Do You Need a Personal Injury Attorney After a Car Accident?

Car accidents are one of the most common ways people get serious injuries. If you’ve been involved in an accident, you may be wondering whether or not to hire a personal injury attorney. Well, it depends on the severity of the accident. 

If it’s just a minor accident, there’s no need to hire an attorney, as the damage can easily be resolved through insurance companies. However, when it’s a serious accident involving injuries and damage to properties, you’ll may have a good reason to hire a lawyer as soon as possible. An experienced legal expert can help establish who was at fault for the accident and which party has to pay the medical and mechanical expenses. A good attorney should also ensure you get the right compensation from your insurance company. 

After-Accident Scenarios Which May Require Hiring a Lawyer:

Let’s discuss a few of the after-accident scenarios that could require the help of an experienced attorney. If your case falls into the following categories, make sure you do your research before picking an attorney. While there are many excellent personal injury attorneys, there are also many that are not as trustworthy. Read online reviews and talk to several attorneys before making your choice.

1. Multiple parties were involved or liability is not clear.

Many car accidents involve multiple drivers and vehicles and sometimes pedestrians. In such accidents, many unique and complicated issues are likely to arise and affect the auto accident claims. Also keep in mind that, several legal representatives, insurance adjusters, and investigators will be working to determine the cause of the accident and who’s to be held liable. If you don’t have a legal expert to represent you, you may unfairly be blamed for more than your share of the fault.

Working with an attorney can go a long way in protecting you against counterclaims and cross-claims from the other parties. If you’re partially at fault for the accident, the lawyer can help keep your share of liability for damages to a minimum. 

2. The accident involved severe injuries or caused a death.

Car accidents that result in serious bodily injuries, permanent disabilities or even deaths certainly require hiring a lawyer immediately. Complicated lawsuits usually arise, and courts will have to consider several legal issues in order to give a sound judgment and offer the right compensation for the affected parties. In most cases, compensation for the damages is often very high. 

Only an experienced personal injury attorney can help you navigate the legal process, and calculate how much you deserve for the damages. 

3. You need to collect evidence about a car accident.

You’ll need to collect as much evidence as possible to best build your case for damages and obtain a reasonable settlement in your favor. An experienced lawyer knows how to obtain the critical information needed to win your case. While new vehicles are nowadays designed with a black box tool that keeps important records, such as a car’s speed and the time an accident occurred, you’ll need to hire a lawyer to request the court to allow access to this critical data.

4. Your insurance company refuses to pay or offers unreasonable settlement.

Insurance companies are like any other business in that their main goal is to make a profit. Because of this, they may fight awarding you a fair settlement, or worse, avoid paying your claims if you have a severe injury.

Generally, you’re advised to seek legal services before thinking of having the settlement talks with your insurer. A personal injury lawyer with experience in negotiating favorable settlement agreements for clients can protect you against insurance companies that engage in bad-faith negotiations, ensuring that you get what you rightfully deserve.