Personal Injury Lawsuits in Covington

There is one more important part of any personal injury claim: You can only make a personal injury claim if another party is responsible for the injury that you suffered. Typically, another party is responsible if they behaved either recklessly or negligently and that behavior resulted in your injury. 

While there are almost infinite ways that another party could cause a personal injury, some examples are:

• Running a red light and causing a car accident
• Lying about your behavior to your boss to get you fired
• Manufacturing a product that isn’t safe to use
• Improperly storing food that is then served to you at a restaurant
• Threatening you or your family members

Before you can make a personal injury claim, your personal injury lawyer in Covington will have to determine which party or parties are responsible for your injuries. Typically, your attorney will investigate your claim and look for evidence of liability. Your attorney may also research case law to see who was found liable in similar claims. 

Once your attorney has determined who is liable for your injury, they can begin the process of getting you compensation.

Every personal injury case is different, but most cases will include the following steps.

Gathering Evidence

Your attorney needs to be able to prove that you were severely injured, the injury has a monetary value, and another party was responsible for the injury. This usually requires your attorney to gather information from witnesses, doctors, police, or anyone else with information about your case. 

Sometimes your attorney will get the opinion of an expert in the field, particularly when your injury is a result of a defective product.

Negotiating

Once the evidence has been collected, your lawyer will present some portion of that evidence to the responsible party. This lets the liable party know that you have the proof needed to win a case if it goes to trial. Since most people don’t want to spend time and money on a trial, the other party may be willing to negotiate for a fair settlement.

In many cases, the negotiations will take place with an insurance company rather than the liable party. Insurance companies are typically responsible for paying compensation after car accidents or when a business is a liable party. 

Because insurance company representatives understand civil law and the potential awards from a trial, they are usually more willing to negotiate, particularly when your lawyer has strong evidence.

Settling or Going to Trial

With any luck, the responsible party (or their insurance company) will offer you a fair settlement. However, when they are unwilling to do this, your lawyer will need to file a lawsuit on your behalf.

Civil trials typically take a year or longer to complete. In addition, you cannot be certain of the outcome—you might walk away with nothing. However, if a jury finds it in your favor, you might win more money than you would have gotten from a settlement. 

An attorney is usually only willing to take a case if they believe they can win at trial. So even if your case goes to trial, your chances of obtaining compensation should be strong.

Medical treatment and therapy are expensive in the United States. A severe injury could easily cost you tens of thousands of dollars in the best case and millions in the worst case. 

Your chances of recovering that money from a responsible party are stronger if you hire a personal injury lawyer. Without one, you could face severe financial repercussions. You should not have to go into debt because someone else was reckless or negligent.

You can find a skilled, dedicated personal injury attorney at the law firm of Morgan and Morgan. We have thousands of attorneys located in offices throughout the United States. When we take your personal injury case, you can rest assured that our extensive resources are on your side.

Harm to your reputation is the most complicated thing to put value to. If you have been physically or emotionally injured, you can produce bills for the cost of treatment. However, if your reputation has been damaged, the damages are usually in the form of lost income and opportunities instead of bills.

Just because you can’t produce a bill doesn’t mean your attorney can’t calculate how much harm you suffered. Your attorney has the knowledge needed to calculate how much you likely would have earned if harm to your reputation hadn’t interfered with your career or other opportunities. 

You and your attorney can seek compensation for these lost potential earnings with a personal injury claim.

The best time to hire a personal injury attorney from Morgan and Morgan is soon after you have been injured. Our attorneys will be more likely to help you get compensation for your injuries if we start work right away. It is easier to investigate a case if we can speak to witnesses while the incident is fresh in their minds.

Additionally, financial pressure can build on you the longer you go without being paid. Eventually, that pressure might convince you to settle for a lower amount of money than you deserve. If we start working on your case quickly, you are less likely to be pressured by unpaid bills or a lack of income.

In most cases, you do not pay a personal injury lawyer out of pocket. This is because personal injury attorneys take your case on contingency. They will only get paid if they can get you compensation for your personal injury claim. 

Suppose that your attorney fails to win you money. In that case, you do not have to pay them for their time. If you and your attorney are successful in your case, the lawyer will take a portion of the compensation you receive.

Nobody deserves to be injured due to the negligence of another—but it happens every day. When you’ve been injured, you deserve to receive fair compensation for your expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering.

However, you shouldn’t expect a liable party or their insurance company to give you that money freely. Instead, you will probably have to jump through hoops to get what you deserve. And when you are suffering a personal injury, jumping through those hoops is stressful.

At Morgan and Morgan, we remove that stress by ensuring that experienced, caring attorneys work zealously on your case. If you have been injured by another in Covington, contact us immediately to schedule a free case evaluation.