Many people who suffer injuries due to someone else’s negligence fail to file a personal injury lawsuit because they worry about a lengthy judicial process or about the costs involved in personal injury litigation. However, despite your worries, you should contact a Spokane personal injury lawyer if you are involved in an accident or suffer an injury due to someone else’s fault such as distracted driver crashes from texting or driving while playing Pokemon Go. Such a lawyer would be able to assist you in the following ways:
Liaise With Expert Witnesses
In many instances, the outcome of a personal injury case depends on the testimony of an expert witness. Simply put, “expert witness” refers to an individual with in-depth, technical knowledge of a specific subject matter related to a case filed in court. Unlike other witnesses who appear in court, an expert witness need not have witnessed the accident that caused a claimant to sustain injuries. This notwithstanding, expert witnesses are not mandatory in personal injury lawsuits because the litigation process can proceed with or without them.Nevertheless, an expert witness can bolster the claims of a person suing an at-fault-party. This is because he/she can give expert analysis of the events related to an accident and help the jury understand the complicated nature of personal injury cases. With this in mind, a personal injury attorney can contact the right expert witness and persuade the witness to testify in court.
Determine Negligence
A qualified personal injury lawyer can rightly determine whether the at-fault-party was negligent. This is important because a personal injury lawsuit cannot succeed in court unless the plaintiff can prove the legal concept of negligence in a court of law. At this point, it is worth noting that negligence is based on three key legal elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Duty refers to the responsibility of care the defendant was expected to extend to the plaintiff. Breach refers to the act of failing to observe the duty of care expected of the defendant in relation to the plaintiff. Causation refers to the breach that caused the defendant harm while damages refer to actual harm caused to the plaintiff. In some cases, proving negligence depends on regulations, benchmarks, or standards set by various government agencies or reputable industry organizations. For this reason, you need a lawyer with in depth knowledge of determining and proving knowledge.
Legal Advice
By hiring a personal injury lawyer, you will benefit from your lawyer’s extensive knowledge and understanding of the relevant legal processes. This is necessary because personal injury laws and regulations vary from state to state, meaning you need an attorney who knows how these laws work in Spokane. For instance, statutes of limitations also apply to personal injury lawsuits filed in Spokane, Washington meaning you should file a case before it becomes legally invalid. Luckily, a Spokane personal injury lawyer can help you do so within the right timeline.
Determine the at-fault-party
Since the parties involved in a personal injury lawsuit may disagree and dispute who is at fault, only an experienced attorney can determine and prove fault beyond reasonable doubt. Take note it is possible for more than one party to be responsible for causing an accident. In such cases, it is necessary to apportion blame appropriately. To determine the at-fault-party, a personal injury attorney from Craig Swapp will scrutinize accident reports, visit accident scene, evaluate police reports (if any were filed), and go through other pieces of supporting evidence.
Bullying Protection
A personal injury lawyer can protect you from bullying by other litigants such as insurance companies. In fact, many insurers associated with at-fault-parties are known to employ various bullying tactics to avoid paying compensation to injured victims. Common bullying tactics include swamping plaintiffs with tons of legal submissions and briefs, using legal loopholes to extend cases, trying to shift cases to other states, or painting claimants as untrustworthy and financially greedy individuals. If you do not have an attorney who can stand up to such bullying tactics, you may end up without the compensation you rightly deserve.
Negotiate with Insurers
In some cases, the insurer of an at-fault-party may opt to settle a personal injury lawsuit out-of-court. This approach is legally acceptable in almost every part of the US including Spokane. Nevertheless, agreeing to settle out-of-court does not mean that an at-fault-party’s insurer has admitted guilt. It is usually done to avoid lengthy litigation and the associated costs. In this case, you need an attorney who has handled similar negotiations in the past to ensure that you are not arm twisted into a settlement that favors the at-fault-party insurer.
Conclusion
If you have been involved in an accident or suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence, you should call a Spokane personal injury lawyer today. Your personal injury lawyer will help you negotiate with the insurers of the defendant if they opt to settle out-of-court, protect you from bullying tactics employed by other litigants, determine negligence, liaise with expert witnesses (where necessary), determine the at-fault-party, and offer sound legal advice. Read reviews for Craig Swapp here.
