Overview Of Retaining A Car Accident Lawyer

A number of important factors need to be considered when a person is debating the need to engage services of a personal injury attorney that specializes in automobile accident cases.

Initial Consultation

The first step in the process of engaging the services of a car accident attorney is scheduling what is known as an initial consultation. An initial consultation is a meeting with an attorney during which a person provides an overview of the facts and circumstances surrounding an auto accident. A lawyer considers this information generally and provides a basic outline of how a claim and case can be approached to obtain appropriate compensation for injuries and damages.

Typically, a personal injury attorney that specializes in auto accident and associated injury cases does not charge a fee for an initial consultation. In addition, merely scheduling an initial consultation does not oblige a person to retain that particular lawyer.

Obtaining Comprehensive Compensation

One of the primary reasons a person is best served retaining the services of a capable car accident lawyer is that an attorney is in the best position to ensure that an individual obtains comprehensive compensation for all types of damages and injuries sustained. One of the common types of recovery to which a car accident victim is entitled is compensation for medical expenses.

When it comes to medical expenses, a person is entitled to compensation not only for current medical bills but for future bills that reasonable can be expected to be incurred in the future. In a similar vein, a person who has suffered injuries as the result of a car accident is entitled to compensation for lost wages. As is the case with medical expenses, this includes both current and future lost wages. The reality is that many people are not immediately or even ever able to return to the same type of employment they maintained before the accident related injuries.

Other types of compensation to which a car accident attorney can aid a client in obtaining is compensation for pain and suffering. Again, this includes currently experienced pain and suffering but pain and suffering that a person reasonably can be expected to experience in the future as a result of the injuries and damages associated with the automobile accident.

Obtaining Full Compensation

Insurance companies attempt to force people injured in car accidents into quick settlements for low amounts of money. In the end, the primary objective of an insurance company is to protect the interests of its shareholders -- not to protect the interests of a person injured in an auto accident.

Because of these realities, people who retain legal counsel are in the best position to take on large insurance companies. Car accident lawyers have the experience and tenacity necessary to fight insurance companies on behalf of their clients.

Attorney Fees and Car Accident Litigation

Many people have questions about how attorney fees and case expenses are handled in a car accident case. As a general rule, an attorney does not charge a client a fee in a personal injury case unless and until that client obtains a settlement or a judgment in his or her favor. A standard fee is 33 percent of the amount of compensation obtained by a car accident victim via a settlement or a judgment after a trial in court.

A client will also be responsible for any costs associated with pursuing a car accident claim or case. Examples of costs associated with this type of case include expenses associated with experts. Again, reimbursement for these expenses does not occur unless a person receives compensation through a settlement or a judgment following a trial.

Time is of the Essence

The statute of limitations in each and every state sets an absolute deadline by which a personal injury lawsuit must be filed, including a car accident case. If the deadline is missed, a person injured because of someone else's negligence can forever be precluded for seeking redress in a court of law.

A person injured in a car accident cannot waste time in engaging the services of a qualified automobile accident attorney. Not only do insurance companies pressure people to settle for smaller amounts of money when no lawyer is involved, an injured individual must also appreciate what is known as the statute of limitations.