A Few Reasons You Should Not Represent Yourself
When you have been injured, you might think about representing yourself. Most people think they can handle their claim themselves. Sure it seems simple – call the insurance company, explain what happened and then they will send you money. Or so you think. However, personal injury claims are not so straightforward and representing yourself may leave thousands of dollars or more out of your pocket.
Here is why hiring a skilled personal injury lawyer is critical in maximizing your recovery.
- UNDERSTANDING THE LEGAL PROCESS
Personal injury recoveries involve more than simply filing a claim. There are complex rules about liability, evidence, damages, and timelines that steps must be taken. We have years of education and experience in navigating this complicated minefield. Without this skill-set and experience, it is easy to overlook important issues, facts, and possibly deadlines. If you skip any of these steps, you may have lost your right to recover and stuck with medical bills and lost wages.
- PROPERLY VALUING YOUR CLAIM
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when representing themselves is not properly determining the value of their claim. We know how to calculate the value of your claim, a value that is made up of: lost wages, past medical bills, future medical bills, pain and suffering and more. Without qualified legal guidance, you may unfortunately agree to a number that is not just low, but extremely unfair.
- DEALING WITH THE INSURANCE COMPANIES
Insurance companies are not your friends and do not want to treat you fairly or pay you what is a fair settlement amount. Insurance companies want to minimize what they pay you. We want to maximize what you recover. Adjusters are trained to be aggressive negotiators and will use tactics to bully or pressure you into thinking your case is not worth its true value and into accepting a lower offer. We are experienced to know how these adjusters operate and will fight to ensure you are not taken advantage of and to maximize your personal injury recovery.
- PROVE WHO IS AT FAULT AND THE VALUE OF YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CLAIM
Showing who is legally responsible for your damages, injuries, and demonstrating the extent of your damages is key in your personal injury case. We gather your medical records, police reports, witness statements, meet with you to understand how you have been affected by the crash and resulting injuries, and when needed, hire experts to support your case. Having the resources and knowledge to build a strong personal injury case while trying to represent yourself is extremely difficult, but hiring us is easy.
- MAXIMIZING YOUR COMPENSATION
Our goal is to maximize your recovery, what you walk away with after settlement. Studies show that injured people who hire attorneys recover significantly more than those who represent themselves. This is even after deducting attorney’s fees and case expenses.
- REDUCES STRESS YOUR STRESS AND LETS YOU FOCUS ON RECOVERY
After being in a crash, the last thing you want is the stress of handling the claim yourself. Your focus should be on your recovery, not dealing with an insurance company and constantly wondering if you are being treated fairly. Let us handle the claim, explaining the law, what is fair, and maximizing your recovery so you can heal.
- NO UPFRONT MONEY IS NEEDED TO PAY THE ATTORNEY
We do not charge our clients any upfront costs. We work for you on a contingency fee basis, meaning we are paid an agreed upon percentage of the recovery at the end of your case.
Remember, if you have been involved in a crash, we are here to protect, advise, and fight for you, so we can maximize your recovery. Car crashes, motorcycle crashes, 18-wheeler crashes happen. When they do, we are here to help the victims maximize their recovery. We are here to help. We are a personal injury law firm in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana. For more than 50 years, we have been able to maximize results for our clients either through settlement or victories in the courtroom. Through teamwork and communication, I am able to effectively and efficiently maximize my client’s recovery. No two cases are exactly alike, and you should not be treated as a number on an assembly line. Hire an attorney who knows you by name and will spend the time with you to understand how your life has been affected, explain the law that applies to your case, the game plan, and to answer all of your questions. We work FOR our clients.
Don’t Speak To The Insurance Company
When you hire a personal injury attorney, you are hiring someone who will protect you, inform you of the law or laws that apply to your case, fight for you to recover the most you are entitled to recover and to deal with the insurance companies. I tell my clients, “Your job is to get better by following your doctor’s recommendations and treatment schedule and my job is to handle everything else.”The client’s role is simple:
• Be honest
• Communicate with your attorney
• Show up for all doctor’s appointments and communicate with your providers
• Focus on recovery
• When you have questions, ask your attorney
The attorney’s role in a personal injury case is very simple:
• Be honest
• Communicate with client, insurance adjusters, defense attorneys, doctors, experts, witnesses and more
• Learn the values of the insurance policies that apply to the case
• Answer all client questions
• Explain the applicable laws to the client’s case
• Discuss strategies, strong points and weak points of the case
• Plan on how to deal with the weak points in the case (every case has at least 1)
• Determine the value range of the case
• Aggressively work to maximize the client’s recovery either through settlement or trial
• And that is just the beginning of all the work we do for our clients.
Once we are hired, our work begins. One of the first things that we do is contact all insurance companies and let them know we are representing you, our client, and that they are to only speak with us.
What happens when an insurance company calls our client after they have received this letter? We tell our clients that if this happens, tell them “Richard Kennedy is representing me. Call him,” then hang up. Depending on what the insurance company is trying to accomplish by speaking with a client who hired Richard Kennedy as their personal injury attorney, they may be breaking ethical rules, Louisiana law, or acting in bad faith.
Remember, if you have been involved in a crash, we are here to protect, advise, and fight for you, so we can maximize your recovery.
Injured in a crash? Now what? Part #1
Filled with adrenaline and uncertainty, you have just been involved in a crash and don’t know what to do. This post will help provide a general guide for common steps that you should take.
- Are you injured? Your body is in the fight or flight stage and you may not be aware of all of your injuries as your mind and body are working to protect you and get you out of this situation. But here are a few things to check. Are you able to move your arms and legs? Do you feel pain anywhere? Are you scared to move or get out of your car? Depending on your answer, it may be better to stay in your vehicle, assuming it is safe to remain inside.
- Call 9-1-1. Report the crash and notify the operator of your location, any injuries that you or your passengers may have suffered, and if you have been able to check on the other driver, report any injuries they may have suffered. If you or others have been injured or if you are worried about injuries, please request the ambulance.
- Documentation. If you are able to safely move outside of your car, please take pictures of your car, the other car, the area where the crash happened, and anything else that you believe to be important.
- Move your car? If instructed by the 9-1-1 operator to do so, but your car or the other car is not able to be moved, please let the operator know. If you are on a highway, state law requires you to move your vehicles to the side, if you can do so. If you are on any other roadway, you may consider moving to the side or to a parking lot to avoid further harm. Before doing so, make sure to take pictures of both cars and their placement on the roadway.
- Police. When the police arrive, be honest and tell them what you remember happening. You will also be asked to write a statement, if your condition allows. This is not a school essay, but just a chance to write a short statement that may include the direction you were driving, your actions before the crash (were you stopped for traffic or a light or driving straight), and what did the other driver do or not do?
- Ambulance.If you have any concerns, please get medical attention immediately. Let the paramedics check you out. They are trained professionals and will make sure that if you need medical attention, you will get help immediately.
This is just the beginning of the journey. Come back for Part #2 where we will discuss starting an insurance claim, the importance of hiring a skilled personal injury attorney and more.
Car crashes, motorcycle crashes, 18wheeler crashes happen. When they do, we are here to help the victims maximize their recovery. We are here to help. We are a personal injury law firm in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana. For more than 50 years, we have been able to maximize results for our clients either through settlement or victories in the courtroom. Through teamwork and communication, I am able to effectively and efficiently maximize my client’s recovery. No two cases are exactly alike, and you should not be treated as a number on an assembly line. Hire an attorney who knows you by name and will spend the time with you to understand how your life has been affected, explain the law that applies to your case, the game plan, and to answer all of your questions. We work FOR our clients. Injured and have questions?
No Pay, No Play?
DOES THIS MEAN YOU’RE OUT OF LUCK?
What does this mean and why do we have such a thing?
In Louisiana, we have a “No Pay, No Play” law. Here is the quick simple explanation – if you are driving and do not have car insurance when injured in a crash, as an uninsured driver, you give up the first $15,000 of personal injury coverage and first $25,000 of property damage coverage. Those are the minimum limits required by law that every vehicle owner must maintain while owning their car.
Our state lawmakers enacted this law to attempt to reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the road. The thought being that with this law being passed, people who do not have auto insurance will either stop driving or will purchase car insurance. Additionally, if a person does not pay to have auto insurance and causes a crash, they have not protected the other drivers on the road. But if the uninsured driver is in a crash, then they are not able to “reap the benefits” if they are the victim, at least for the first $15,000 of personal injury damage and $25,000 of property damage.
But there are exceptions. The driver of the other vehicle:
- Is cited for drunk driving and later is convicted, pleas guilty or no contest.
- Intentionally caused the crash.
- Flees the scene – hit and run.
- At the time of the crash, is committing a felony.
Does this law apply if you are a passenger? NO! Provided the passenger who is injured did not own that car.
What is the driver is from out of state and is the injured victim? Louisiana law may not apply to that driver if their state does not have the same level of coverage as Louisiana, $15,000/$30,000/$25,000. But there are also exceptions here – did that out of state driver move to Louisiana and fail to transfer registration in the time required by law?
Just because you have been injured and there is no insurance on your car does not always mean you will not be able to recover. If this has happened to you, give us a call. We are happy to meet with you, learn more about your unique situation and provide great advice.