You Do Not Always Need To Hire A Lawyer For Your Personal Injury Claim
Accident victims often ask me whether they “really” need an attorney to represent them through the insurance claims process. I would never state that you need to hire an attorney because a claimant may go through the entire process without an attorney or other representative. In fact, if the property damages or personal injuries damages are really small in a claim, then we may recommend that the claimant try to negotiate the claim on his or her own.
Will An Attorney Get You a Higher Settlement Than You Could Get on Your Own?
In many circumstances, the answer is, “Yes”. This is where I don’t want you to take my word for it. A study conducted in 1999 concluded that insurance companies paid higher settlements to accident victims represented by an attorney than those who represented themselves.
The insurance industry wanted to determine if represented claimants received higher settlements than those who were unrepresented. The Insurance Research Council, a non-profit organization comprised of many of the largest casualty and insurance companies in the country, conducted the study.
The IRC found that claimants who used an attorney received on average three and one-half (3 ½) times more settlement money than claimants who settled claims on their own.
You should at least obtain a consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney to see what he or she can do for you.
Why Hire The Ortiz Law Firm For Your Personal Injury Claim?
One of the primary reasons why I became a personal injury attorney was because I was looking at the attorneys who were doing injury claims, and my thought was that, while there are plenty of attorneys who do injury cases, there aren’t that many that actually do it well. I wanted to become a personal injury attorney to really help people in their time of need after they’d been injured in an accident, and I do think that you get a different type of representation when you hire my law firm.
First and foremost, you get individualized attention. I think that one of the things that happen when an individual hires a bigger firm is they get lost in the fray of things. Their case isn’t given, perhaps, as much attention as the case deserves. We understand how important your case is to you and your family, and that’s why we try to move along our cases as quickly as they reasonably can be moved. That doesn’t mean we want to rush things. There are certain things that must occur along the course of your case in order to make sure that it’s handled appropriately, but we do want to make sure that once the time is ripe for you to make a demand for settlement, we do so in an appropriate time and try to resolve your case as quickly as possible so you get the recovery that you deserve for you and your family.
I think another thing that sets us apart is our communication with our clients. When you call our office, you do get a live voice, and if you’re unable to talk to your case manager right away, they will return your call promptly. One of the things that I personally try to remember is that, while I may have handled these types of claims dozens and dozens of times before, this may be your first time having a lawsuit or a claim or hiring an attorney, and I try to educate you about the process and what to expect so that you have a greater understanding of what’s going to happen and what you can expect at the end of your case. Our goal is, obviously, to have you pay off all of your medical bills, all of your legal bills, and then compensate you for your losses as a result of an accident.
Is it Important to Retain an Attorney for my Florida Motorcycle Case?
If your injuries in a motorcycle accident are relatively minor, then you might not need to have the assistance of an attorney to resolve your case. We’ve found that oftentimes the insurance companies will fully compensate you for those injuries. However, if your injuries are much more severe, then they’re going to be looking much more skeptically at your case and looking at ways of trying to minimize what they pay you. It’s in those instances where your injuries are much more severe than we do recommend that you have an attorney to assist you.
What To Look For When Hiring an Attorney For Your Motorcycle Accident Case
If you’re looking to hire an attorney in your motorcycle case, you should look for several different things. Number one is the experience of the attorney. Does the attorney have experience in handling motorcycle cases? Number two, you should look for someone who’s going to push your case aggressively. Oftentimes, these cases tend to linger around the attorney’s offices and you want someone who’s going to be moving your case forward. Next, you want an attorney who’s going to be educating you about the process. You really want to work with an office that’s going to be communicating with you, educating you about the process, and educating you about the value of your case. I think those are the critical things that you should look for.
Should I Consult with a Personal Injury Attorney Following a Florida Slip and Fall?
Our recommendation is that you contact an attorney as soon as possible. That’s because the insurance company that’s going to be handling the claim may be contacting you asking you to provide a sworn statement. If you provide a sworn statement without the advice of counsel, then you may say things that could ultimately come back to harm your case. Most attorneys offer a free consultation, including our firm so we really recommend that you talk to an attorney before giving any kind of statement to an insurance company.
Do I Need An Attorney For My Florida Auto Accident Case If The Insurance Company Seems To Be Cooperating?
I always tell claimants that you do not need an attorney in every single type of case, but what I really want you to pay attention to is why do they seem to be cooperating. For example, they may be asking for you to sign a medical release, and they are saying that they need the medical release so that they can update your medical records and understand your injuries so they can pay you all the benefits you’re entitled to. However, what they might be really doing is trying to get old medical records that they could use against you by saying that your injuries were preexisting. Because you may not be aware that they are doing this, it is recommended that you contact an attorney to understand your rights and what they may be doing so that you fully understand what benefits you’re entitled to.
How Quickly Should I Contact An Attorney In A Florida Auto Accident Case?
Once a claim has been made in a Florida car accident case, the insurance companies will be on the ball in contacting you right away to try to get a statement from you. We generally recommend that you do not talk to any insurance companies or adjusters or provide any kind of sworn statement until you’ve at least talked to an attorney to discuss what your legal rights are, and make sure that your statement is true and accurate. Because you can get a free consultation from many attorneys, such as our office, we do recommend that you contact an attorney right away.
When Is The Best Time To Hire a Car Accident Attorney?
My recommendation is that you talk to an attorney before you talk to the insurance adjuster or the driver of the other vehicle involved in your case. The insurance adjuster is going to act like your friend, they’re going to be very nice and courteous to you, and they’re going to ask you to sign some forms saying that they just need to get the medical records for your case to pay you all the money that you’re entitled to. However, they aren’t just interested in your case. They’re interested in using that form to try to dig up any old evidence of any preexisting injuries, and they may use anything that you say in a statement with them against you in a court of law. Once you’ve spoken to the insurance agent, for example, they might even give you an offer right on the spot. They might offer you, say, $5000 to settle your case right then and there. The question is whether you should take that offer. You should kind of have an inkling that if they offer you $5000 right on the spot, your case is probably worth a lot more than that. That’s why, before you sign any forms or talk to any insurance adjusters or the other driver, you should consider getting a free case evaluation from an attorney.
Ortiz Law Firm offers free case evaluations, but we do not accept every case. If you’d like a free case evaluation, or if you’d like to talk to an experienced personal injury attorney, call (888) 321-8131.