Tag Archive for: charlotte personal injury lawyer

Auto Accident Settlement Timeline

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Auto Accident Settlement Timeline

First, if you would like to speak with someone about an auto accident settlement timeline, we are here to help. Simply call 704.749.7747 or click HERE to request a call from us today. A Charlotte personal injury lawyer will reach out to you immediately.

If you have been in an auto accident and you are wondering about the timeline for reaching a settlement, this article helps to explain the steps required to do so. While every accident and every settlement is unique, we hope this helps your understanding of what the road ahead looks like.

Setting The Stage For A Successful Auto Accident Settlement

Reaching a personal injury settlement is the last thing on your mind when you are in a car accident. However, the steps you take early on after your accident will either serve to help you or hurt you down the road. The two most important elements to consider at the outset are:

  • Obtaining a police report
  • Getting medical treatment as quickly as possible

The police report serves as evidence of the accident, captures witness information, and is the first record of the accident itself. Second, the police report contains witness information which can be extremely valuable for proving your case. Lastly, the police report will include the impressions of the attending officer. This will include the officer’s interpretation of what happened, and an assessment of facts including but not limited to: weather, speed of the vehicles, condition of each driver, etc.

Continuing Treatment As Necessary

One mistake so many auto accident victims make is failing to continue their treatment. In the world of personal injury, ‘gaps’ in treatment serve to hurt your case. While you may believe you have a perfectly good reason for the gap in treatment, the insurance adjuster on the other side will use it against you. First, it may be used to establish you were no longer in pain. Second, the adjuster may infer that you suffered a new and different injury during the gap in treatment and therefore, the later treatment should not be included for consideration in your auto accident settlement.

Obtaining Legal Representation Early

Once you begin making statements to insurance adjusters, you create a record of your testimony. Even if you slightly vary your story or your memory of the events, it will be used to establish you are not a credible witness. Insurance adjusters record every phone call you have with them. Additionally, North Carolina is a One Party state, meaning the insurance adjuster does not need your permission to record a call, nor do they need to inform you that a call is being recorded.

By obtaining legal counsel early on in the process, you will receive the guidance you need in order to avoid the common pitfalls of interacting with insurance adjusters as your case proceeds toward settlement.

Wrapping Up Medical Treatment

Once your treatment is completed, the law firm can begin to collect medical records and medical billing. Medical providers are notoriously slow in delivering records. You can expect it to take roughly 45-60 days for a provider to deliver records and bills to the attorney’s office.

Our office requests all records in electronic format. This saves you costs and ultimately means the records and bills arrive in our office more quickly. After the bills and records arrive in our office, we can begin building your demand package, which will be submitted to the adjuster for consideration. As part of this process, you will review the package with us, and we will agree on a demand amount for settlement.

Negotiating Toward Settlement

The insurance company will take some time to review the demand package. Our office sets calendar reminders to push this process forward. Once we have an initial offer from the insurance company, we can begin negotiating in earnest. If we reach a settlement offer that you are interested in accepting—do not worry, we help you make this decision—then we can take steps toward finalizing your settlement. The negotiation portion of the auto accident settlement timeline has been completed.

Medical Billing Concerns

Many auto accident settlements result in medical providers being paid in full. However, you will be given a few options regarding your medical bills outstanding from the accident. Our firm can help negotiate some of your medical bills if necessary, in order to make the settlement work for you.

Receiving A Check

Once the settlement offer is accepted and medical bills are negotiated, we will provide you with a settlement statement showing you every incoming dollar (the settlement funds) and every outgoing dollar. This of course includes and shows you the amount you will be receiving. All personal injury settlements are tax-free, as they represent payment for injuries, not income.

What If I Do Not Agree With The Settlement?

We can always discuss the filing of a lawsuit if the settlement amount is not a fair settlement amount. Your best interests are most important. We will discuss with you the likelihood of success at trial, the anticipated cost of the trial, and what we believe a jury might award you at trial.

If you choose to file a lawsuit, the timeline admittedly begins anew and is governed by the trial calendar which we will explain to you in the event we are moving forward with litigation.

Speak With A Charlotte Personal Injury Lawyer Today

We encourage you to seek legal representation for your auto accident. This is true whether you choose our firm or another law firm. We are happy to discuss your auto accident settlement timeline, whether you have a case and what your case may be worth. You can call 704.749.7747 or Request a call from a lawyer today. to We know you have choices. We hope you choose Layton Law.

 

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Can You See Your Own Doctor For Workers’ Comp?

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Can You See Your Own Doctor For Workers’ Comp?

According to the North Carolina Industrial Commission, your employer or its insurance company chooses the doctor for your workers’ comp claim. This includes all medical treatment related to your work injury. You or your lawyer can request that you be treated by a different doctor or medical facility. Keep in mind that payment by workers’ comp is not guaranteed unless the change of medical provider is approved.

What If I Saw My Doctor Before I Knew The Rules?

Often, the workers’ comp insurance company will pay for your treatment, provided they deem the treatment was reasonable. Your workers’ comp attorney may need to put some pressure on the adjuster in order to receive a reimbursement, but it is not unusual to receive one.

If the treatment for which you seek reimbursement falls outside of normal accepted treatment, you may find the adjuster pushes back on reimbursement requests for acupuncture and chiropractic treatment that was not conducted at their direction.

Will My Workers’ Comp Lawyer Direct Me To A Doctor?

You may find that the doctor hired by the workers’ comp insurance company favors the employer. This may manifest itself in a few ways. First, the doctor may choose conservative treatment and forego additional testing to discover injuries. Second, the doctor may not write you out of work for as many days, weeks, or months as another doctor might. Lastly, if you are seeking a physical impairment rating, you may find that one doctor gives you a more favorable impairment rating than another doctor. The impairment rating affects the value of your workers’ comp claim.

Who Pays For My Workers’ Comp Treatment?

If the insurance company chooses the doctor, they will pay for the treatment. If you choose your own doctor, you can either seek reimbursement from the workers’ comp insurance company or you can pay the doctor out of your workers’ comp proceeds. As mentioned above, there are times it makes sense to seek your own treatment from a doctor of your choosing. Your attorney can assist with this choice.

Speak With A Workers’ Comp Attorney Today

If you have questions about workers’ comp, call us. We’re here to help. We can be reached at 704.749.7747 or you can click HERE to request a consultation. All consultations are free, and it is our job to help you understand your options. We know you have choices. We hope you Call Layton Law.

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How Do I Pay For A Personal Injury Lawyer?

How Do I Pay For A Personal Injury Lawyer?

First, if we don’t recover compensation for you, you don’t owe us anything. Second, you don’t pay anything to us until we do recover compensation for you. Lastly, our fee is based on a percentage of your settlement. In summary, if we can settle your case you will pay for your personal injury attorney fees directly from your settlement.

What Is A Contingency Fee?

A contingency fee is an arrangement between you and your lawyer, where your fee to your lawyer is not owed until and unless the lawyer achieves a settlement or jury verdict for you. The contingency fee is a method of payment that allows you to obtain legal representation without having the funds on hand to pay an attorney. Additionally, when an attorney takes your case based on a contingency fee, they are telling you that they have faith in your case. The lawyer knows that if they don’t recover anything for you, they won’t get paid.

When Will I Know How Much I Owe My Personal Injury Lawyer?

Once we negotiate the highest settlement offer we can for you, we will prepare a draft of a personal injury settlement statement for you to review. The settlement statement shows the offer amount from the insurance company and then shows you where every penny of that settlement will go. Typically, the settlement statement will show your attorney fee, any medical bills (and Medical Liens) that are being paid from the settlement, and finally the amount going back to you.

Because you get to review your settlement statement prior to agreeing to the settlement, you can rest assured you will know exactly how much you will pay your lawyer and how much you will receive, all before agreeing to the settlement amount.

Would It Be Better If I Paid My Injury Lawyer An Hourly Rate Instead?

Not in our opinion. What we like about the contingency fee is that you can trust that your lawyer is taking the case because they believe in it. If you were paying by the hour, you may have an attorney who is more than happy to continue working on your case—and billing you—even though they know your chance of winning is very slim. The contingency fee protects you against this. You will find that your personal injury attorney is very honest with you about the value of your case. The reason for this is in part because the attorney’s office is investing its time in your case with no promise of payment.

Speak With A Charlotte Personal Injury Lawyer Today

We would be happy to answer any questions you have about personal injury lawyer fees. You can call us at 704.749.7747 or click HERE to request a call from us. Phone consultations are a great way for you to understand your options and we’re here to help.

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Whiplash After A Car Accident

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Whiplash After A Car Accident

Whiplash is one of the most common injuries from a car accident. It can be severe and long-lasting in its nature, and if you have whiplash after a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation from the other driver.

Identifying Whiplash From A Car Accident

According to The Mayo Clinic, whiplash is caused by forceful rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck. At the scene of the accident, you most likely will not feel the signs of whiplash. When adrenaline is high it masks pain. Most of our clients report that they did not feel the full effect of the car accident until a few days after the accident. Anywhere from 12-48 hours after the accident, if you experience any of the following, you have most likely suffered whiplash:

  • Dizziness

  • Headaches

  • Neck and back pain

  • Numbness

  • Fatigue

Getting Treatment Is Critical

There are numerous reasons to get treatment ASAP after you’ve been in a car accident. First, your health is of utmost importance. Injuries from a car accident can mask themselves, and a trained physician can help you identify an array of injuries you may not be aware of yourself. Second, if you plan to pursue a personal injury claim, you want to minimize the time between the accident the beginning of treatment for injuries stemming from the accident.

When Things Get Complicated

Personal injury victims often find themselves in a difficult situation. Namely, they are seeking medical treatment (and paying for medical treatment) for injuries that are not their fault. Fortunately, many medical providers recognize the complex intersection between medical billing and personal injury settlements. Our office routinely works with chiropractors and physical therapy facilities which will allow you to treat, while they wait until you reach a personal injury settlement in order to receive payment.

A Personal Injury Lawyer Is Crucial

In situations where you are obligating yourself to pay for medical treatment in reliance on being reimbursed by a personal injury settlement, it’s crucial to have a personal injury attorney representing your interests.

Too often, individuals settle a personal injury claim for less than the full value of the claim. Sometimes it’s due to an aggressive insurance adjuster looking to ‘wrap up’ the claim. Other times, a claim is settled before the injured party knows the full extent of their injuries. In any case, your personal injury lawyer is aware of these pitfalls and works to make sure you are treated fairly when negotiating any settlement.

Speak With A Charlotte Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you believe you have whiplash after a car accident, call us. We are happy to discuss the accident with you, and we can also assist you in choosing your next steps. Phone consultations are free and it’s part of our job to make sure you understand your options. You can speak to a lawyer today by calling 704.749.7747 or click HERE to request a call.

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In A Car Accident? Call Layton Law

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In A Car Accident? Call Layton Law

If you are in a car accident, the great news is your lawyer is only a phone call away. Our firm works on a contingency basis when representing personal injury clients. This means you don’t owe us anything unless we are able to recover something for you.

Call Us From The Scene Of The Accident

We know even minor accidents are stressful. If you’re in a car accident, It’s never too early to hire a personal injury lawyer. After you’ve made any necessary calls to Medic and the police, you can call us from the accident scene if you need guidance as to what to do next. We’re here to help. Our office can answer questions on the spot, help you understand your options in any given situation, and assist with any other concerns you have before leaving the accident scene.

Early Mistakes Can Cost You Your Case

Statements that clients make to police officers on the scene end up in police reports. Clients who speak with insurance adjusters prior to obtaining counsel, rarely know those statements are recorded. Often, those recorded statements serve to compromise their case.

Turn It Over To Layton Law

When you sign with us as a personal injury client, we handle all communications with insurance adjusters going forward. We also obtain copies of any recorded statements so we can analyze them and get ahead of any weaknesses in your claim or case.

You receive regular updates from our office as we obtain medical records and medical billing once your treatment is complete. These records serve as the basis for the value of your case and are submitted as part of a Demand Package to the insurance company.

Put Our Experienced Attorney and Staff To Work For You

Our office is equipped to stand up to aggressive insurance adjusters and opposing counsel when necessary. When you hire us, you put our experience to work for you. We are familiar with insurance strategies for claim denials, and we stay the course throughout the life of your case. It is not uncommon for our office to turn a denial into a fair settlement for a client.

Five Star Reviews Tell Our Clients’ Stories

We are most proud of our client interaction, and the care we show our clients. We know you have been through a lot, and that there is no amount of money that can undo the long-term physical and mental anguish of a life-altering car accident. Our clients have been generous enough to leave us reviews across the internet which confirm for us that our message of care and compassion for them is received. When combined with a result the client is happy with, we consider our mission accomplished.

Speak With A Personal Injury Lawyer Today

In a car accident and need help? Call us at 704.749.7747. Or you can click HERE to request a free phone consultation. You will get your questions answered and the call is free. When it comes to choosing a personal injury lawyer, we know you have choices. We hope you choose Layton Law.

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In A Car Accident Without Insurance

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In A Car Accident Without Insurance

If you are in a car accident without insurance, don’t panic. Regardless of whether you have insurance, you have a duty to exchange information with the other driver. If you are the driver without insurance, and the accident is not your fault, you can still pursue the other driver for economic recovery.

Your Property Damage

You will be assigned a property damage adjuster if you pursue a property damage claim with the other driver’s insurance company. If it is determined that the other driver is at fault, their insurance company should pay for your property damages. You may need a lawyer to assist in negotiating a property damage agreement, or you may be able to successfully negotiate it yourself. Often, the other driver’s insurance company will want time to investigate the claim. This is reasonable, as they will attempt to determine whether their driver was at fault, and assess the property damage.

Your Personal Injury Claim

If the accident is not your fault, you will be able to pursue a personal injury claim against the other driver regardless of whether you had active insurance at the time of the car accident. The lack of insurance is a non-material or irrelevant fact as it relates to which driver was at fault. This information should also be excluded from evidence if the case goes to trial, under NC Rule of Evidence 402.

Your personal injury lawyer will work with the adjuster for the other driver’s insurance company to assure that the full value of the claim is achieved, despite not having insurance. While you can count on the at-fault driver’s insurance company offering push-back regarding lack of insurance, ultimately it should not be an issue for recovery.

Medical Payments Coverage

If you had an auto insurance policy with Medical Payments coverage and it was canceled or lapsed just prior to the accident, unfortunately, you will not receive the benefit of medical payments coverage. However, if you live with an immediate family member who has medical payments coverage on a separate auto policy, we may be able to access that coverage to assist with paying your medical bills.

Speak With A Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you are in an accident and have questions about car insurance, fault, or any other aspect of settling your claim, please call us at 704.749.7747. Or you can click HERE to request a consultation. All consultations are free and can be done over the telephone. We know you have choices. We hope you choose Layton Law.

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Should I Get A Police Report?

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Should I Get A Police Report?

Yes, you should. If you’ve been in a car accident, obtaining a police report is your primary method for documenting the accident. If you get a police report after an accident, you create a record of the accident in a manner which may be acceptable as evidence in a court of law if introduced by the officer at trial. In any case, your personal injury lawyer will utilize the information on the report to build your case and discovery additional details about your claim.

If you were JUST NOW in an accident and need to speak with a lawyer, call us at 704.749.7747. You you will be connected to a lawyer immediately. If you were in an accident in North Carolina and you have not received a copy of your report yet, we can help. If you would like assistance obtaining a copy of your report, you can request our help with that HERE.

The remainder of this article will help you understand the numerous reasons why you should get a police report if you’re in an accident.

What Is On The Police Report?

The officer will take an official record of the accident. This will include the location, contact info for all parties, names and contact info for witnesses, and details about the accident itself. The officer also takes notes about the condition of the roadway and drivers, and makes estimates regarding damage to vehicles.

While the officer has not observed the accident itself, they can certainly assess each driver’s condition, and issue citations based on the facts surrounding the accident. It is not uncommon for a police report to note that a driver was issued a citation for reckless driving or making a dangerous maneuver.

You can also look at the guide to NC police report codes (PDF) if you’re interested in understanding the many variables which can be disclosed on the report.

How Does Your Personal Injury Lawyer Use The Police Report?

While the police report may not ultimately be admissible as evidence at trial, your personal injury lawyer will examine the report when trying to decide whether they believe they can win your case. Both sides will have a copy of the police report of course. Long before a lawsuit is filed, your lawyer will attempt to negotiate with the insurance adjuster for the other driver—outside of any independent witness testimony, the officer’s report serves as a governing document for those discussions. Generally, your lawyer is trying to prove negligence in order to recover an award for you.

Speak With A Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you are in an accident and need guidance, we are here to help. Consultations are free and can be done by telephone. We can help assess liability for your car accident, and help you understand your options. You can call us at 704.749.7747 or click HERE to quickly request a consultation. There’s no obligation. We know you have choices. We hope you choose Layton Law.

 

 

 

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What Is My Personal Injury Claim Worth?

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What Is My Personal Injury Claim Worth?

The same way that every human being is unique, so is every personal injury claim. This means that the value of your personal injury claim will depend upon all the specific circumstances surrounding your claim and how it has affected your life. When you call a personal injury lawyer and ask them “What is my personal injury claim worth?” the answer should be “It depends.”

What Does It Depend On?

The primary driving force of the value of your personal injury claim is how it has affected your life. However, in order to establish how an injury or event has affected your life, you will need to establish proof. This is the world in which personal injury lawyers and personal injury insurance adjusters live. A simple example is two individuals who have both experienced tremendous anxiety and stress due to a car accident. Suppose that one of the individuals sought therapy to try to mange her PTSD from the accident, and the other individual ‘toughed it out’ on her own without therapy. While both clients have experienced anxiety, stress and PTSD from the accident, the individual who sought therapy has evidence of her anxiety. As a result, it will be easier to establish the value of the stress and anxiety when calculating a settlement figure or persuading a jury box.

What About Medical Bills?

Medical bills and medical records are a key part of establishing the value of your claim. Again, bills and records help to establish proof of how the accident affected your life. We are more easily persuaded that someone has been through pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life, if we can see they received extensive medical treatment, surgeries, and physical therapy to heal from the accident. Compare this to an individual who was injured in a car accident and was treated once at an emergency room fourteen days after the accident. You get the picture.

Do My Lost Wages Count?

When determining “What is my personal injury claim worth?” your lost wages are a critical component. If you are a W2 employee or have a supervisor of any sort, we will work with you to have the supervisor sign off on a lost wages affidavit to establish the time and wages you lost. Even if you used Paid Time Off, you have lost paid hours as a result of the accident and deserve to be compensated for it.

How Will I Know When I Get A Fair Offer?

This is a fair question. We find that in the end, most of our clients simply wish the accident had never happened. There is no amount of money that can compensate them for the loss of enjoyment of life and the traumatic nature of catastrophic injuries. We help our clients to decide about a proposed settlement by seeking to understand what is important to them. Some clients have a strong desire for justice—sometimes that requires that we file a lawsuit. Other clients are simply ready to move forward with life and decide that the insurance company is making a fair offer. The decision is always yours, and we are here to maximize the offer to you, then help you decide if you want to accept it.

Speak With A Personal Injury Lawyer Today

Want to speak with someone today to get an answer to the question “What is my personal injury claim worth?” The consultation is free. Our job is to help you understand your rights and explain whether we think we can assist you with your claim. Our goal is to help you achieve the best outcome possible. You can reach us at 704.749.7747, or click HERE to request a call from a lawyer today.

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How Do I Find A Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me?

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How Do I Find A Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me?

Finding a personal injury lawyer near you should be easy. Google will usually show search results that are relevant to your search for a personal injury lawyer, both by content and geographic location. Keep in mind that most personal injury law firms have the ability for you to sign up by internet, email, or mailing you a packet. If you’d like to speak with an attorney today, simply request a phone consultation HERE and we will reach out immediately.

If you are in an accident in North Carolina, The Layton Law Firm can help you. Our office is in SouthPark in Charlotte, NC; however, we handle Car Accident cases, Truck Accident cases, Slip and Fall cases, Pedestrian Cases, and Wrongful Death cases across the state of North Carolina. If your accident was in South Carolina, we can work with you to start your case with one of the South Carolina litigation law firms we routinely work with.

Determining Whether You Have A Personal Injury Claim Or Case

A phone consultation with a personal injury lawyer should provide you with enough information to decide if you have a valid personal injury claim. Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis. This means that the law firm only gets paid if they are able to obtain a settlement or jury verdict. Our firm routinely works on contingency with clients. We believe this serves the client well. First, the client does not have to pay out of pocket for legal protection and can find representation immediately. Second, if your personal injury lawyer is interested in your case and is agreeable to working on a contingency basis, it’s a good sign that the lawyer believes you have a valid case—they wouldn’t work for ‘free’ if they thought they were not going to eventually get a result for you.

Deciding On A Personal Injury Lawyer

It’s important to choose a lawyer who you believe is capable of handling your case, and who will be good to work with. Our office routinely receives phone calls from clients who are working with other personal injury lawyers and can’t get a phone call returned or feel like their case hasn’t been touched in months. When you choose to work with The Layton Law Firm, we make sure to communicate regularly with you. We provide you updates as the case or claim progresses, and we involve you in the critical steps in the settlement process. You’ll never feel neglected or ‘out of the loop’ as it relates to your case.

Speak With A Personal Injury Lawyer Today

If you’re asking “How do I find a personal injury lawyer near me?” the answer is easy—you’ve found one. We can help you with your case and we would love to hear from you. 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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Estimated Personal Injury Settlements

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Estimated Personal Injury Settlements

Personal injury attorneys learn very quickly the pitfalls of discussing estimated personal injury settlements with their clients. The value of your personal injury claim is dependent upon numerous factors. As a result, two cases with the exact same injuries may have very different results in terms of a personal injury settlement. Below are some common factors which affect your personal injury settlement.

The Facts – As you might imagine, depending upon the facts, two cases with the same injuries may have dramatically different results in terms of what they may settle for, or what a jury awards. For example, an individual who is rear-ended in a car accident and suffers a concussion has a different case than an individual who has a grocery store slip and fall and suffers a concussion. Strong facts which clearly establish liability or fault will boost the value of your personal injury claim. Weaker facts, for instance where each driver claims the accident was not their fault, may lead to complications unless evidence can be obtained firmly establishing the fault of the other driver. If your claim involves wrongful death, pedestrians, or passengers, the outcome will differ as well.

Contributory Negligence – You can’t discuss estimated personal injury settlements in North Carolina without discussing Contributory Negligence. We’ve written extensively about Contributory Negligence in our blog because it affects many North Carolina personal injury claims. Generally speaking, Contributory Negligence is an affirmative defense. It is a rule in North Carolina which says that if a jury determines the plaintiff is 1% or more at fault, the jury is instructed to give the plaintiff nothing. This is an outdated rule and one your personal injury attorney must wrestle with in order to prove your case. While most claims do not go to court, insurance adjusters commonly introduce Contributory Negligence into the settlement conversation, to remind the plaintiff that there is a very serious risk in litigating a personal injury claim in North Carolina if it’s possible the jury determines the plaintiff was even 1% at fault.

Pre-Existing Injuries – While you are entitled to be compensated for your injuries, you will find the insurance company for the at-fault party will diligently research whether you had a pre-existing condition before this accident. Even a note in your prior medical records indicating a simple complaint regarding back pain will be used to demonstrate you had existing back pain prior to this accident. The two sides will end up arguing over the extent to which this accident worsened the back pain, and assign a value to that.

Rule 414 – Rule 414 is a rule of evidence that personal injury plaintiff’s attorneys are familiar with. The rule says that the only evidence of medical billing which can be introduced into evidence in court, is medical billing that has actually been paid, and medical billing which is still owed or outstanding. In short, if you have $100,000 of medical treatment, and Medicaid pays $5,000 to the hospital unless there is a remaining balance, your attorney will only be able to enter $5,000 into evidence at trial as medical billing. Because juries use medical billing dollar totals to help them calculate what they believe is a fair settlement, you can see how this tends to under-emphasize the extent of your injuries at trial. Your lawyer will also need to determine whether you have any Medical Liens as a result of your claim and negotiate them as part of the settlement. Once again, two clients who have the same exact injuries but different insurance coverage may see very different jury results in their personal injury verdicts.

Standard of Care – Generally, a claim of negligence requires you to show that a standard of care was owed to you by another person and was not fulfilled. This is called a Breach of Duty, in the personal injury world. In many slip and fall claims, obstacles arise in proving that the standard of care was breached. For instance, you may be able to prove that there was water on the floor of the grocery store and that you slipped in that water. However, if the store can prove that another customer spilled that water on the floor three minutes before you slipped in it, they will prevail on their argument that the store did not breach its duty to you—there wasn’t enough time for the store to discover and fix the dangerous condition. While there is no set rule for the amount of time a hazard must exist, slip and fall cases routinely turn on who created the hazard (another shopper or an employee), whether the store knew or should have known about the hazard, and how much time passed since the hazard was created.

Pain and Suffering – Pain and suffering is essentially what you endure as a direct result of the accident. When reviewing your settlement, the amount attributable to pain and suffering is anything above and beyond payment for medical bills and lost wages. Your lawyer will submit a demand package as part of the personal injury settlement process. That demand package will outline your pain and suffering and you will have a chance to review it prior to its submission.

Lost Wages – Lost wages are part of your claim. They will need to be verified by your employer. Your attorney will provide you with a form for your employer to complete, indicating your rate of pay, dates missed, and total lost wages. If you are self-employed, you will need to provide copies of tax returns from prior years and other evidence that your lawyer will use to construct a lost wages claim for submission.

The Reputation Of The Personal Injury Lawyer – If your personal injury attorney has a reputation of following through on claims, thoroughly investigating claims, and negotiating claims in good faith, we believe that you are able to maximize your settlement offer in your personal injury claim. If your attorney has a reputation of threatening to file a lawsuit but never follows through on that threat, you can imagine the insurance company may not take that lawyer’s claims as seriously as they will a claim from another law firm. One way to check the reputation of your lawyer is to look at their Google Reviews. We are proud of our history with clients and thankful that they choose to leave reviews about their experience.

Hiring a personal injury attorney is key in successfully negotiating your claim. The attorney is not simply arguing over dollars and cents; instead, the attorney is building your case using all of the above factors. By persuading the insurance adjuster that the lawyer will succeed with their case, you are more likely to maximize the settlement offer from the insurance company. Estimating personal injury settlements prior to having all the facts, medical records, and billing in hand is a bad idea for both you and your personal injury attorney. This process will require some patience, but hopefully, your patience will pay off with a fair settlement or jury verdict.

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 about estimated personal injury settlements 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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