After a car accident in which you suffered a serious injury, you may choose to employ a lawyer to represent your legal case against a negligent driver or another responsible party. If you choose to hire a lawyer, you may have questions regarding a variety of concerns, and they will likely have questions for you as they proceed with your case. Some of the topics of questions may include attorney’s fees, deadlines, and insurance policies.
Essentially, you can feel free to ask your lawyer any question related to your accident and your pursuit of compensation. What questions you should ask our car accident attorneys are entirely up to you. Conversations with your attorney are privileged and confidential, so you can feel at ease when discussing the events and details of your case.
What You Will Want to Know From Your Lawyer
When victims of car accidents hire lawyers, their initial questions usually revolve around the cost of legal representation and an estimate of their potential compensation. Every case is different, so no one can give you an accurate assessment of the value of your case until they analyze the facts and details of the accident. Victims may also want to find out how long their case will take and what to say to insurance company representatives. The specifics of your case will determine what questions you should ask your car accident lawyer.
The Cost of Legal Representation
If you are interested in hiring a lawyer, you may be questioning if you can afford one. We operate on a contingency-fee basis, which means we do not collect any upfront fees from you before starting your case. We only collect our payment after we secure a settlement or award in your favor.
An Estimate of Potential Compensation
The next question on the minds of victims involves the amount of compensation they may receive from a settlement or court-awarded offer. Car accidents can leave victims with severe injuries that can cause hospitalization and extensive care, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The cost of this care, aside from the lost wages victims may suffer if they cannot return to work, can financially cripple a family. While potential compensation will vary by case, a car accident lawyer can help you estimate your total losses and seek fair compensation for your suffering.
Timeframe and Deadlines
Another question to ask your lawyer, should you choose to hire one, is about the deadlines that pertain to your case. Some states require you to report a serious accident to the police, and there may be deadlines for filing a claim with either your insurance company or that of the other driver.
Aside from that, there are statutes of limitations in some states that require you to file a personal injury lawsuit within a certain timeframe. The countdown usually begins on the date of the accident. If you miss these deadlines, you may lose your chance to take legal action against a responsible party with a lawsuit.
What to Say to Insurers
Another good question for your lawyer is what you should and should not say to your insurance adjuster. After an accident, your lawyer can handle all of the necessary communications with insurance companies, but you may be asked to answer a few questions yourself. A lawyer will likely advise you to answer the questions accurately and briefly and to avoid answering small talk questions like, “how are you feeling today?” A commonplace answer may come up again when negotiating your losses later in the case.
What questions you should ask your car accident lawyer are dependent on your particular case. Additionally, your attorney will ask you questions to help develop your claim.
What Your Lawyer Will Want to Know From You
When taking on your case, your lawyer will need the details of the accident as well as you can remember them. They may ask you for police reports, medical documentation of your accident injury. This would include any hospital records as well as documentation for ongoing treatment and receipts for prescription medication.
If you have yet to see a doctor, your lawyer may recommend that you do so, since some car accident injuries may take days or weeks to surface. Whiplash can have delayed symptoms, according to Mayo Clinic. Your lawyer may also ask you to begin logging your pain and suffering in a daily journal to establish evidence of your losses.
Ultimately, their questions will serve to help them establish negligence on the part of the other driver, calculate your losses, and estimate what fair compensation would look like in your case.
Seek Legal Representation Today
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), car accidents in 2018 resulted in more than 36,000 fatalities. Some car accidents prove entirely avoidable when drivers observe their duty of care on the road.
If you or a loved one suffered a car accident and now deal with severe injuries, you may qualify to hold the other driver or another party responsible for your suffering. You may be able to seek compensation for your economic and noneconomic losses.
Call Ben Crump Law, PLLC for a free case review to see how our car accident lawyers can help you. You can reach us at (844) 730-0233.
