Sustaining a personal injury due to someone else’s negligence is debilitating both physically and emotionally. Fighting for compensation while you are recovering from injuries can be taxing unless you have professional assistance.
By hiring a Plantation personal injury lawyer from Eltringham Law Group, you can improve your chances of recovering fair damages. With a legal professional, you can build a strong case and gain valuable time to address your injuries.
What a Plantation Personal Injury Attorney Can Do
Traffic collisions and falls are the top causes of injuries in Florida. Along with workplace and construction accidents, they lead to thousands of personal injury cases every year. While you aren’t obligated to hire an attorney, negotiating a fair settlement without professional legal assistance is nearly impossible.
A personal injury lawyer in Plantation doesn’t just handle legal action. They give valuable advice, offer support throughout the case, and:
- Prepare and file legal documents on time
- Conduct an in-depth investigation and collect evidence to back your case
- Speak to eyewitnesses and hire expert witnesses
- Negotiate a fair settlement with the insurance company
- Present your case in court if necessary
Experienced Plantation personal injury lawyers are familiar with handling cases with local insurance companies and courts. This gives them an advantage during negotiations and court proceedings.
How to Build a Strong Personal Injury Case
Even if the at-fault party’s liability seems straightforward, you still need to work hard to prove it and obtain compensation. The key aspects of a personal injury case are:
Proving Liability
Proving liability in a personal injury case requires careful investigation. In some situations, several parties may be responsible for your injuries. For example, if a driver rear-ended you because they tried to avoid a jaywalking pedestrian, both the driver and the pedestrian could be responsible.
In some cases, the plaintiff could be partially responsible for the incident. For example, if you were struck by scaffolding while ignoring safety procedures, the court may decide that you are 20% responsible, while the construction company is 80% responsible. According to Florida’s comparative fault law, in this case, you can only recover 80% of the awarded damages.
Proving Negligence
Once you determine the liable parties, you need to prove negligence. This involves four steps:
Legal Duty of Care
You must show that the defendant had a legal duty of care to you. For example, a property owner has a legal duty of care to arrange a safe environment for visitors.
Breach of the Legal Duty of Care
You need to demonstrate that the defendant breached the legal duty of care. For example, by running a red light and hitting your vehicle, a driver breached the duty to act reasonably on the road.
Injuries
You must prove that the defendant’s breach of legal duty caused you to sustain injuries. For example, if a store owner didn’t put up a wet floor sign and you fell and broke your ankle, their breach led to your injury.
Damages
You need to demonstrate that the injuries you sustained led to damages. For example, if you needed costly medical treatment and had to miss work for several weeks, it resulted in a loss of income.
An experienced personal injury attorney can help you demonstrate the other party’s negligence and prove your right to recover damages.
Collecting Evidence
To determine liability and prove negligence, you need to collect evidence and present it to the insurance company or the court. Evidence in a personal injury case usually includes:
- Proof of medical treatment (bills, prescriptions, and doctor’s reports)
- Eyewitness testimony
- Expert witness testimony
- Photos and videos of the accident site
- Photos and videos of injuries
- Personal journals that demonstrate a reduction in quality of life
Not all evidence is equal. Some elements may help build your case, while others could hurt it. A personal injury lawyer can advise you about the quality of evidence and help collect relevant documents.
Negotiating
Most personal injury cases involve negotiations with the insurance company. Even if you end up going to court, you may still have to negotiate with the at-fault party.
The negotiation process is psychologically taxing. Insurance companies can implement different tactics to convince you to accept a low settlement. Many people end up taking an unfair offer simply because they can’t handle the ongoing negotiations.
If you decide to hire a personal injury attorney, you don’t need to participate in negotiations. The legal professional will do the job for you. Since lawyers have experience with such negotiations, insurance companies cannot pressure them into making decisions.
How Much Money You Can Recover in a Personal Injury Case
The amount of money you can receive depends on many factors:
The Extent of Your Injuries
The more severe the injuries you sustain in an accident, the more money you can recover to compensate for them. For example, you would require less money to treat a broken bone than a traumatic brain injury.
Quality of Evidence
You can only obtain compensation if you can provide high-quality evidence that supports the amount you are asking for. The more evidence you can collect when building your case, the more likely you are to receive fair compensation.
Non-Economic Damages
Besides receiving compensation for economic damages such as medical expenses and lost wages, you may also be able to recover non-economic damages. These damages include pain and suffering, emotional anguish, loss of consortium, and loss of quality of life. The amount of non-economic damages is usually higher than the amount of economic damages.
The experience and expertise of your attorney play a major role in recovering fair compensation. Their ability to build a strong case and negotiate a fair settlement can improve your chances of receiving a higher amount.
Contact an Experienced Plantation Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you’ve been injured in an accident that occurred due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Building a case and proving your right to damage recovery is rarely easy.
By hiring an experienced personal injury attorney in Plantation, you can improve your chances of receiving fair compensation. Contact our legal team for a free case evaluation.