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Accidents happen every single day, from falling on slick floors to car accidents or burns. While sometimes these accidents are simple and basic, sometimes they're not. Sometimes accidents are caused by other people, and the resulting injuries can be extensive, and expensive. If you've been involved in any type of accident, you may be out of work, dealing with overdue bills, extensive medical expenses, and lots of mental and physical pain. When this happens, where do you turn to make ends meet?
Just like filing for workers' compensation when you've been hurt on the job, you can personally sue the negligent party who has caused you harm in order to support yourself during your healing. If you've suffered a personal injury, personal injury law firms like DCAL are here to help make sure you get the fair compensation you are due.
Personal injury lawsuits have one stipulation to them: your injury must have been caused by negligence or an intentional act on the part of the guilty party. Your injury could be physical or mental. This means that if you slip on the floor of a business where there was a spill or leak and the store owner didn't try to warn customers of the area or block it off or clean It up, your fall is the fault of the store owner.
However, if you spill something and slip on it, the business owner would not be found responsible since you created the situation that caused your injury or accident. You can also sue someone civilly even if you are also suing them criminally, as civil cases are essentially all about money.
Personal injuries can range anywhere from an auto accident to physical injuries caused by reckless behavior, mental abuse that causes mental anguish, or even severe injuries such as traumatic brain injuries. Essentially, if you have suffered at the hands of another, there is normally a way you can ask for a settlement, as long as you are inside of the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations is normally around 3 years in most cases.
Personal injury lawsuits can vary greatly in range, and so can the payouts. In extreme cases, such as the famous Liebeck vs McDonald's case of 1992, these lawsuits can reach up into the millions. In the Liebeck vs McDonald's case, it was found that McDonald's corporate policy was to serve hot coffee at a temperature hot enough to cause third-degree burns, which was found to be intentionally negligent on their part. Stella Liebeck was awarded almost 3 million dollars in damages from McDonald's corporation.
The largest personal injury lawsuit in history was a wrongful death suit between the family of Robert Middleton, who they claimed died from cancer caused by burns inflicted by Don Collins in a vicious attack more than a decade before Middletons death. Robert Middletons family was awarded $150 billion by a judge who agreed with them.
In most cases, however, the average personal injury payout is around the mid to low 50 thousand. This can be a lot of money and proper compensation to help personal injury victims get by while healing and paying for expenses and medical bills without having to worry about rushing back to work and causing more extensive damage to their minds or bodies. For common injuries such as whiplash or other minor neck injuries from motor vehicle accidents, for example, may only pay out a couple of thousand dollars.
Unlike many attorneys, injury or Aurora car accident attorneys do not get paid upfront. Instead, their clients sign contracts pledging a certain percentage of their settlement to their attorney upon being awarded a settlement.
Because your personal injury attorney is working for a percentage of your settlement, it's in their best interest that your settlement is as high and gracious as possible. This rate normally sits somewhere around 32-34%, and normally raises to around 40% if your case ends up going to trial, as this is more work for your legal team.
There are also additional costs that you will have to pay out of your settlement. Different from lawyer fees, lawyer cost is the amount that you must pay for any filings with the court done on your behalf, This can be anything from filing fees to costs for hiring private investigators. These lawyer costs can get extremely steep, and all potential fees should be discussed and approved before your attorney spends any of your money.
Opposing counsel is often more insistent on settling outside of, and prior to, court if you have an attorney on your side, as they know they may be forced to pay out a settlement they don't want by a judge, and settling outside of court does give them some control.
Learn More: What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer do?
On average, those that hire attorneys see a sizable increase to their settlement payouts, and usually walk away with at least 3-4% more money in hand than their counterparts that did not hire attorneys, even after paying their law firm their percentages. This is called a contingency fee basis.
Even in small cases, this can add up to a couple of hundred extra dollars, but for bigger cases, this can go up into the thousands. The more money you walk away with, the longer you have to focus on healing and getting better mentally before having to return back to your job or career.
If you don't win, then you pay nothing. Personal injury attorneys tend to only take cases they know are surefire, because they only get paid if you win. So if you lose, you've wasted nothing and you're not out of pocket at all. That makes hiring a personal injury attorney a win-win situation for clients. You may end up having to repay the lawyer for the costs of their investigation and courts filings, etc.
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If you've been injured due to someone else's intentional actions or negligence, don't shoulder your pain and burden all on your own. Your personal injury claim can make a huge difference in how you heal, which can affect the rest of your life.
A person with the funds to focus only on getting better has a better chance at keeping their promising future than a person who shoulders their burden on their own and forces themselves to deal with their injuries and bills on their own. If you didn't cause the accident, you shouldn't have to suffer any more consequences than you already are from your injury, and there is no shame in choosing to put yourself first.
If you've suffered an injury at the hands of someone else and are looking for Aurora personal injury lawyers, it's time to call DCAL for your initial consultation. Our experienced personal injury attorneys are ready to fight for you, a fair settlement, and a bright future.
