Personal Injury 360

25 Tips for Getting a Fair Personal Injury Settlement

Have you been hurt in an accident? If so, there’s a good chance that you’ll have to deal with an insurance company as you seek compensation. Whether you’re seeking benefits from your provider or the at-fault party’s insurer, the company and its defense attorneys won’t be eager to cut you a check.

They’ll try to either deny your claim or drive down its value.

So, how can you know that you’re really getting a fair settlement deal?

Below, personal injury lawyers from across the country have provided their top tips for making sure that victims like you get a fair deal during negotiations. Check them out and keep them in mind if you’re in an accident.

25 Tips You Can Use to Get the Best Settlement for Your Personal Injury Claim

Personal injury claims cover car accidents, premises liability claims, defective product injuries, and many other types of accidents and injuries. Before you accept any insurance settlement or personal injury settlement, read these 25 tips for getting a fair personal injury settlement.

Tip 1 From A New York City Attorney

Jay Knispel – New York City Personal Injury Lawyers

Law Offices of Jay S. Knispel Personal Injury Lawyers

Report the accident immediately. A written record of the accident is essential when filing a personal injury claim. Without a written record, the other party could deny their involvement in the accident. Additionally, the insurance company may not treat the claim as seriously if you don’t have any evidence that an accident occurred.

Tip 2 From A Los Angeles Attorney

Aleksey Katmissky – Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer

KJ Injury & Accident Lawyers, PC

Don’t lie to the police. When you report an accident or injury to the police, don’t lie or embellish. Instead, tell the police officer what happened without going into unnecessary details. Saying more than is necessary – or stretching the truth – can have serious consequences for you and hurt your ability to file a successful lawsuit.

Tip 3 From A Fort Lauderdale Attorney

Gregg Hollander – Fort Lauderdale Personal Injury Lawyer

Hollander Law Firm Accident Injury Lawyers

Document the accident scene. If possible, take photographs and make a video of the entire accident scene. It is crucial to preserve the scene just as it appears after the accident. For example, if you are injured in a slip and fall accident, the property owner could remove the hazard and claim it was your fault that you fell.

Also, try to get the names and telephone numbers of eyewitnesses. Eyewitness testimony can be very compelling in an injury case.

Tip 4 From A Tampa Attorney

Bill Winters – Tampa Personal Injury Lawyer

Winters & Yonker Personal Injury Lawyers

Seek prompt medical attention for your injuries. It is always a good idea to be checked by a physician immediately after an accident or injury. Even if you feel “okay,” you could have injuries you are unaware of immediately after the accident.

If you don’t go to the emergency room from the accident scene, don’t say that you are fine or you are not injured. Instead, merely say that you intend to see your doctor about your injuries.

Delays in medical care could hurt your case. The insurance company may use a delay in seeing a doctor to argue that the accident did not cause your injury.

Tip 5 From An Ocala Attorney

Bill Allen – Ocala Personal Injury Lawyer

Allen Law Firm, PA

Report all symptoms to your physicians immediately. Regardless of how you feel or how minor you might believe a symptom is, report all symptoms to your doctors immediately. You could have sustained a severe injury, and the doctor needs to follow up.

Also, your symptoms are noted in your medical records. If your symptoms worsen, there is a record of when the symptoms began after the accident. That information can help fight against claims that the accident did not cause your injuries.

Tip 6 From A Fort Worth Attorney

Jason Stephens – Fort Worth Personal Injury Lawyer

Stephens Law | Personal Injury Wrongful Death Trial Lawyer

Follow your doctor’s treatment plan. Don’t stop your doctor’s treatment plan. If you don’t follow up with your doctor and complete treatment, the insurance company may allege that you failed to mitigate your damages. You would not be entitled to compensation for injuries and damages that could have been avoided had you followed your doctor’s orders.

Tip 7 From A Houston Injury Lawyer

Ryan Zehl – Houston Personal Injury Lawyer
Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers

Seek immediate medical attention for your injuries. You should seek immediate medical attention after an accident or injury — even if you think you are uninjured. You might have injuries with delayed symptoms; some injuries don’t present symptoms until hours or days after an accident.

Seeking prompt medical attention ensures you receive diagnosis and treatment for all of your injuries. It also provides you with medical evidence connecting the accident to your injuries, as well as proof of your medical expenses after the incident. This evidence will be crucial for your personal injury claim.

Tip 8 From A Miami Attorney

Sagi Shaked – Miami Personal Injury Lawyer

Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers

Don’t agree to a recorded or written statement without a lawyer. Claims adjusters may tell you that you need to provide a written or recorded statement to process your claim. Providing a statement is generally not in your best interest. Claims adjusters are trained to ask leading questions that elicit responses that can be intentionally misinterpreted.

Anything you say could be used in court. Therefore, it is best to seek legal counsel before giving any statements about the accident or your injury.

Tip 9 From A Baltimore Attorney

Jill Kolodner – Baltimore Personal Injury Lawyer

William G. Kolodner Personal Injury Lawyers

Never admit fault for the cause of the accident or injury. Don’t apologize, say you are sorry, or indicate that you believe you could be to blame for the accident.

Under comparative negligence and contributory fault laws, your compensation could be significantly reduced if you are partially to blame for the cause of your injury.

Tip 10 From A Philadelphia Attorney

Todd Lasky – Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer

Zavodnick & Lasky Personal Injury Lawyers

Don’t discuss the accident or your injuries with other people. If you discuss the accident with another person, they could be called as a witness at your trial. It is best not to discuss your accident or injuries with anyone other than your physicians and lawyer. Keep in mind: a spouse cannot be forced to testify against the other spouse.

Tip 11 From An Augusta Attorney

Chace Hawk – Augusta Personal Injury Lawyer

Hawk Law Group

Avoid using social media during your case. Posting online or using social media during an accident case can hurt your chance of recovering a fair settlement. The things that you post online are not private, even if your security settings are set for the highest levels of privacy.

There have been cases where a judge permits defense attorneys to access the accident victim’s social media accounts. Therefore, it is best not to use social media while your claim is pending.

Tip 12 From A Kansas Attorney

Chelsea Dickerson – Personal Injury Lawyer In Kansas City

Dickerson Oxton, LLC

Wait for a complete investigation. Either you or an attorney needs to conduct a thorough investigation to determine how you were injured, who is responsible, and what evidence is available. There could be more than one party responsible for your injuries. It is crucial to identify each liable party to maximize compensation.

Tip 13 From An Oklahoma Attorney

Chris Hammons – Personal Injury Lawyer in Oklahoma City

Laird Hammons Laird Personal Injury Lawyers

Document your recovery with photos and a journal. You are entitled to non-economic damages as part of your injury claim. However, these damages are not proven through medical records or bills. Instead, you need a detailed narrative about how your injuries impacted your daily life.

Taking pictures of your injuries as you heal gives the insurance company evidence of how long it took for you to recover. Keeping a pain and suffering journal detailing your recovery provides information about how your injuries negatively impacted your daily life and enjoyment of life.

Tip 14 From A Houston Attorney

Brian White – Houston Personal Injury Lawyer

Attorney Brian White Personal Injury Lawyers

Don’t accept a settlement offer or sign documents without talking to a lawyer. If you sign a settlement agreement, your case will be over. The insurance company inserts language in the agreement that releases ALL parties from ALL future claims. You cannot try to collect more money in the future, even if you discover more damages or other injuries. So, while accepting a settlement check right away might make life easier now, it could ultimately do more harm than good. Discuss settlement options with your lawyer or, better yet, have your attorney handle negotiations on your behalf.

Tip 15 From A Clearwater and St. Petersburg Attorney

Mark H. Perenich – Clearwater and St. Petersburg Personal Injury Lawyers

Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes Personal Injury Lawyers

Never release your medical records to an insurance company. You may be asked for your medical records or to sign a release for medical records. Don’t! The insurance company is searching for pre-existing conditions and prior injuries.

The company will try to blame your current injuries on pre-existing conditions to avoid paying the claim. Don’t hide or lie about a prior injury or pre-existing condition. Let your attorney handle disclosing that information.

Tip 16 From A New York City Attorney

Craig D. Rosenbaum – New York City Personal Injury Lawyer

Rosenbaum & Rosenbaum, P.C.

Don’t plead guilty to a traffic offense without legal counsel. Pleading guilty to a traffic ticket could make it easier for the other party to avoid liability and even point the finger at you. Establishing that you’ve violated a safety law could give them grounds to base a claim on negligence per se. That would effectively pave the way for them to hold you accountable for their injuries. But, don’t ignore the ticket. Instead, seek legal advice to help you decide what you should do about the traffic ticket.

Tip 17 From A San Diego Attorney

David J. Muñoz – San Diego Personal Injury Lawyer

Mission Legal Center

Document damages and financial losses with records. To recover compensation for damages, you must document the damages with direct evidence.

Evidence may include:

Copies of medical records
Medical bills and invoices
Receipts for payment of out-of-pocket expenses
Statements from your employer
Copies of tax returns and pay stubs
Invoices, bills, and receipts for payment

The more evidence you have of your damages, the greater chance you receive maximum compensation for your injury claim.

Tip 18 From A Miami Attorney

Boris Lavent – Miami Personal Injury Lawyer

Lavent Law Personal Injury Lawyer

Check your insurance policy. Know what types of insurance you have and the limits for each type of insurance. You could recover compensation under your insurance policy for some damages. Once you’ve exhausted your policy limits, you can then discuss the possibility of filing a claim or lawsuit against a liable third party.

Tip 19 From A Harrisburg Attorney

Christopher J. Marzzacco – Harrisburg Personal Injury Lawyer

Marzzacco Niven & Associates Injury Law

Never settle an injury claim while receiving medical treatment. You need to complete your medical treatment before settling your case. Until you complete your treatment and your doctor releases you, there is no way to know if you sustained a permanent impairment or disability, which could increase the value of your damages.

Tip 20 From A Gainesville Attorney

Steven A. Bagen – Gainesville Personal Injury Lawyer

Steven A. Bagen & Associates

Know when the deadline for filing a lawsuit expires. All states have statutes of limitations that set deadlines for filing personal injury claims. However, the deadline may differ for certain types of claims, such as medical malpractice, wrongful death, and product liability.

Make sure that you discuss the deadline for filing a lawsuit with an attorney. If you miss the deadline, the at-fault party nor the insurance company have to pay you for your damages.

Tip 21 From An Atlanta Attorney

Stephen Hasner – Atlanta Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Hasner Law, PC

Don’t forget future damages. If you sustain a disability or impairment, you could require ongoing personal and medical care. As a result, you may not be able to work, or your earning potential could be diminished.

These damages may be included in your settlement demand. You may need to consult with medical experts and financial professionals to calculate the correct value of future damages.

Tip 22 From A Boston Attorney

J. Tucker Merrigan – Boston Personal Injury Lawyer

Sweeney Merrigan Personal Injury Lawyers

Don’t accept the first offer from the insurance company. You are not required to accept a settlement offer from an insurance company, regardless of what the claims adjuster states. You have the right to counteroffer and negotiate a fair settlement. If the insurance company refuses to negotiate in good faith, you may want to proceed with a personal injury lawsuit.

Tip 23 From A Lexington Attorney

Matthew C. Minner – Lexington Personal Injury Lawyer

Minner Vines Moncus Injury Lawyers

Ask for justifications for low settlement offers. Ask the claims adjuster to provide a written statement explaining the reasons for the settlement amount. Then, reply to each reason with an argument why the amount should be higher.

Tip 24 From A Fort Walton Beach Attorney

Paul Brannon – Fort Walton Beach Personal Injury Lawyer

Brannon & Brannon

Emphasize pain and suffering damages. You are entitled to compensation for the pain and suffering experienced because of the accident.

Pain and suffering damages include:

Physical discomfort
Disabilities and impairments
Emotional distress
Scarring and disfigurement
Mental trauma
Loss of enjoyment of life
Reduced quality of life

Your pain and suffering damages could be worth between 1.5 to 5 times the amount of your economic damages.

Tip 25 From A Tampa Attorney

Mark Roman – Experienced Car Accident Lawyer in Tampa, FL

Roman Austin Personal Injury Lawyers

Don’t give in to pressure. Don’t allow the insurance company or another party to pressure you into accepting a settlement offer. If you are unsure about a settlement offer, seek legal counsel. You have the right to talk with a lawyer before accepting an offer to settle a personal injury case like a car accident.

One Last Tip – Know When to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer

Some individuals can settle a personal injury claim without a lawyer. However, it is wise to talk with a lawyer, even if you don’t hire an attorney.

Knowing when to hire a personal injury attorney to handle your case is essential. There are things that you may not be able to do to investigate your claim. If you have any doubts about the value of your damages, the damages you can recover, deadlines, fault, or liability, think about reaching out to a personal injury lawyer for help.

How to Find the Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Oklahoma City

Hopefully, you will never need a personal injury lawyer. However, if you do, you want to ensure that you hire the best personal injury lawyer in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma is an at-fault state for accidents and personal injuries. Therefore, you have the burden of proving that the other party caused your accident and injuries to recover compensation.

Therefore, you need an attorney who has substantial experience, skills, and resources. Your lawyer needs to conduct investigations, hire expert witnesses, and do everything necessary to gather evidence proving negligence and liability.

Deciding which Oklahoma City personal injury attorney to hire can be confusing. Below is a guide for finding the personal injury attorney that is right for you.

How to Find the Best Personal Injury Lawyer for Your Case

An attorney is not a “one size fits all” situation. Personal injury lawyers have vastly different skills, experience levels, qualifications, and personalities. Therefore, choosing an attorney based solely on advertisements is not best for you.

Begin your attorney search by asking people you trust for recommendations. It is best if they used the attorney for another case. Direct knowledge of the attorney is extremely valuable.

If you know an attorney that practices a different area of law, you might want to ask that attorney for a referral. Often attorneys are familiar with other attorneys and their abilities. Judges and court personnel may also be excellent sources of recommendations.

The Oklahoma Bar Association has a “find a lawyer” directory that helps people search for attorneys located near them. The directory is not a recommendation or referral to an attorney.

It is a good idea to plan to meet with at least two or three attorneys.

Most personal injury lawyers offer free consultations, so it does not cost you anything to meet with the attorney to discuss your cases. Meeting in person allows you to evaluate the attorney for yourself and obtain different opinions regarding your case. You are not obligated to hire an attorney after your initial consultation.

Before meeting with each attorney, it can help to do a little research online. You can find a great deal of information about personal injury lawyers from their websites, peer review websites, and client reviews. In addition, many lawyers have social media websites that you may also want to review.

Questions to Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer

When you meet with a personal injury attorney in Oklahoma City, these questions can help you evaluate whether you want to hire a lawyer.

How much experience do you have handling cases similar to my case?

As stated above, you want to hire a lawyer who practices in the area of personal injury law. However, it is best to hire a lawyer with experience handling your specific type of case.

For example, if you were involved in a slip and fall accident, you want a premises liability lawyer. On the other hand, if a defective product caused your injury, then you want to search for a product liability lawyer.

Even car accident attorneys may have more experience handling certain types of cases. For instance, an attorney may handle car accident claims, but he has very little experience with cases involving commercial trucks or government vehicles.

How much time will you spend on my case?

Some attorneys have such heavy caseloads that they pass the cases to associates or paralegals to handle. While it is good for a law firm to have extensive staff resources, you want to ensure that the lawyer you hire is the person directly handling your case.

What is my personal injury claim worth?

An honest personal injury attorney will tell you that he needs to investigate the claim and analyze your damages to give you an accurate value for your case. The attorney may tell you outcomes of cases similar to your case, but your case is unique.

Search for an attorney who is willing to invest the time necessary to document your damages fully to maximize the value of your case.

How often do you go to trial?

Some personal injury attorneys are known to settle every case to avoid going to court. However, you need a skilled negotiator AND an aggressive trial attorney.

Your case may need to go to trial. If so, having an attorney with experience arguing cases in court gives you a better chance of winning your case.

How long will it take to settle my case?

No attorney can give you a specific timeline for settling your personal injury claim. However, an experienced attorney explains the steps necessary to pursue your case. The lawyer should be able to examine the facts of your case and give you an estimate of a timeline based on what he knows at that time.

Things to Consider When Searching for an Attorney

Some of the important factors that you want to compare when you interview attorneys include:

Ability to communicate effectively
Good listening skills
Experience and education
Special skills, qualifications, and certifications
Adequate support staff
Compassionate and patient
Affordability

The money you receive for a personal injury claim cannot undo the pain and suffering you experienced. However, it can help pay for ongoing care and reimburse you for financial losses. Make sure you invest the time necessary to find the best personal injury lawyer in Oklahoma City for your case.

7 Tips for Finding the Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Texas

After an accident in Texas, you’ll only have one opportunity to seek compensation for your financial costs, physical trauma, and emotional suffering. Ultimately, choosing a personal injury lawyer to represent you will be one of the most important decisions you make. In fact, your choice of attorney can make or break your case. It can impact how much money you win – or if your case is even a success, at all.

But how do you find the best personal injury lawyer to help you? It can be more difficult than it should be. Law firms advertise on TV, billboards, and the radio. They spend tons of money on marketing to get their law firm websites to rank high on Google search results. They might bombard you with information – but not necessarily the information you need to pick a lawyer.

So, here’s what you really need to know about finding the best personal injury lawyer in Texas.

First – Understand the Lawyer’s Role in Your Life After an Accident

Before you hire a lawyer, you need to understand what an attorney does in your case. Lawyers perform a few vital functions.

Here are some of the most important ones:

Provide Legal Advice and Counsel

As a legal adviser and counselor, your lawyer should provide you with clear explanations of the law. The lawyer should provide an objective evaluation of your case. This includes telling you about any problems in your case and the risk that you might lose.

A lawyer helps you to make decisions by presenting the pros and cons of each legal strategy. A good lawyer also accounts for non-legal matters, including financial and familial considerations, when providing advice and counsel.

Represent Your Interests

A lawyer speaks for you when negotiating with claims adjusters. The lawyer acts on your behalf and in your best interests. The lawyer must also satisfy their ethical duties by dealing fairly and honestly with opposing parties and the court.

Advocate for Your Legal Rights

The lawyer uses the knowledge and experience gained through their practice to formulate the best possible legal arguments to support your position. They seek to obtain the best possible outcome for your case within the bounds of the law and ethical rules.

Provide Support and Guidance During a Tough Time

Your lawyer should do more than handle the technical and legal aspects of your case. Your lawyer should be able to provide support, guidance, and a true sense of comfort to you as you navigate the challenges of your post-accident life.

Their job isn’t just to help you win a legal dispute – their job is to help you move forward and work toward rebuilding your life. An attorney who is genuinely empathetic and caring about your situation will work that much harder to get the best results for your case.

Strategies For Finding the Best Lawyer For Your Personal Injury Case

Finding the best lawyer means finding the right one for you and your case. Lawyers have different skills, experiences, and personalities. The best lawyer for one case might not provide the right fit for another case.

1. Use Online Reviews as Guidance

Online reviews can provide a lot of great information about attorneys and law firms. You can get a sense of how former clients felt about their experiences and identify potential issues that might not make that particular lawyer the best fit for you.

But, reviews should be considered with a grain of salt. They might not always provide a reliable assessment of a lawyer’s skills. Opposing parties can manipulate online reviews after losing a case. Dissatisfied clients are more likely to submit negative reviews than satisfied clients are to submit positive reviews. As a result, a lawyer’s online reviews might present a skewed view.

Instead of looking at online reviews, look at the lawyer’s ratings from legal directories like AVVO and Martindale-Hubbell. These publications use algorithms based on surveys of colleagues and clients, as well as objective records such as court verdicts and disciplinary histories.

These ratings can provide a more reliable summary of a lawyer’s background, skill, and ethics than online reviews.

Another great place to look for reviews is on the attorney’s Google My Business listing. To do this, just go to their map’s listing and from there you can see their reviews.

Also, look closely at how the attorney responds to any negative reviews. That says a lot about how much they value their clients’ feedback.

This is the maps listing from Brian White, a personal injury attorney in Houston, TX.

2. Look for Experience – Especially With Cases Like Yours

Experience matters. The more experience an attorney has, the better they’ll understand the laws and procedures related to your case. It’s not just overall experience that matters, either. Consider how much experience an attorney has handling cases like yours.

In Texas, different types of personal injury cases can be subject to different rules and laws. Some of these areas of law are quite complicated – like workers’ compensation or medical negligence. Having an attorney who not only has experience with these types of claims, but who specializes in them, can offer you a huge advantage.

They’ll already have tackled the learning curve, know the parties who are regularly involved in these types of disputes, and have developed strategies to help their clients win.

3. Research Disciplinary Histories

Research Disciplinary Histories State Bar of Texas

Before you meet with a lawyer, find out whether the State Bar of Texas has any record of disciplinary action for them. Lawyers must follow the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct in their practices. When they violate a rule, the state bar can sanction the lawyer with a censure, suspension, or disbarment.

Prior run-ins with the state bar are a red flag. Ethical violations can put your case at risk. You also need to know if the state bar has suspended or disbarred them. If the lawyer is currently under suspension or disbarred, they cannot practice law.

4. Schedule a Free Consultation – and Take Advantage of the Time to Learn About the Lawyer

Most injury lawyers offer free consultations. This isn’t just an opportunity for them to learn about and assess your case. It’s an opportunity for you to ask questions and learn about the attorney.

Ask them about their experience. Ask them if they have handled cases like yours. Ask them about their approach – and who at the firm would be handling your case if you hired them.

What does your gut tell you about the attorney? Would you feel comfortable confiding in them and being honest about every aspect of your case? Do you think your personalities would get along well?

Don’t underestimate these things. Trust your instincts.

5. Talk About Fees

Attorney fees can create friction between lawyers and clients. Avoid this issue by discussing fees during the free consultation.

Most personal injury lawyers in Texas work on a contingency fee basis. You only have to pay them if they win your case. Typically, their percentage will probably fall anywhere between 33% and 40% of your award. But, it’s really more involved than that.

Make sure you ask questions about how case-related expenses will be handled. Ask if the attorney’s fee be calculated before or after those are factored into the equation. Whether or not the attorney’s fee will be determined using the gross recovery or net award can have a sizable impact on how much money you’re ultimately awarded when your case is over.

You can also look for warning flags like vague answers to your questions about fees and costs.

6. Ask About the Merits of Your Case

Ask About the Merits of Your Houston Personal Injury Lawyer

At an initial consultation, most lawyers will give you a preliminary assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of your case. A lawyer might even provide an estimate of the compensation you could expect to receive for your injuries.

This conversation can help you to set your expectations for your case. It also gives you a chance to assess the lawyer’s logic and communication skills. You do not want a lawyer who cannot communicate clearly. If you cannot follow the lawyer’s explanation about your case, a claims adjuster or juror might also be unable to follow the lawyer’s logic.

7. Consider Past Results

Past results won’t guarantee future success. But, it’s important to consider an attorney’s ability to win compensation for their clients.

What kind of results can they show you? Do they seem to have a demonstrated ability to win? Does it appear that they are eager to settle or can they show that they’re willing to take cases the distance to trial, when necessary?

Results – above and beyond the amounts recovered – can tell you a lot about a lawyer.

Making the Decision to Hire an Attorney After an Accident in Texas

If you have the time, think about your options. After you find a lawyer you like, contact their law office to hire them. The lawyer will have a fee agreement that you will need to review and sign. You will also need to sign a HIPAA release so your doctors can provide medical records to the lawyer.

Once the lawyer has your written consent to represent you, they can get started on recovering fair compensation for your injuries.