Role of a Personal Injury Law Firm in Helping the Plaintiff

Explaining the Plaintiff-Side Relationship

Personal injury lawyers provide legal representation to injury victims of accidents. They work in “tort law,” an area of law that covers both negligent and intentional acts. Been injured in a serious accident (e.g., workplace accident or car accident)? You deserve fair compensation. Personal injury lawyers help injury victims receive fair compensation.

But, if you’re new to personal injury laws, you’ll need to learn some keywords first. Here are some common legal terms you’ll hear in personal injury cases –

Defendant: The party allegedly responsible for the victim’s injuries (e.g., a drunk driver in a car accident).
Statute of Limitations: The legal period in which injury victims are allowed to file lawsuits claiming damages.
Torts: The wrongful act that forms the basis for the lawsuit. A negligent tort is a wrongful act not committed on purpose (e.g., a faulty AC machine causes injuries to a consumer). An intentional tort is a purposefully committed wrongful act (e.g., slander)
Negligence: refers to the defendant’s inability to act with care and meet the obligations they owed to the injury victim. For instance, a restaurant owner is obligated to serve customers non-toxic food.
The burden of Evidence: Refers to the injury victim’s responsibility to prove their allegations are true.
Damages: Compensation, the injury victim is aiming to recover from the lawsuit. In most personal injury lawsuits, damages mean monetary reparations – economic and non-economic.
Litigation: The process of bringing the personal injury case to court.
Settlement: A compensation the injury victim accepts (in preference to going to trial).

The most vital term you’ll encounter in personal injury law cases is “plaintiff.” The plaintiff is essentially the injury victim – the person who brings the personal injury lawsuit to court. He or she is the one asking for compensation from the defendant or his/her insurance company or both. Technically, it is the plaintiff who has to –

Make the legal claim against the defendant who has allegedly committed a wrongful act against them.
Meet the statute of limitations by filing the lawsuit within the legally prescribed period.
Claim that the defendant’s negligence led to the injuries and subsequent damages.
Come up with the burden of evidence that verifies those claims.
Quantify the number of damages he or she should receive.
Launch and persist with the litigation process.
Accept or deny settlement offers from the opposing party.

You become an injury victim the moment the accident occurs. Once you formally launch the litigation process, your status switches to the plaintiff. How can a personal injury law firm in Florida aid a plaintiff? Let’s explore.

The Types of Personal Injury Cases Injury Attorneys Accept

Personal injury cases entail all types of injuries and accidents. But most of them involve negligent and wrongful acts of others. We can broadly categorize them into –

Automotive accidents: mass transportation accidents, car accidents, pedestrian accidents, aviation accidents, boat accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, and other transportation accidents.
Premises Liability: Injury cases involving premises liability typically refer to slip and fall accidents, animal attacks, and other types of accidents that take place on someone else’s property.
Medical Malpractice: Hospital abuse, neglectful treatment, etc.
Workplace Accidents: Any case involving employee liability, e.g., construction site accidents.
Class-Action Lawsuits: Types of lawsuits where a group of plaintiffs represented collectively by an injury lawyer battle it against one individual or entity.
Product/Service Liability: When defective products cause harm to consumers, victims can launch legal proceedings against the manufacturer/supplier.

Is your injury covered in this list? If yes, get in touch with lawyers for personal injury claims. You deserve fair legal representation in court. But, why do you, as a plaintiff, need an attorney? Let’s explore

Why Do Injury Victims Need Attorneys?

As stated above, plaintiffs have to carry out many responsibilities to launch a successful litigation process. Injury attorneys overtake much of these responsibilities. They include –

Calculating Compensation: From medical expenses to loss of income to loss of future earning capacity – plaintiffs can demand all types of damages for their physical or emotional distress. Unfortunately, insurance agencies are adept at brushing down these demands. Only an experienced attorney can quantify damages like loss of consortium or mental pain and suffering. They can create hard-to-deny compensation claims backed by strong evidence.

Investigating the Claims: Personal injury lawyers will tell injury victims whether their case stands a chance in court or not on the first day. Most injury attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, i.e., they only get paid after receiving a jury verdict or a settlement. That’s why they only take on cases with high win probabilities.

Evidence-Gathering: Injury attorneys oversee the plaintiff’s “burden of evidence.” Establishing liability against defendants is impossible without strong evidence. Injury attorneys help plaintiffs launch strong litigation processes backed by hard evidence. They’ll procure police reports, track down witnesses for official statements, hire third-party experts, etc.

Negotiating with Insurance Agents: Insurance agents are notorious for brushing aside injury claims made by victims. Experienced injury lawyers go toe to toe with stern insurance agents. They handle all communications with the insurance company on behalf of the injury victim. They negotiate with the insurance companies to secure the maximum possible compensation.

During proceedings, injury attorneys will send demand letters, prepare against the defendant, and handle all paperwork. They’ll also initiate negotiations with the opposing parties in the ‘discovery processes.’ These actions help plaintiffs go into personal injury lawsuits with total confidence.

If the defendant doesn’t offer a fair settlement and the case proceeds to trial, injury lawyers provide full representation in court. Personal injury law cases are sensitive. Small mistakes can lead to unfair conclusions for the injury victims. Injury attorneys leverage evidence, strong legal arguments, and experience to help injury victims get fair compensations.

ROLE OF A PERSONAL INJURY LAW FIRM IN HELPING THE PLAINTIFF