Have you recently found yourself the victim of an accident of which you are not at fault? If this is the case, depending on the severity of the accident, you might be facing long recovery times and lost time on the clock. This can mean lost wages for you.
If this is sounding like a situation that you are currently facing, then you might be thinking about ways that you can seek compensation for the ordeal you are going through. You might be considering filing a lawsuit or thinking of seeking a settlement from their insurance company. After all, you deserve to be compensated for the pain you have gone through and the time you have lost.
So, is going straight for a lawsuit or trying to recover a settlement first from the responsible party the best way to go? It can be heavily dependent on your unique situation, but an experienced Miramar personal injury attorney can help you figure out the best way forward, as well as legally represent you going forward with your case.
How does it work?
Your personal injury attorney will typically offer you a free consultation where you can sit down with them and lay out the situation, and make sure every detail is correct about your accident. Going forward, in order to determine if seeking a settlement or suing the responsible party is the best way to go, they’ll send a demand letter, which presents the responsible party with your case along with a reasonable offer of settlement.
The responsible party will then be able to propose a counteroffer, and your attorney will typically have to do some negotiating to find a settlement amount that is acceptable for both parties. This is because the counteroffer is typically going to be a good deal lower than the amount outlined in the demand letter.
Remember, in the majority of personal injury cases, the attorney will be negotiating with the responsible party’s insurance company rather than the party themselves. This means there will probably be a good deal of back and forth before an acceptable settlement amount is reached, if one is at all.
What if they won’t settle?
If the responsible party doesn’t want to settle or can’t come up with a counteroffer that is acceptable to both parties, you will most likely end up looking at a personal injury lawsuit. This is where it can get a lot more expensive and take a lot more time.
What goes into my settlement?
Your settlement amount should include the cost of any medical bills you may have incurred, any wages you may have lost from not being at work, and other damages such as pain and suffering. Usually, you should try to obtain the settlement first, and then use a lawsuit as a last resort, because it will most likely be a drawn-out process.
Focus on you, and let your lawyer handle the heavy lifting
If you were in an accident and not at fault, you deserve to be thoroughly compensated for the ordeal, and your personal injury lawyer will be a big part of making sure that happens. While you’ll want to keep in contact with your lawyer to be updated on the case and potential settlement amounts, do everything you can to focus on your recovery and let your injury attorney do what he or she does best: fight for the compensation you deserve.
