Tag Archive for: charlotte personal injury attorney

Minor Auto Accidents

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Your minor auto accident or motorcycle accident is important to us, no matter how small. Even in cases or claims where most of the damage is property damage (vs. personal injury or bodily injury), we can and want to help.

Clients quite often don’t know what their rights are in an minor auto accident, and it’s not always as easy as making a claim with the at-fault party’s auto insurance company. Quite often, those claims are denied or individuals are ignored by the insurance company, in hopes they will give up or go away. Additionally, there are times when an insurance company will offer a dramatically low value for your damaged property based on a quote provided by a third party they have a strong relationship with. Having a personal injury lawyer represent you, even if your claim is only for property damage, helps prevent this type of behavior.

Call our office for a consultation today. We’ll discuss what happened, and help you determine your options, which may range from pursuing a claim against the at-fault party’s insured, to simply determining what insurance is available for you to pay your existing medical bills or compensate you for your damaged property.

If you have questions about a minor auto accident or motorcycle accident, take the next step toward recovery and call 704.749.7747 today. We’re here to help.

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Lost Income From Car Accidents

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Lost Income From Car Accidents

If you’re in a car accident, chances are you will have lost income. Lost income from car accidents can be recovered in a personal injury claim. Your Charlotte personal injury attorney must establish or prove the amount of time lost, the wages associated with that time, and the connection to the accident. The key is documenting all aspects of your lost wages claim in order to recover lost income from your accident. You can significantly change how much your car accident is worth, with a successful lost wages claim.

Establishing Your Wages Prior To The Car Accident

In order to claim lost income from car accidents, you must first establish the wages you were making before the car accident. The personal injury adjuster will want to see proof of your wages, which can be established by some or all of the following:

Tax Returns

W2 Forms

Pay Stubs

A Signed, Notarized Wage Form From Your Employer

When you provide one or more of the above items to your personal injury lawyer, they can use that documentation as the foundation to prove the wage you were earning right before the car accident occurred. Unless there was a change in your employment status, it is safe to assume the same wage would have been paid to you if you continued to work and had never been in the accident.

Establishing Your Missed Hours

Your employer will need to complete a Lost Wages Form for your injury lawyer. Typically, someone at your job with authority to do so will complete the form. The form will need to disclose your average weekly hours, your hourly wage, the date range during which you missed work, and the total hours missed. With this information, your lawyer can calculate the total wages lost as a direct result of the accident.

Claiming Lost Earning Capacity

There are some instances in which your car accident may lead to a permanent reduction in your ability to earn wages. For instance, if your car accident leads to a permanent disability rating, it will most likely mean you can no longer work full time, or can no longer perform the job you performed prior to the accident.

In order to claim any sort of permanent lost earning capacity, you will need a doctor to verify your disability. Your personal injury lawyer can work with you in order to obtain an opinion from an independent medical examiner, which will indicate your lost wage earning capacity. This opinion will serve as evidence, whether your claim is a Workers’ Compensation claim or a personal injury claim.  It’s important to note that the attorney for the insurance company will most likely find a way to provide an opinion which argues there is not permanent lost earning capacity resulting from the accident. Both sides will argue these points as they negotiate the lost income from your car accident.

Claiming Lost Wages If You’re Self-Employed

If you are self-employed, you can expect a much more difficult process regarding a lost wages claim from a car accident. Self-employed individuals are often paid inconsistently due to the nature of being self-employed. Your attorney will work with you to gather as much information as possible in order to support your claim. What is most beneficial is to have a strong history of self-employment income which can be compared to your income after the accident.

Speak With A Personal Injury Lawyer Today

Concerned about getting a fair offer from an insurance adjuster for your car accident? Get legal protection today—it’s only a phone call away. The call is free and you will come away with a much better understanding of your options. You can reach us at 704.749.7747 or click to request a FREE CASE EVALUATION, and we will be in touch shortly.

Further Reading

If this article regarding “Lost income from car accidents” was helpful, you may find other helpful articles on our Personal Injury Blog. Thank you for visiting the website—we hope it has been helpful.

If you have significant economic losses from a personal injury claim and you’re having trouble paying bills, you may consider a Bankruptcy filing. You can read about your options on our Bankruptcy Blog.

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Passenger Accident Claims And Insurance

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Passenger Accident Claims And Insurance

If you are a passenger in a car accident, you will potentially have numerous options available to compensate you for your personal injury claim. Except for in limited circumstances, passengers are not at fault for car accidents. This means liability (who is at fault) will not be contested. Instead, your claim will be fought over the injuries and which insurance company should pay for those injuries.

Pursuing Your Passenger Accident Claim

Working with a personal injury law firm will protect your rights as you attempt to recover from your injuries from a car accident. The personal injury lawyer will also help you sort through the liability associated with the accident. The first thing the lawyer will ask for is a copy of the police report from the accident.  Typically, the police report will contain statements from both drivers, together with a diagram of the accident. There are numerous sections of the police report where the attending officer makes notes which help tell the story of the accident. These notes contain everything from the estimated speed of the vehicles upon impact, to the road conditions. Lastly, the police report will also make note of any citations given to either driver, which can dramatically help or affect your case depending upon the citation.

If you do not have a police report from the accident, we can assist you with obtaining one at no cost. Just click HERE to request one.

Starting Your Personal Injury Passenger Accident Claim

Assuming the police report indicates the other driver is at fault, the most logical entity to pursue is the insurance company for the other driver. In North Carolina, there are insurance minimums that each driver must carry. The minimums in North Carolina are $30,000 for one person for bodily injury (“Personal Injury”) and $60,000 for injuries to two or more people in a single accident. Additionally, each driver must have $25,000 in property damage coverage; however, if you are a passenger the property damage aspect will most likely not affect you.

If you are a passenger, this means that the driver of your vehicle may also be injured. You can see how, depending upon the severity of the injury, the injuries for all individuals in your vehicle may exceed the amount of insurance the at-fault driver carries. If this is the case, you can also pursue an Underinsured Motorist Claim by starting a second claim with the insurance of the driver of your vehicle.

Your personal injury attorney will advise you as to the specifics of this claim, and you must be careful not to settle for less than the full policy amount of the at-fault driver’s insurance policy if you intend to pursue an Underinsured Motorist Claim. Lastly, the underinsured motorist limits must exceed the limits of the policy of the at-fault driver. If your claim comes to this crossroads, your personal injury attorney’s skill set in navigating underinsured motorist coverage will help you tremendously.

What If Your Driver Is At Fault?

If the driver of your vehicle is at fault, this will not prevent you from recovering from your injuries. Provided you did not contribute to the accident, your lawyer can start a claim with the insurance company for your driver. The minimums mentioned above will still be in effect.

Recovering With Medical Payments Coverage In Passenger Accident Claims

Your personal injury lawyer can also pursue a medical payments claim for you. If you or the driver of your vehicle have medical payments coverage on your auto policies, you can submit medical bills from the accident. You will be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary medical expenses which stem from the accident. While these amounts are typically $1,000-$5,000 they can make all the difference in settling a personal injury claim. This is particularly true of a smaller claim.

If you are able to recover medical payments coverage, your lawyer should be able to successfully argue for you that your medical payments coverage is not subject to the Medical Liens in personal injury created by N.C.G.S. 44-49 and 44-50, which helps you to retain more of your settlement funds.

Speak With A Personal Injury Lawyer Today About Passenger Accident Claims

If you would like to speak with an attorney about your personal injury case, we’re here to help. The call is free and you will come away with a much better understanding of your options. You can reach us at 704.749.7747 or click to request a FREE CASE EVALUATION, and we will be in touch shortly.

Further Reading

If this article “Passenger Accident Claims And Insurance” was helpful, you may find other helpful articles on our Personal Injury Blog. Thank you for visiting the website—we hope it has been helpful.

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Personal Injury and Medicare Liens

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Personal Injury And Medicare

Your personal injury claim may have a lien against it owed to Medicare. Your attorney will contact Medicare and receive a Conditional Payments Letter from CMS, which will tell you exactly how much of your personal injury settlement must be paid to Medicare.

Why Does Medicare Get Paid From Personal Injury Funds?

Medicare has an automatic lien against settlement proceeds if they derive from a personal injury accident that reaches a settlement or jury verdict. In this way, personal injury and medicare are necessarily tied to one another. While it is speculation, the underlying rationale for this is that if your health insurance provider pays for your medical treatment and you receive compensation for your injuries, you’ve been paid twice.

As a result, Medicare is granted a personal injury medical lien. Fortunately, that lien can often be reduced in accordance with the medicare procurement formula which is applied when your attorney provided Medicare with the settlement amount, attorney fees, and attorney expenses associated with reaching the settlement or jury verdict.

Reducing Your Medicare Lien In Personal Injury

Medicare will apply the procurement formula to reduce your personal injury lien. In doing so, they consider the attorney fees paid, and the out-of-pocket expenses the attorney incurred in obtaining your personal injury settlement. These expenses can be substantial especially if a lawsuit is filed and expenses for expert testimony and depositions are incurred.

If your case is settled for $5,000 or less, you can generally assume that Medicare will limit their recovery to 25% of the total settlement, regardless of the amount Medicare paid for treatment of your injuries related to the accident.

When Does Medicare Get Paid?

Your personal injury lawyer will provide you with a settlement sheet dictating where every penny of your personal injury settlement is going. You will see a line item to Medicare. This indicates that the personal injury lawyer is going to send a check to Medicare as part of disbursing settlement funds. Typically, a few days after you sign your settlement statement and receive a settlement check from your personal injury claim, your lawyer’s office will disburse all remaining funds as dictated on the settlement sheet.

There are times when your attorney will wait to disburse funds on the settlement sheet. For example, the attorney may allocate the highest amount possible to be paid to Medicare or other providers, with the hopes of negotiating or procuring reductions for some or all of the billing. If this is achieved, you will be asked to sign an updated settlement sheet. Presumably, as a result of any negotiated and lowered billing, you may receive additional funds from the settlement.

Speak With A Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you would like to speak with an attorney about your personal injury case, we’re here to help. The call is free and you will come away with a much better understanding of your options. You can reach us at 704.749.7747 or click to request a FREE CASE EVALUATION, and we will be in touch shortly.

Further Reading

If this article on “Personal injury and medicare” was helpful, you may find other helpful articles on our Personal Injury Blog. Thank you for visiting the website—we hope it has been helpful.

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3 Steps: How To Choose A Personal Injury attorney

The process of choosing a personal injury attorney can be a challenging one; however, we believe if you follow these 3 simple steps, you will end up with the right attorney. It’s important to choose the right personal injury attorney or personal injury law firm because most personal injury claims take much longer than expected to reach a settlement or to go to trial. As a result, you will be in a long-term relationship with your personal injury attorney—so make the choice count.

Step One: Speak With The Personal Injury Attorney On The Phone

Speaking with your personal injury attorney on the phone is Step One in how to choose a personal injury attorney. Here’s why: if you can’t get the attorney to speak with you on the phone before you hire them, chances are you will never be able to get them on the phone after you hire them. Personal injury law firms and attorneys, in general, are notorious for not returning phone calls. In fact, the American Bar Association has written about Lawyer Communication Skills extensively.  It’s not necessarily that they aren’t working on your personal injury claim, it’s just that they are busy. But that doesn’t change the fact that you deserve updates and communication.

Another reason to speak with the attorney on the phone is that you can tell a lot about an individual and a law firm, during a phone call. When you speak with the attorney on the phone, listen for the following:

Tone Of Voice: Is the attorney sympathetic to your situation, no matter how ‘minor’ your accident may have been? You should be able to hear it in her voice.

Length Of The Call: Is the attorney rushing the phone call by cutting you off while you’re trying to tell him your story? An attorney who is too busy to hear even the facts of your case is not a good fit.

An Expression Of Appreciation: While you may be speaking with a successful personal injury attorney at a successful personal injury law firm, that does not mean that you’re not important. There should be an expression of thankfulness and gratitude that you have chosen to share your story with the attorney and potentially hire them. The attorney should express this to you verbally. You should feel like your case matters to the attorney.

Step Two: Read The Personal Injury Attorney’s Reviews

Unless you have a direct referral from a friend or colleague who worked with this attorney or law firm, we believe the reviews for an attorney are reflective of the service you will receive. This is step 2 in how to choose a personal injury attorney. You need to be careful here, because like in any business there will be a disgruntled client or two—those individuals seem more inclined to leave a review, as we all know. If you like, you can read Our Reviews.

if you look at the reviews overall, you should see a trend. Are people complimenting the law firm on their communication? Are clients indicating they were made to feel important and were kept abreast of the developments in their case? These things matter and your experience will probably mirror the reviews your read.

Step Three: Trust Your Gut Instinct

If you have a good feeling about an attorney or law firm, it’s probably based on the interaction you had with that firm. They must have done something to provide you with comfort or support, during that brief consultation. If so, that’s meaningful and we encourage you to trust your instinct. While this may be the first time you’ve chosen a personal injury law firm, it’s not the first time you’ve been a customer in a service industry. And don’t forget, the law is a service industry (Whether attorneys want to admit it or not). So, if you get a good feeling, and if you’re not ignoring a major red flag, we say go with your gut.

What About the Results?

We know what you’re thinking—we didn’t mention investigating the results the law firm has achieved. We also didn’t mention asking the attorney to predict what they might be able to get for you, for your case. We may be wrong, but our belief is that most personal injury law firms with a good reputation (reviews, etc.) are going to do a good job for you. They will successfully identify Medical Payments coverage, negotiate Medical Liens, and submit a good Demand Letter for you. This includes getting the best results they can for you. If that’s true, once you feel comfortable that the firm or attorney is reputable, it makes sense to focus on how the relationship will develop with the attorney.

Speak With A Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you would like to speak with a Charlotte personal injury attorney about your personal injury case, we’re here to help. The call is free and you will come away with a much better understanding of your options. And if you choose not to work with us, THAT’S OK! You can reach us at 704.749.7747 or click to request a FREE CASE EVALUATION, and we will be in touch shortly.

Further Reading

If this article was helpful, you may find other helpful articles on our Personal Injury Blog. Thank you for visiting the website—we hope it has been helpful.

 

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Can I Sue Someone For Damaging My Property?

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Can I Sue Someone For Damaging My Property?

Whether you can sue someone for damaging your property depends upon the circumstances. In North Carolina, If the property damage is to a vehicle– from a Car Accident— there are well established processes for starting a property damage claim and recovering damages. If you were injured in an auto accident, you may have both a property damage claim and a personal injury claim.

In most cases, even if you can sue someone for damaging your property, you will be able to get the dispute settled at the claims level which does not require filing a lawsuit. This saves money for both sides and relieves the courts of the burden of officiating over the property damage claim.

How Much Is My Property Damage Claim Worth?

The value of your property damage claim can be established by several components and approaches to damages. If the vehicle is determined to be totaled, the value will be whatever the car was worth at the time of the accident. There are standard formulas for determining the value, and the NADA Blue Book Value is often used as a benchmark. This value takes into account the make, model, mileage, and wear and tear on a vehicle at the time of the accident.

If your car is not totaled in the accident, you will either strive to have your car repaired at the expense of the other driver’s insurance company, or receive a check for an amount representing the cost of the repair. Then, you can choose whether to have the repair done, and where to have the repair work done.

You may also be entitled to the loss of use of the vehicle in the interim. Your actual out of pocket expenses will be your best source of evidence of these damages and would include rental vehicle costs, Uber or Lyft costs, or the cost of other forms of public transportation incurred when you were without a vehicle.

Your recovery may also include a component for sentimental value. While most vehicles will not fall into this category, there are exceptions. If your grandfather lovingly restored the vehicle and gave it to you as a graduation present, your argument for sentimental value increases.

Will I Pay A Deductible?

If someone damages your property, you should not have to pay a deductible. That expense should be taken on by the other driver’s insurance company; however, if the accident was your fault and you engage your own insurance company to fix the car, then yes, you will pay your contracted deductible.

Pursuing The Personal Injury Claim

Property damage claims are fairly straight-forward, once you are able to establish a claim with the insurance company. Our office assists with property damage claims but we generally do not charge clients to do so. In most cases, we represent the individual in their personal injury claim. If your vehicle was damaged in a car accident, and if you sustained bodily injury from that accident, we can help with the personal injury claim. The aspects of a personal injury claim are quite different from those involved in a property damage claim, and the expertise of a personal injury law firm can make all the difference in the outcome. This is true especially if the claim needs to be escalated and filed as a lawsuit.

Statute Of Limitations On Both Claims

You generally have three years from the date of the accident to make a property damage claim and a personal injury claim. By the three year mark, you will need to either settle your claim or file a lawsuit to keep your legal action alive. Missing the statute of limitations is just one of the pitfalls of handling the personal injury claim on your own. There are also personal injury medical bills and medical liens which must be addressed in a North Carolina personal injury claim. Your North Carolina personal injury lawyer will address these for you as part of the legal representation.

If you would like to speak with an attorney about your personal injury case, we’re here to help. The call is free and you will come away with a much better understanding of your options. You can reach us at 704.749.7747 or click to request a FREE CASE EVALUATION, and we will be in touch shortly.

Further Reading

If this article addressing “Can I Sue Someone For Damaging My Property?” was helpful, you may find other helpful articles on our Personal Injury Blog. Thank you for visiting the website—we hope it has been helpful.

 

 

 

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Friendly Charlotte Personal Injury Firm

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Friendly Charlotte Personal Injury Firm

It may seem counter-intuitive to desire a friendly Charlotte personal injury firm, but in our opinion that is exactly what you need for your Charlotte personal injury. We all often forget that working with a law firm means interacting with that law firm on a routine basis. While you want your Charlotte personal injury lawyer to be aggressive for you when pursuing compensation for your personal injury claim or personal injury lawsuit, you also want them to be easy to work with. For that reason, finding a friendly Charlotte personal injury firm is important.

Responsive Staff And Attorneys

One of the most frequent complaints about Charlotte’s personal injury firms—even those rated as Charlotte’s best personal injury firms—is a failure to communicate effectively with clients. Part of this failure is due to the heavy workload that Charlotte personal injury law firms take on; however, there’s no excuse for not responding to a client’s inquiry or desire to be kept up to date.

At The Layton Law Firm, we end each conversation by agreeing with you on the next time you can expect an update from us. This helps us, and it helps you. From our perspective, it ensures that we have it marked on our calendar to reach out to you when the future date arrives. From your perspective, it gives you peace of mind that you know you will be updated at the agreed-upon time.

Mutual Respect Is A Critical Part Of Success

The personal injury law firm and the client must work as a team to reach a successful result on a personal injury claim. This means the client must also commit to responding in a timely manner to their lawyer or paralegal. Quite often, the insurance adjuster in a car accident will request additional support for lost wages or medical records. We need our clients to assist us in quickly gathering that information so the claim can move forward.

On our end, we do our best to keep in mind that most clients have never filed a personal injury claim before working with us. They are not the type of individuals who sue people. So, the experience can be stressful. Not only is it an emotionally draining process, but it’s also hard to understand how long a personal injury settlement will take. We do our best to maintain compassion, empathy, and understanding for what our clients are going through. After all, they are working with us because they were harmed in an often life-changing motor vehicle accident, slip and fall injury, or workers’ compensation-related injury.

Speak With A Charlotte Personal Injury Lawyer

If you would like to speak with an attorney about your personal injury case, we’re here to help. The call is free and you will come away with a much better understanding of your options. You can reach us at 704.749.7747 or click to request a FREE CASE EVALUATION, and we will be in touch shortly.

Further Reading

If this article was helpful, you may find other helpful articles on our Personal Injury Blog. Thank you for visiting the website—we hope it has been helpful.

 

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Charlotte Pedestrian Personal Injury Lawyer

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When someone is involved in a pedestrian personal injury involving an automobile, the results are often heartbreaking. The Layton Law Firm began its reputation for representing pedestrians by successfully represented a 17-year-old boy who was seriously injured by a driver while crossing a busy Charlotte street at night. After fighting a denied claim and ultimately prevailing against the insurance company for the child and his family, we made it a priority to fight hard for injured pedestrians.

We currently represent numerous pedestrians in personal injury and wrongful death actions. We take each law firm client’s injuries seriously, but injuries to children and pedestrians are specifically important to us because of the extreme nature of the injuries and the age of the individuals involved. As a result, children and pedestrian injuries have become a passion of ours. Unfortunately, winning a pedestrian claim can be an uphill battle requiring persistence, creativity, and diligent pursuit of recovery.

Don’t Pedestrians Always Have The Right Of Way?

This is the question always asked when there is a pedestrian injury. As a Charlotte pedestrian personal injury lawyer, unfortunately, I find myself quite often answering “Not always”. While pedestrians often start with a presumption of the right of way, they can easily forfeit it by being too far outside a crosswalk, crossing the road at a non-designated spot, or being inebriated. In fact, there are some instances where a pedestrian actually must yield to the motorist.

How Do I Preserve The Pedestrian Right Of Way?

There are a few guidelines that will help preserve your right of way as a pedestrian. Always strive to:

  • Walk with the cross-walk signals
  • Stay inside specifically marked cross-walk pathways
  • If a sidewalk exists, use the sidewalk (and not the roadway)
  • Electric wheelchair users: follow the rules for pedestrians, NOT for vehicles

Do Drivers Have Responsibilities To Pedestrians In NC?

Yes, there are. Even in a situation where a pedestrian may have yielded the right of way, the operator of a motor vehicle must still exercise reasonable care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian in the roadway. The doctrine of Last Clear Chance can also be applied, and your Charlotte Pedestrian Personal Injury Lawyer will discuss it with you. Essentially, it says that even if a pedestrian has forfeited the right of way, if the operator of the vehicle has the last clear chance to avoid an accident, he or she must avoid the accident. This doctrine applies in other personal injury situations as well, such as automobile accidents between the operators of two vehicles.

How Can A Personal Injury Lawyer Help?

A Charlotte personal injury lawyer will help to make sure you are treated fairly. Insurance companies often deny pedestrian claims based on contributory negligence, or some other factor. An aggressive legal strategy can often overcome this denial and help achieve a fair result. It is our opinion that pedestrians make good plaintiffs.

When an insurance denial is met with a threat of a lawsuit, quite often we are able to reach a settlement before entering the courtroom. In most cases, an insurance company does not want to appear in court against a pedestrian, because it shows an unwillingness to settle the case or to be reasonable in accepting liability for the plaintiff’s injuries.

Pedestrian injuries also often lead to large medical bills. Your personal injury lawyer will not only work to secure a fair offer for you but can also negotiate some of your medical billing. The end result is you end up with more money in your pocket. The ability to negotiate these bills stems from the attorney’s understanding of N.C.G.S. 44-49 and 44-50, which is a limiting factor when it comes to liens resulting from medical treatment related to the injury.

You deserve to have someone fight for your rights. Insurance companies are focused on the bottom line. We focus on the client.

Speak With A Charlotte Pedestrian Lawyer Today

If you were a pedestrian, and were hit by the driver of an automobile or motorcycle, please call us at 704.749.7747. Or, if you’d like us to call you, just click HERE to request a call online. An attorney will be happy to discuss your rights and provide you guidance, at no charge. There’s no obligation to hire us but we hope you’ll choose to Recover With Us.

If you need a free copy of your accident report, we’re happy to obtain that for you as well– just click HERE to request one and simply let us know the date of your accident, the location, and your full name.

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I’m Considering Firing My Personal Injury Attorney

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I’m Considering Firing My Personal Injury Attorney

If you’re considering firing your personal injury attorney, there are a few things you need to know. We know it’s frustrating when your personal injury claim takes long, and we speak to individuals every day who want to fire their personal injury attorney. We try to be objective during those conversations, as the goal is to help individuals make decisions that will benefit them most.

Can I Fire My Personal Injury Attorney?

Generally, yes, you can fire your personal injury attorney. The language in your letter of representation will govern that decision, together with the state bar rules surrounding the attorney-client relationship. If you choose to fire your personal injury attorney, you may owe them money depending upon the status of your claim or case. In most cases, personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee. This means that “We don’t get paid unless you get paid.” However, if your lawyer has procured an offer or a personal injury settlement for you, they may have earned a fee that will need to be paid if you fire the lawyer and reach the same settlement on your own without the lawyer.

In most cases, when a client wants to fire a lawyer, you will find the lawyer or law firm will terminate the lawyer-client relationship and peacefully turn over the client file to the new law firm, at the client’s request. Usually, there is no fee for doing so—lawyers understand there are times when a client simply decides they want to use another lawyer or law firm.

Why Do People Fire Their Personal Injury Attorney?

In our experience, the number one reason why someone wants to fire their personal injury attorney is a lack of communication. Quite honestly, the law firm may be working diligently on the file. But, when the lawyer fails to communicate the progress to the client, the client feels as if no work is being done. When you combine this poor communication with a failure to return a few phone calls from the client, the client starts to wonder whether the lawyer cares about them at all. You can read NC State Bar Disciplinary Orders here, to see the various reasons lawyers are disciplined.

Can My Personal Injury Attorney Relationship Be Saved?

When a client calls us complaining about another lawyer or law firm, we are sure to ask a few pertinent questions. The goal is to help the client understand their options, while also ensuring the client makes a well-considered choice. Often, we encourage the client to call their lawyer to ask for an update and give the lawyer a set amount of time to provide a meaningful response. Again, it could be the firm is working hard on the file and just failing to communicate that hard work to the client.

We also point out to clients that when you switch law firms, even if the old firm forwards the file over to us, it’s like starting over. Because of that, the client may be better of patching things up with their current personal injury attorney—especially if they are close to reaching a settlement.

Speak With A Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you would like to speak with a personal injury attorney today about a car accident or grocery store slip and fall, call us at 704.749.7747 or click for a FREE CASE EVALUATION and we will reach out to you shortly. If you’re concerned about your relationship with another attorney, we are happy to discuss that with you as well. We will strongly encourage you to work things out with your existing attorney, and we can give you some helpful tips on how to take the next steps to accomplish that goal.

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Will My Personal Injury Bills Go To Collections?

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Will My Personal Injury Bills Go To Collections?

Car accidents lead to hefty personal injury bills for both property damage and medical treatment. Hopefully, you’ll recover enough in your personal injury settlement or your child’s personal injury settlement, to take care of all of your bills. The problem is that many personal injury claims take a year or longer to settle. Medical providers are not always as patient with your billing as you might want them to be.

Communication With Billing Providers Is Key

If you’re represented by a Charlotte personal injury attorney, generally they will reach out to your providers to let them know they represent you. This puts the billing provider on notice that it will be a while before the bill is paid. The hope is that once your provider knows your bill is being paid in conjunction with settling your personal injury claim, they will hold your bill until the case settles. In many cases, the provider will check in with the personal injury attorney’s office every few months for a status update on the case. They will then mark your file to be reviewed again in a couple of months.

What If They Send My Bill To Collections?

Even if your personal injury attorney tells the billing provider you are represented in a personal injury claim, the provider may still choose to send the bill to collections. This could also mean that credit reporting agencies will be notified that your bill is delinquent. While this is annoying and you don’t deserve this treatment, the providers have the right to treat unpaid bills this way.

Should I Make Monthly Payments On My Medical Bills?

There is nothing wrong with making payments on your medical bills until your personal injury case settles. When the case does settle, you can get credit for any payments you’ve made on the bills, the same way you will get credit for paying co-pays at the time of treatment. This may be a way to keep the bills out of collections until your settlement comes through.

Will My Personal Injury Attorney Negotiate My Personal Injury Bills?

We have written a few articles on this website in our Personal Injury Blog about negotiating medical bills. Typically your personal injury attorney will negotiate your medical bills. There are relevant North Carolina statutes that also limit the amount of your settlement that medical billing providers are entitled to. Your attorney will use these statutes together with arguments about your case, to encourage medical providers to lower their bills.

Filing Bankruptcy After Personal Injury

If your personal injury settlement is insufficient to pay all of your personal injury bills, you might consider filing bankruptcy. Our firm has helped numerous personal injury clients with bankruptcy filings. Clients generally have additional debt such as credit card debt or unrelated medical bills, which make filing a bankruptcy a smart decision. We’re happy to discuss how bankruptcy works, or you can visit our Bankruptcy Blog and get some questions answered there.

Speak With A Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you have questions about working with a personal injury attorney, or if you have questions about a medical bill from a car accident, call us today. You can call 704.749.7747 or click for a FREE CASE EVALUATION and we will contact you immediately. When it comes to choosing a personal injury law firm, we know you have options. We hope you choose to Recover With Us.

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