Personal Injury Lawyers in Vermont

Vermont is home to dozens of world-class ski resorts that attract skiers from all over the world. The Green Mountain State is also home to premise liability lawsuits that involve skiing accidents. Ski resorts have a duty of care to ensure every skier leaves a resort in good health. Premise liability cases arise at ski resorts because of poor maintenance on rental equipment, as well as not properly preparing the slopes for skiers.

Premise liability is a legal issue if you get hurt because of the defective or dangerous conditions present on another party’s property. This means you might have a case against a neighbor who failed to shovel the sidewalks or you might have a case against a shopping mall that failed to address a faulty escalator.

If you suffered one or more injuries because of the defective or dangerous condition on another party’s property, you should contact a personal injury lawyer in Vermont to review your case.

Let’s look at some other examples of common personal injury claims in Vermont.

Auto Accidents

As the most common type of personal injury claim in the United States, auto accidents are a particularly prevalent type of personal injury claim in Vermont. Combine distracted driving with mostly rural roads and you have the perfect storm for auto collisions. For some auto accident claims, it can be difficult to attribute fault to either party. This is why hiring a personal injury lawyer in Vermont makes sense.

One of the personal injury attorneys at Morgan & Morgan will conduct a thorough investigation of everything that is associated with an auto accident lawsuit. The key to getting fully compensated for a car collision claim is to gather and organize persuasive evidence such as camera footage and the photographs taken of your vehicle.

Filing an auto insurance claim after an accident also might require the legal expertise of a personal injury lawyer in Vermont.

Medical Malpractice

Despite the heroic efforts that you see on television medical dramas, healthcare providers are not immune from facing personal injury lawsuits. Medical malpractice committed by nurses, surgeons, physicians, pharmacists, and even psychologists remains a huge problem in the United States. A majority of medical malpractice lawsuits stem from a healthcare provider failing to provide competent medical care.

Medical malpractice comes in many forms, including misdiagnosis, poor treatments, surgical mishaps, and incorrect drug prescriptions. Medical malpractice typically involves a type of negligence that sometimes can include malicious intent. If you believe you are a victim of medical malpractice, you should consult with a personal injury lawyer in Vermont. An accomplished law firm such as Morgan & Morgan has a team of investigators that will get to the bottom of your personal injury claim.

Slip and Falls

You do not have to be a Vermont native to know the state is known as a winter wonderland. The presence of snow and ice from October to late spring means an increase in slip and fall incidents. Businesses and homeowners that fail to clear their properties of snow and ice might be legally liable for causing a slip and fall.

Snow and ice are not the only culprits of slip and fall incidents. Businesses that serve beverages also run the risk of facing personal injury claims because customers slipped and fell. Most convenience stores operate some form of beverage station that is a prime location for creating slick floors. A slip and fall incident can cause serious injuries that include a fractured wrist and prolonged, intense back pain.

At Morgan & Morgan, we have one goal in mind when we represent you in a personal injury lawsuit: To get you full compensation for your injuries. Personal injury cases can involve two types of compensation, which are special and general compensatory damages.

Special Compensatory Damages

Special compensatory damages cover the costs associated with a personal injury incident. Medical expenses represent the most money you can expect to spend after an incident that caused one or more injuries. Special compensatory damages pay for diagnostic tests, treatment programs, assistive devices, and prescription medications. If you suffered one or more injuries, make sure to obtain copies of all medical records before you file an insurance claim and/or a civil lawsuit.

You might qualify for special compensatory damages if you lost wages because of a personal injury incident. Special compensatory damages also cover the cost of property damage and daily household expenses.

General Compensatory Damages

While special compensatory damages are considered economic damages, general compensatory damages fall under the category of non-economic damages. General compensatory damages do not come with a price tag. Instead, a personal injury lawyer in Vermont argues that you suffered financial losses because of emotional distress. A serious personal injury incident can trigger Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can disrupt your life for years to come.

Part of the more than $20 billion in monetary damages that we have recovered for our clients addressed pain and suffering issues.

Our work is not done after you receive monetary damages. We take your personal injury lawsuit to the finish line by ensuring the defendant pays what the court ordered you to receive. Receiving a favorable decision on monetary damages is much different than collecting the money awarded to you.

The defendant in your case might claim he or she cannot take care of the entire amount of monetary damages. If that happens, one of our lawyers will conduct an investigation to locate undisclosed assets. We also might file a request to garnish the defendant’s wages. If the defendant has liability insurance, the insurance company should cover the full amount of your award for monetary damages.

Vermont gives plaintiffs three years to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you fail to meet the three-year deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit, the attorney representing the defendant will notify the court of your legal predicament. The court will then dismiss your lawsuit.

Although three years is more than enough time to file a personal injury lawsuit, you should file your lawsuit as soon as possible after the incident. First, you need money to pay off expensive medical bills and to make up for lost income. Second, witness accounts of a personal injury incident tend to be more accurate right after an incident. Waiting three years to go to trial might lead to questionable testimony made by your witnesses.

The party that you blame for causing your injuries might turn the tables and claim you are at least partially responsible for causing the personal injury incident. This happens frequently for auto accident claims. Vermont’s modified comparative fault rule might mean you do not receive the full award for monetary damages.

Let’s say you win a $100,000 judgment, but the court finds you 20 percent responsible for causing the personal injury incident. This means your award for monetary damages is not $100,000, but instead it is $80,000. Vermont also prevents plaintiffs from receiving any monetary damages if they share at least 50 percent of the blame for a personal injury incident.

Unless an insurance company and/or the defendant in a civil lawsuit agree to settle your claim quickly, a personal injury case can take months to conclude. Most personal injury cases involve complex legal rules that require the expertise of a personal injury lawyer in Vermont. Although your case might take a considerable amount of time to litigate, you should never settle for less money than you deserve.

The answer is short and simple: Work with a personal injury lawyer in Vermont who charges on a contingency fee basis. An attorney who operates on a contingency fee basis gets compensated when you receive an award for monetary damages. You pay nothing upfront to receive the best legal services from a law firm like Morgan & Morgan.

Too much money is riding on your personal injury case for you to hire an inexperienced attorney who does not specialize in litigating personal injury cases. You want to work with Morgan & Morgan because for more than 40 years, we have established a record of success when representing clients that file personal injury lawsuits.

Schedule a free case evaluation with one of our personal injury attorneys.