Have you been hurt in Washington State due to someone else’s actions or carelessness? You shouldn’t have to cover the costs of your own medical bills and related losses if this happened to you. Luckily, you may be entitled to receive financial compensation by filing an insurance claim or lawsuit against the party that caused your injuries.
You should enlist the help of an attorney with experience handling cases like yours to pursue the compensation you need. Hiring a personal injury lawyer in Washington to handle your injury case is wise for many reasons. A seasoned personal injury lawyer can:
Advise You About Your Case
Personal injury cases aren’t as simple as pop culture often depicts them to be. Whether you’re entitled to compensation after being injured can depend on several factors.
If you’re hurt in a motor vehicle wreck in Washington, you could seek compensation if the wreck resulted from another driver’s carelessness. Pursuing compensation will require gathering evidence that shows the wreck occurred because another motorist was negligent.
The process is different if, for example, you sustained injuries because a dangerous dog bit you. Washington is a strict liability dog bite state. That means you typically don’t need to show that a dog’s owner was careless to show that you deserve compensation for a dog bite in Washington.
It’s natural to not fully understand the legal process after you’ve been hurt in an avoidable incident. Reviewing your case with a personal injury attorney can help you learn how to proceed.
Handle Your Claim
The process of seeking compensation in a personal injury case can involve many steps. Your lawyer will handle all these steps for you, including:
- Identifying the liable party
- Investigating to gather evidence of fault if required
- Gathering documentation of losses (such as medical bills, documentation of lost wages, etc.)
- Calculating a claim’s potential value
- Completing claim paperwork
- Submitting a claim to the insurance company
- Corresponding with claims adjusters
- Evaluating settlement offers
- If necessary, rejecting low offers and negotiating with the insurance company for a proper settlement
- Filing a lawsuit and going to court if the insurance company still refuses to make a fair offer
Pursuing compensation on your own may be excessively burdensome at this time. When you hire a personal injury lawyer, you get the peace of mind that comes from knowing a legal professional is handling your case.
Level the Field for Negotiations
Insurance companies don’t benefit from offering personal injury claimants the full amount of compensation they may deserve. An insurance company is a business. The purpose of any business is to make money, not pay it.
Insurance companies often prefer that claimants work with them directly. A claims adjuster with years of experience handling these matters may take advantage of a claimant who has never had to negotiate a settlement before.
You don’t have to face the insurance companies alone. A lawyer who understands how insurance companies operate could provide aggressive representation, ensuring the fight for compensation is a fair one.
Manage Complex Legal Tasks
What does a personal injury lawyer do? The answer can vary depending on the nature of a case. Many cases require that a lawyer perform tasks that require a degree of experience and familiarity with the law.
For example, perhaps you’re seeking compensation for a non-economic loss (a loss that doesn’t have an exact dollar value), like pain and suffering. An experienced personal injury attorney would know how to assess the value of such a loss. As the injured party, you may not even realize you could claim pain and suffering as a loss if you represent yourself.
If your injuries will require ongoing care in the future, it would be important to determine the potential cost of future losses. This is another process a lawyer can handle on your behalf. If you were to attempt this task on your own, you might end up asking for less compensation than you deserve.
No lawyer can promise you’ll receive a specific amount of compensation when they accept your case. What they can do is apply their experience and knowledge to help you pursue the full amount you may deserve. A lawyer can evaluate any settlement offers you receive to determine whether your losses have been adequately compensated.
Are Personal Injury Lawyers Worth It?
You’re thinking about hiring a personal injury lawyer because you need help seeking compensation for losses resulting from illness, injury, or similar factors. That means you’re likely already facing financial struggles. You might question whether you can afford to hire a personal injury lawyer when you’re in some financial distress already. Although an attorney can pursue compensation aggressively, they can’t promise you’ll receive a payout.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about paying for a personal injury lawyer’s services until you receive a settlement or award. That’s because many personal injury lawyers operate on a contingency fee basis.
A contingency fee arrangement allows clients to hire personal injury attorneys without taking financial risks. When a client hires a lawyer offering a contingency fee arrangement, they don’t have to pay any upfront legal fees. Instead, their lawyer’s fee will be a percentage of any compensation the client ultimately receives.
The implications of such an arrangement are significant for a client. If you don’t get paid, your lawyer doesn’t get paid. In addition, your lawyer makes more money if you receive more money. Thus, a contingency fee arrangement incentivizes an attorney to fight for all the compensation you deserve.
It also disincentivizes a lawyer from lying about the prospects of your case. Because an attorney only gets paid if their client does, they won’t take on a case with limited potential.
Contact a Washington State Personal Injury Lawyer
One of the best ways to get a sense of how a lawyer can help you is to meet with one to discuss your case. At Tamaki Law, a Washington State personal injury lawyer can help you determine your next steps. If you decide to work with us, we’ll offer dedicated representation. Learn more by contacting us online or calling us at (800) 801-9564 for a free case review.