Just because your injuries occurred during an accident does not mean that nobody can be held responsible. Whoever caused the accident should be brought to justice, and you should be awarded fair financial compensation. Your first step to getting what you need so you can recover is to call an experienced personal injury attorney.
Personal injuries involve a wide range of claims and damages, but the heart of the case is your bodily injuries. The severity of your injuries, as well as the various facts and evidence surrounding the case, may determine how long it takes to finish your case. Your damages should include economic costs like medical bills and property damage, in addition to non-economic injuries like pain and distress. We can start by assembling various records about the accident, including medical records and proof of your costs.
For a private, free case analysis, call our personal injury attorneys with The Carrion Law Firm at (631) 910-7493.
How Do You Know if You Have a Personal Injury Case?
Personal injury law is one of the broadest areas of civil law, and various claims may fall under this legal umbrella. Knowing whether you have a personal injury claim is sometimes difficult, and a lawyer may help you understand your case.
First, we must determine whether the defendant owed you a duty of care. This is a crucial element of personal injury claims based on negligence. In short, defendants must owe a legal obligation of safety to the plaintiff when they cause the accident. If they did not owe you anything, you might not have a valid cause of action.
Next, we must determine if you experienced any sort of bodily injuries. Bodily harm is the primary characteristic of personal injury claims. You do not need severe injuries to have a valid claim, and even minor injuries may be grounds for a case.
Finally, our personal injury attorneys must assess your damages. How has the accident and your injuries cost you? A valid claim must involve real damages that we can articulate in court. If you have no damages, then you did not experience any harm or losses, and you might not have a claim. The greater the cost, the more likely you are to have a personal injury claim.
How Long Your Personal Injury Case in Lloyd Harbor Might Take to Complete
Most plaintiffs would rather avoid a drawn-out battle in court, but this is not always possible. How long it takes to finish your case will vary based on multiple factors surrounding the accident and your injuries.
More complicated cases tend to take longer in court. If your case is mired in complex facts, extensive evidence, and convoluted laws, it will likely take a lot longer to complete. On the other hand, some cases are based on relatively straightforward facts and simpler laws, and they may be completed a bit faster.
Our evidence may also determine the time it takes to finish your case. When evidence is strong and hard to refute, it is often easier for juries to agree on verdicts. However, if the evidence on each side is evenly matched, jurors may take longer scrutinizing everything to make sure they come to the correct decision.
If the parties are more willing to cooperate, your case is likely to move faster. When parties dispute more facts, argue over more evidence, and refuse to entertain settlement negotiations, cases tend to drag on for a long time.
Available Damages in a Personal Injury Case
Damages in your case may be hard to predict, as your injuries might have numerous negative effects on your life. When in doubt, talk to an attorney about your injuries to accurately determine what your claims are worth.
If you were injured, you should have gotten medical care as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, medical care tends to be very expensive, and you might be dealing with large hospital bills. For injuries with long-term complications, you might need to estimate the cost of future medical care and add it to your damages.
Other expenses might revolve around property damage and lost income. Take stock of any property or personal belonging you lost in the accident. If your injuries prevent you from working, be sure to track how long you are out of work and how much income you lose. These costs must be factored into your damages.
Not all injuries take a financial toll. Your pain and suffering must also be considered and might be worth substantial compensation.
Records You Need to Support Your Lloyd Harbor Personal Injury Case
Finding records about the accident, your costs, your painful injuries, and your medical care is necessary to prove your claims and establish your damages.
Medical Records
After being injured, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible. Not only is this in your best physical interest, but it can also help ensure that your medical records are accurate. Your records of treatment may indicate how badly you were hurt and what kind of treatment you needed. If you wait too long to seek treatment, your injuries might not be accurately recorded, as they may have healed or possibly worsened while you waited.
Police Reports
If the police responded to your accident, they may have conducted an investigation and issued an official report. While police reports are normally inadmissible because they violate the evidentiary rule against hearsay, they may be used to guide us to admissible evidence. For example, the police might have recorded statements from witnesses. While we cannot introduce the statements from the report as evidence, we can use the report to find the witnesses and ask them to testify in court.
Proof of Expenses
Accidents tend to come with a whole host of expenses. If you had to spend money on almost anything because of the accident, try to save receipts and records of costs. Credit card statements, receipts, and other records may be crucial to calculating your damages.
Speak to Our Lloyd Harbor Personal Injury Lawyers Today
For a private, free case analysis, call our personal injury attorneys with The Carrion Law Firm at (631) 910-7493.