic loss. There are many different case elements that can apply in breach of contract cases, so you'll want to discuss the specifics with your knowledgeable attorney. A lawyer can walk you through this process and help explain to you what to expect so that you can avoid many of the most common missteps. 

How Do I Know I Have a Personal Injury Case? 

If you know that you've recently been hurt but are unsure about your next steps, you may be wondering whether or not you have legal grounds to file a personal injury case. You may no longer be able to enjoy the life that you once had and may have questions about how to proceed effectively, and that could mean it’s time to file a personal injury claim with the help of a lawyer. 

A personal injury case is when someone suffers emotional or bodily harm due to the negligence of another party. Personal injury lawsuits cover three different kinds of issues that can show up after an incident: emotional distress, pain and suffering, and actual bodily harm. Many people easily understand actual bodily harm, which can include significant physical injuries. Compensation for this can cover future anticipated medical expenses as well as existing medical bills. This can include physical therapy, home care, and additional surgeries if necessary. Pain and suffering does not apply in every single case, but can be relevant to your personal injury claim if you can show that you have had severe impacts of this accident. Personal injury is typically associated with the bodily harm aspect, but it can also include pain and suffering or emotional trauma. 

What Is Settlement? 

Did you know that nearly 95% of all personal injury claims are settled without ever going to court? The settlement process may show up in your personal injury claim, and if so, you should discuss it directly with your experienced personal injury attorney. This usually starts with filing the appropriate paperwork with the state where the injury occurred. Your legal counsel will then negotiate directly with the insurance carrier around a fair settlement offer. The insurance company or other involved party may be the first one to come forward with a claim and share details. 

The settlement process officially ends the legal aspect of the claim, meaning that when you accept a settlement offer, you must then drop your existing legal claim. In the event that negotiations fail, however, you do still have the right to take the matter to trial, and in this case, your lawyer will still proceed as they planned and both sides' arguments will be heard before a judgment is rendered. Courts do reserve the right to impose additional compensation for punitive damages and attorney's fees in some situations when the other side was not capable of working through the legal issues in a settlement conversation. 

How Long Does a Personal Injury Case Take? 

In an initial meeting with your personal injury attorney, you will discuss some of the specifics of your legal claim. This will help you to understand some of the key legal issues that you will face and some of the potential uphill challenges that might apply as your case goes forward. It can be a shock to realize that the other parties in a suit do not intend to resolve things peacefully even though you may feel that it is relatively clear that it was their fault in causing the accident. This can be a very frustrating situation, especially when you simply want to be able to get on with your life but are no longer able to do so because of the injuries you’ve sustained. 

When the medical bills are piling up, it is natural to wonder how long your legal case might take, but there is no simple answer to this question because there are many different factors that can influence the outcome of your personal injury case. This is because there is no typical personal injury case, and you cannot account for the other party's actions until your lawyer has started to communicate with those other people. 

Speaking directly with a personal injury attorney to get insights on your own case is strongly recommended. You should engage a personal injury lawyer right away if you're out of work for more than a couple of days, or if your medical bills are already over a few thousand dollars. Beginning the initial paperwork process and talking with your lawyer formally notifies the other side that you intend to file a claim. Your lawyer may submit what is known as a demand letter indicating the severity of your injuries and the intention to file a lawsuit. It is also possible that the other party reaches out during this time in an effort to try to resolve things, but it is not guaranteed. 

A judgment can be entered for a variety of different reasons during the court motions phase of your personal injury case, which may or may not happen before the discovery process. The case can have a judgment entered or be dismissed due to issues, such as venue, jurisdiction, improper process or default. The discovery process is one of the most exhaustive in the personal injury timeline. It can last anywhere from six months to a year and potentially even longer depending on the severity of your injuries and the extent of your medical bills. This involves investigating any potential disputes about the event, possible accident reconstruction, digging up facts, gathering eyewitness testimony, submitting a demand letter and waiting until you reach a stage known as maximum medical improvement. 

Once you have a clear picture of how your injury has impacted your life to date and how it is likely to impact you in the future, the next step is to negotiate settlement. Settlement through arbitration, negotiation, or mediation is very popular with personal injury cases, and the vast majority of them settle at this point in time. 

However, if you are not presented with a fair settlement offer that would allow you to move on with your life and put the pieces of your life back together, you will instead want to go to trial. Your attorney will have been preparing your entire case for trial during this process just in case settlement was not possible. It is very important to retain an experienced personal injury attorney who has been through the settlement and trial process before. This will give you the best possible opportunity to recover maximum compensation.

What Should I Ask in an Initial Consultation? 

In your initial consultation, you need to get familiar with the law firm’s experience in this area and their overall approach to your case. This will help you decide whether or not this is the right firm for your needs. 

If you’re ready to take your first steps, you can contact the experts at Morgan & Morgan for a free, no-obligation case evaluation to get started.