If you’ve been in an accident and been injured by someone else, then it’s likely you can bring a personal injury claim to get compensation for your injuries and other damages. There are many situations where personal injury claims are possible, but in all of them having the help of a Salt Lake City personal injury lawyer will make a big difference to your case.
Five Situations to Hire a Salt Lake City Personal Injury Lawyer
1. You Have a Serious Injury
If you’ve received any kind of injury for which you needed medical treatment, it’s a really good idea to hire a lawyer to help you settle your case. A serious injury can be anything that causes you pain for multiple days, requires hospitalization or surgery, forces you to undergo rehabilitative physical therapy, or requires you to need orthopedic care. If you have an injury like this, it’s very likely you qualify to bring a lawsuit.
When you have a substantial injury, you are most likely to get a settlement not only for the actual cost of your medical treatment but also for the pain and suffering and mental anguish that you’ve endured. Serious injuries usually also require you to take time off from work, which can mean a loss of income and in some cases can even mean that you’re never able to return to the same job you had before. In that case, you may need long-term care or compensation for rehabilitation that gets you back to a place where you can make a salary like you were making before.
Trying to deal with a personal injury claim or lawsuit while also recovering from a serious injury is extremely difficult. Even under the best of circumstances, dealing with all the legal aspects can be overwhelming for the average person. A lawyer will take all of these things off your plate as well as help you prove the clear link between your injuries and suffering and the accident that caused them.
2. You Are Not Responsible for Your Injury
If you are responsible for the accident, or primarily responsible, you can’t file a personal injury lawsuit. Here in Utah, anyone who is more than 50% at fault is forbidden from claiming compensation for their losses and damages. In addition, there are certain situations where a person can’t bring a claim at all, even if someone else is technically at fault. For example, if a trespasser is injured on private land, even if there was a known hazard and that hazard was not clearly marked, the landowner is not responsible for the welfare of a trespasser. As another example, if a person fails to follow their doctor’s instructions and their medical condition worsens, it’s usually not possible to bring a lawsuit for medical malpractice.
Even if you are somewhat responsible, however, so long as you are not more than 50% responsible it’s definitely worth talking to a lawyer. In fact, it’s worth talking to a lawyer even if you’re not sure what level of responsibility you have. An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to tell you how the courts will likely interpret your situation and how much fault they will probably assign.
Be aware that under Utah’s comparative fault rules, your final award will be reduced in most cases by the same percentage as your fault. If you are found to be 15% at fault for texting at the time of an accident, for instance, and the other driver is 85% at fault because they ran a red light, you could only recover 85% of your damages. It’s important in these cases to have a skilled lawyer who can properly evaluate your actual liability and defend you from any attempts to saddle you with more fault than you should hold.
3. You’re Up Against a Big Company
If the entity responsible for your accident is a large corporation, it’s especially important to have a lawyer on your side. For example, if you’re injured in a truck accident, the trucking company has money, resources, and a lot of incentive to find a way out of their responsibilities. You can expect them to have lawyers who are skilled at fighting for them and negotiating hard bargains to give victims as little as possible. You can also expect them to blame you as much as they can and for their insurance company to call your injuries and losses into question, possibly arguing that you were not injured in the accident or that your injuries are not as serious as you claim.
Even if these tactics are spurious, bigger companies like to at least try them because they know you don’t have the financial resources to fight back indefinitely. They’re hoping to demoralize you so you will agree to a quick settlement that’s often less than what you deserve. Once you have a lawyer on your side, you have someone who is aware of these tactics and who has dealt with them before fighting in your corner.
4. You Are Being Contacted by the Insurance Adjuster
Insurance companies are notorious for doing everything possible to minimize their payouts. Insurance adjusters will frequently call victims early in the process and ask for another statement or for them to answer questions. Although the adjuster will sound very friendly, these are usually fishing expeditions. The purpose is to get you to say something – anything – which can be used to minimize your losses or shift at least some of the liability onto you.
If you have $150,000 worth of damages after a severe car accident, for example, think what that means in the context of comparative fault. Every 1% of liability is worth $1,500 to you but saves $1,500 for the insurance company. Even if they can only move you from being held 5% at fault to 10%, they have saved $7,500, and you’re $7,500 out of pocket. The good news is that your lawyer can take over all communications with the insurance company. This protects you from saying anything you shouldn’t, and even if you do have to make a statement, you can talk it through with your lawyer first and have your lawyer present when you make it.
5. You’re Being Offered a Settlement
Another common insurance company tactic is to offer an initial settlement very early on. The settlement is usually a lot less than what you really could recover for all your losses and damages. The settlements usually ignore questions of pain and suffering or other non-economic damages and also tend to devalue future medical costs or deny you some of your wage losses. For example, they may be willing to pay for the wages you lost for the 10 days you weren’t able to work but don’t acknowledge the fact that you were eligible for a big end-of-year bonus, which you are now ineligible for because of your accident.
The insurance company is hoping you’ll be so desperate for money that you’ll just sign this early settlement, or that you just don’t know what your case is really worth. Your lawyer will protect you from all this.
Contact Our Experienced Personal Injury Lawyers Today
Whatever your situation, reach out to the experienced attorneys at RamRock Injury Law today for a free case evaluation. We proudly serve clients across Utah. Visit us at our Salt Lake City office:
RamRock Injury Law – Salt Lake City Office
5353 South 960 East Suite 200
Salt Lake City, Utah 84117
Phone: (866) 427-5167
