SHOULD I FILE AN INJURY CLAIM BY MYSELF?

You could feel a lot of pressure if you’re dealing with an injury that someone else inflicted. If your injuries caused permanent damage, you need money for medical care and loss of income right away. It can be intriguing to represent yourself in a personal injury case. The cost of hiring an attorney in a personal injury case can be confusing. If you represent yourself and things don’t work out for you, you can find yourself in a worse predicament.

You Have the Right to Represent Yourself

When it comes to making personal injury claims, individuals have the right to represent themselves. You must thoroughly prepare your claim if you intend to appear pro se, or on your own behalf. You’ll file the lawsuit, present the required proof, and perhaps even give a deposition. You may save time and money by having your dispute handled outside of court. However, you must ensure that you uphold your rights.

Claim Adjuster may trick you

The claim adjuster will try to trick you in the following ways:

Offer an insanely low settlement as soon as possible after the injury, when it is difficult to get a full picture of the range of costs the claimant is facing. The claims adjuster’s initial settlement offer is almost always substantially less than the claim’s value, even when the claimant has appointed representation.
Persuading the claimant to consent to turn over ALL of their medical records. Actually, what they’re doing is seeking pre-existing conditions that would release them from having to cover part of the costs associated with treating the injury. Although people with pre-existing conditions can file personal injury claims, the insurer is only liable for payingfr damages that are made worse by the crash. The adjuster must review some medical records, but only a small subset of them. An attorney can make those records and those records alone available to the claimant since they are aware of the records that are required for their consideration.
“Schemey” telephone tactics. When two people are speaking on the phone, it’s common for one person to ask the other how they’re doing and receive an affirmative or negative response. Unfortunately, the claims adjuster can use anything the claimant says to evaluate the claim, including implying that the claimant wouldn’t be “fine” if they were really as hurt as they claimed to be.

An attorney can handle correspondence with the claims adjuster on behalf of their client and safeguard the claim from this trick.

Injury Claim: Why choose a lawyer instead?

A lawyer may be very helpful when accepting an initial settlement offer since they could act on your behalf to accomplish the following key tasks:

Your attorney may provide an accurate estimate of your current and upcoming medical expenses. Your attorney’s intervention could ensure that you have the resources necessary to pay for ongoing medical care until you are fully recovered.
Your attorney may precisely determine your financial losses, including those resulting from your incapacity to resume work right away owing to your injuries as well as the amount of money you lose from your failure to resume work in the future.

It’s important to remember just because you decide to represent yourself in a personal injury lawsuit, it does not ‌follow that the party you are suing will do the same. The old saying “Penny Wise but Pound Foolish” is often be applicable in this type off decision.

Conclusion

Our attorneys will talk with you about your case. We have the expertise required to assist you in obtaining full and fair compensation. Get a consultation from us. Knowing you’re in good care allows you to concentrate on healing from your injury.

Joe Lavelle

Mr. Lavelle has significant, successful jury trial experience and is responsible for more than $30 million in jury verdicts and settlements. His most recent trial and settlement victories include:

$10.8 million dollar jury verdict against Pizza Hut on behalf of a mother and daughter seriously injured by a pizza delivery driver.
$1.75 million insurance bad faith case
$1.75 million injury case in Old Town, San Diego
$1.6 million recovery for a young women struck by a transit vehicle

$1.3 million design defect premises case
$1.4 million semi-tractor trailer injury
$1.25 million taxicab injury
$1.6 million for an elderly auto accident victim
$900,000+ recovery for a non-profit in a business dispute
$795,000 for a taxicab related injury
$750,000.00 settlement in products liability case
$750,000.00 for a student injured on the U.C. Berkeley campus
$750,000+ for a family injured on the I-405 in Los Angeles
$695,000 for a women rear-ended by a Sheriff’s Deputy
$300,000.00+ jury verdict for client who fell and was injured on a city bus
$600,000+ jury verdict for a 73-year-old woman who fell in a fast-food restaurant
$600,000+ for a Las Vegas client injured in an automobile accident in Laguna, California
$600,000+ for a husband and wife who suffered food poisoning
$700,000+ for three customers of a nail salon who were injured while receiving pedicures (furunculosis infection)

Mr. Lavelle works hand in hand with clients, getting to know and understand how his clients’ injuries impact not only their lives, but the lives of their families. Mr. Lavelle’s extra effort has helped him be so successful in winning multi-million-dollar verdicts, awards, and settlements for his clients. Call us to help you with car accident, auto accident recovery, motor vehicle accident recovery in San Diego or California.