Each year, an estimated 130 million Americans will visit the Emergency Room after suffering an accident and injury. Despite that, only about half a million of those accidents will result in a personal injury claim.
If you’ve recently suffered an injury after an accident in Raynham, then it’s important to get informed about your legal options. Depending on the nature of your accident, another party may be legally responsible for the financial losses you endure. Learn more about whether seeking out a lawsuit is right for you and how to secure the best possible Raynham personal injury lawyer to help you below.
What is a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
When you get hurt in an accident that was someone else’s fault, it doesn’t make sense for you to be forced to bear the brunt of the losses of the accident. Thankfully, the law agrees. Personal injury laws are a group of different laws that seek to protect individuals who end up getting hurt in accidents that aren’t their fault.
A personal injury lawsuit is a type of civil suit that seeks financial compensation from the party responsible for an accident. By far, the most common and well-recognized type of personal injury lawsuit is a car accident claim. Learn more about the different types of personal injury claims our firm handles below.
What Types of Injury Cases Our Firm Can Help With
Personal injury laws cover a wide range of accidents. Each category of personal injury law is different, but the premise remains the same – someone else caused an accident and you suffered as a result. Here are some of the most common types of personal injury cases that our firm handles:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Premises liability (accidents on someone else’s property)
- Slip and fall accidents
- Medical malpractice claims
- Work-related accidents
- Products liability claims
- Intentional injuries (assault, battery)
- Defamation
- Dog bite injuries
- Wrongful death claims
Are you unsure if your specific situation is covered under one of these categories? If so, then contact our firm to discuss your accident. We’ll help advise you on your legal options moving forward.
What Kind of Compensation Can You Collect For Your Injury?
The point of seeking out a personal injury lawsuit is to recover financially from the losses endured in the accident. During these types of claims, you can seek out three types of compensation.
Economic damages are the verifiable monetary damages incurred due to the accident and injury. In most cases, these damages include losses like:
- Medical expenses: All of the bills related to your injury should be compensated, including ambulance rides, hospital stays, surgeries, etc.
- Lost wages: If you had to miss work due to your injuries or because you were receiving treatment, then you can recover those lost wages in a personal injury claim.
- Property damages: Did the accident damage any of your personal belongings? If so, you can receive compensation to repair or replace those items.
- Pain and suffering: The physical pain and emotional anguish caused by the injuries should be compensated.
- Mental anguish: Along with pain and suffering, you may also be able to recover for the emotional turmoil caused by the accident.
- Punitive damages: In some cases, particularly egregious ones, a court may award punitive damages as well. These are designed to punish the at-fault party and prevent them from engaging in similar behavior in the future.
- Costs of future medical care: If you will require long-term or lifelong treatment due to your injuries, then those future medical costs should be included in the settlement.
- Wrongful death damages: If a personal injury accident resulted in someone’s death, then the survivors may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit. These claims seek to recover funeral expenses, loss of companionship, and more.
Non-monetary damages are losses you incurred that are more difficult to put a monetary value on. These losses include things like emotional distress, pain and suffering, mental anguish, or loss of companionship.
Finally, punitive damages are monetary awards that aren’t meant to compensate the injured victim but to penalize and punish the responsible party. Punitive damages are only awarded when the responsible party’s actions were extreme, intentional, or overly reckless.
How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Case in Massachusetts?
Each state has statute of limitation laws. These laws limit the amount of time you have to file a claim after an accident. Statute of limitation laws protect the interests of all parties involved in litigation. Time limits protect potential defendants from facing unfair lawsuits from years ago. They also protect injured victims from losing out on valuable time-sensitive evidence that needed to get collected shortly after the accident happens. If too much time passes, an injured person’s claim becomes harder and harder to prove. Further, these limitations also protect courtroom workers from wasting time on frivolous cases.
So, how long do you have to file a personal injury case in Massachusetts? For most personal injury cases, you’ll have a three year period after the accident to pursue a claim.
What Types of Evidence Do You Need to Prove Your Claims?
So, what types of evidence do you need to prove your claims? First, you’ll need to prove that the accident actually occurred. This will be easy to do if you called the police or a supervisor to make an official report about the incident. You’ll also need to prove that you were injured. You can get this proof by getting medical treatment. Keep a copy of your diagnosis. Finally, you’ll need proof of your losses. Keep documents that show your financial losses like medical bills, property damage, or lost time off of work.
How Can a Raynham Personal Injury Lawyer Help You?
After your accident, you might be wondering – is hiring a personal injury attorney in Raynham really necessary? In most personal injury situations, hiring a lawyer is crucial. That’s because the other party has an incentive not to pay you what you really deserve. If you do not have legal representation, then the other party will use that to their advantage. They might attempt to offer you a settlement amount that’s far less than you deserve. They may refuse to negotiate fairly because they don’t think you’ll really take them to court. Further, they may even lean on your lack of knowledge about the law and use that against you to completely negate or derail your claim.
Why You Should Choose Our Firm
Did you know that Massachusetts is one of the top states when it comes to the number of lawyers per residents? Recent estimates suggest that there are about six lawyers for every 1,000 residents! With so many options, it can be overwhelming to figure out which injury attorney or firm is right for you.
When you’ve been in an accident, you need to find an attorney who has extensive experience representing clients who have been in accidents like the one you’ve experienced. For example, if you suffered an injury after an instance of medical malpractice, it’s unlikely that a business lawyer could help you at all. Even a car accident lawyer would struggle to identify the ins-and-outs of a medical malpractice claim. For that reason, you’ll want to find an attorney with specific experience relating to your type of accident.
Even better, you’ll want an attorney who has experience in the local courtroom where your case will take place. Look at a potential lawyer’s past case results and past testimonials from clients to further verify that they’re a good legal representative.
If you’ve checked all those boxes off, then it’s time to schedule a consultation with the lawyer. Ask them how many cases they’re currently handling and whether they’ll have the time to take on your case. Ask them how open they are as far as communication goes, and always inquire about how they’ll charge you if you hire them. Once you have all this information, you’ll be prepared to make an informed choice.
When it comes to hiring the right Raynham personal injury attorney, we feel our firm is an ideal choice. We strive to embody all the positive qualities outlined above, and we also work hard to ensure all of our clients feel heard, validated, and respected.
Get in Touch With a Personal Injury Lawyer in Raynham Today
Are you ready to get in touch with a lawyer who can help represent you throughout your claim? Reaching out to a lawyer within a timely manner after your accident is paramount. Not only will a good lawyer use that time wisely to collect any time-sensitive evidence, but they’ll also ensure that you maintain your right to seek out a claim at all by filing your lawsuit before the statute of limitations runs its course.
If you’ve recently been in an accident, then we want to hear from you. Contact us now to discuss your accident in more detail and learn more about your legal options moving forward. Call us now or fill out our online form to hear back from one of our best attorneys soon.
