After a personal injury incident, you must fulfill several obligations such as file an insurance claim and if appropriate, build a persuasive case before filing a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. Hiring a personal injury lawyer helps you receive the legal support required to move through the insurance claim and civil lawsuit processes. In addition, a great personal injury lawyer will stand up to corporate law teams.
Facing a corporate law team presents different types of obstacles to hurdle than the obstacles presented by small law firms and individual attorneys. First, corporate law teams possess many more legal resources to pull from when the time comes to litigate your case. Second, corporate law firms assign attorneys to cases that match their legal specialization. You can count on facing an experienced team of litigators that specialize in litigating personal injury cases, Third, corporate law teams consist of experienced attorneys who have established professional relationships with the participants in a case such as the judge.
Let’s see how a personal injury attorney stands up to corporate law teams.
Interacts with the Insurance Company
Insurance companies often take advantage of policyholders who file claims without the legal support provided by a personal injury attorney. Following the advice of the corporate law team, an insurance company might delay processing your claim and/or undervalue the amount of compensation. Your personal injury lawyer interacts with every employee representing the insurance company who is involved with your claim, which includes the lawyers who are part of the corporate law team.
Meet Deadlines
A corporate law team advises its clients not to make you aware of filing deadlines. Although you do not have to meet a deadline to file an auto insurance claim, you should act with a sense of urgency to receive compensation in a timely manner. However, you do have to meet a deadline if you file an appeal on a denied insurance claim or for an insurance claim that is undervalued. For a civil lawsuit, you must file the proper documents before the expiration of the statute of limitations. Each state has established a deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Negotiate a Settlement
Most civil lawsuits that concern personal injury law never reach the trial phase of the litigation process. Instead, both parties try to negotiate a settlement to avoid a costly and time-consuming civil trial. Corporate law teams assign the most skilled negotiators to go back and forth with personal injury attorneys. This means you should counter that expertise by hiring a personal injury lawyer who has a proven record of success negotiating settlements for personal injury cases. Your personal injury lawyer submits an offer, which the other party accepts or rejects. Several rounds of counter offers can follow until both parties reach a settlement.
Hire the Most Skilled Personal Injury Lawyer
What defines a skilled personal injury attorney? It starts with years of experience. You want to work with an accomplished litigator who has compiled many years of experience getting the clients the compensation that they deserve. Your personal injury lawyer should understand complex medical terms to help you receive just compensation for medical expenses. As previously mentioned, your personal injury attorney should possess effective negotiating skills to counter the skill level of a corporate team of litigators. Finally, a personal injury lawyer should be a responsive communicator to help you navigate the many obstacles that can block the progress of your case.
To confirm the skill level of every personal injury attorney on your shortlist of candidates, read the reviews left by clients on sites such as Yelp and Google. You also should access every attorney’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) page.
