People become injured in various ways in all settings. For example, you may have suffered a fall in the workplace. Your child may have been injured through no fault of their own while on a school trip or while playing in a park. Or perhaps you are a veteran with a disability directly linked to your active service and you don’t know what support you may be entitled to – see a security disability lawyer in McKinney for further information.
Whatever your individual circumstances, you may like to know more about why you might want to contact a lawyer, because if you have never dealt with a lawyer before, you might not know the first thing about what to expect. That’s why we’re going to look at reasons to contact a lawyer following your personal injury.
Follow the correct process
Personal injury compensation claims are based on evidence. No court in the land is going to award you as much as the bus fare to your hearing without evidence to back up your claim (otherwise, it’s just one person’s word against another). Evidence gathering can take many forms, and depending on your type of claim, you may need different kinds of evidence from different sources to create a robust case. For example, if you were injured in a car crash that wasn’t your fault, medical records and CCTV footage may be two examples of the types of evidence to which your lawyer will seek to gain access.
Next, the process will necessarily involve submitting the correctly filled out documentation to the courts, as well as informing the other side of your intentions. The whole legal process is something that may differ from case to case, but your lawyer is there to explain these things as you go.
Speedier overall process
Sometimes, as with the scenario of an injury at work, for example, people may convince themselves that once their injury is known about and acknowledged by management, things will start to happen in terms of you receiving the support you deserve. However, you may find that this is not always the case. As mentioned above regarding due process, a lawyer understands the correct routes to take in terms of approaching the other side and beginning to move things along. This, in turn, will result in a speedier overall process that could mean you receive the support you need in a shorter time frame.
Know when to settle
Many personal injury claims are settled out of court. Lawyers come with on-the-job experience that could allow them to make judgement calls over whether an offer that is made by the other side is suitable or whether they are playing hardball. For example, where a standard case is looking like it could be awarded an average payout, the other side could try to pay slightly less in an attempt to give a ballpark figure and save some money – always listen to the thoughts of the lawyer who has insight into whether you should accept the offer.