You should hire a lawyer immediately if you or someone you love recently got hurt in a car accident. There’s no benefit — and many significant downsides — in waiting to get an attorney. Here’s an overview of why hiring a lawyer ASAP is critical if you want maximum compensation for the losses you’ve suffered.
Hire an Attorney After a Car Accident Guide
Your Rights After a Car Accident
You have valuable legal rights as the victim of a car accident. Numerous parties could owe you monetary damages for your losses. And you could claim compensation for all of your physical, emotional, and financial harm.
Multiple Parties May Owe You Money
Anyone who caused your car accident by engaging in careless, reckless, or intentional wrongdoing could owe you money. So could other parties bear a legal duty to answer for the at-fault party’s misconduct.
For example, you may claim damages from:
- A motorist whose careless driving led to the crash;
- The at-fault motorist’s employer;
- A business or individual who served alcohol to an underage drunk driver;
- A car maker at fault for defective parts that triggered the accident; or
- A local government or private road owner responsible for hazardous road conditions.
- A liability insurance company that issued coverage to an at-fault party; or
- Your insurance company.
These are just a few examples. The point is, multiple individuals, businesses, or entities could owe you compensation. And you could have the right to take legal action against all of them.
You Could Claim Substantial Damages
The parties liable to you could owe you a lot of money. Your legal rights entitle you to seek payment for virtually every negative effect the car accident has had on your life — not just your financial losses but your non-financial ones too.
You could demand payment for your:
- Medical and other accident-related expenses, past and future;
- Past loss of earnings and job benefits;
- Future financial losses due to a disability caused by the accident;
- Physical pain;
- Emotional suffering;
- Daily inconvenience; and
- Diminished quality and enjoyment of life.
And that’s not all. If the at-fault party acted extremely recklessly or intended to harm you, the law might also entitle you to punitive (or exemplary) damages. The total amount you could claim depends on the severity of your injuries, but it’s not unusual for victims to have the right to claim hundreds of thousands and even millions in damages.
You Need a Lawyer NOW
Just because you have rights to compensation, however, doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get paid. The parties liable for your damages don’t want to pay you, and in many cases, they won’t unless you force them. And the longer you wait to take action against them, the harder it will be to lay your hands on the money you deserve.
Realistically, you can’t take the necessary legal steps on your own. You have injuries to heal from and a life to rebuild. Plus, even if you had the free time and energy, what do you know about building and pursuing car accident claims? Probably nothing, or at least not enough to have any hope of fair compensation.
That’s why you need a lawyer now. While you devote your efforts to mending and recovering, a lawyer can get your claim rolling and put you on track to obtaining every last penny you need to pay your bills and plan for the future. And a lawyer can advise you, represent your interests, and have your back. Here are some essential steps a lawyer can take if you hire one ASAP.
A Lawyer You Hire Now Can Investigate While Evidence Is Fresh
The value of a car accident claim depends on a lawyer being able to prove in court someone’s liability for your damages. You might not necessarily have to go to court to get compensation. But the fact that your lawyer could prove your claim in a trial makes it worth pursuing and is why liable parties will decide they have no choice but to pay you.
Proving a case in court takes evidence — information that a lawyer could show a jury in a trial to demonstrate liability and damages, such as:
- Your recollections
- Other eyewitness recollections
- Video footage of the accident
- Photos of the crash scene
- The at-fault driver’s cell phone data
- The damaged vehicles
The best time to start collecting evidence for your case is RIGHT NOW. With every passing day, the odds increase that valuable items and data could get lost or destroyed or that witnesses will start to forget what they saw.
Immediately hiring a lawyer prevents the loss of potentially vital evidence. Once hired, a lawyer can start locating and collecting the information needed to build a winning case and secure the funds you deserve.
A Lawyer You Hire Now Can Take Over Dealing with Insurance
Every car accident triggers insurance coverage — usually yours and the at-fault party's. In theory, the availability of insurance to pay your expenses should be a source of comfort. But for many car accident victims, dealing with representatives from insurance companies instead feels confusing and stressful. Many crash victims would give anything just to stop getting phone calls from insurance companies.
Immediately hiring a car accident lawyer saves you the hassle of dealing with insurance companies. A lawyer can take over all communications and interactions with insurers as your representative. The calls from aggressive adjusters asking to interview you stop. You get the peace and quiet you need to focus on healing from your injuries while your lawyer prepares and pursues claims on your behalf.
A Lawyer You Hire Now Can Guide You Through a Difficult Time
The days and weeks after a car accident can feel overwhelming. Suddenly you have injuries and unplanned expenses adding to the already significant demands of your everyday life. It’s exhausting. You could really use a hand.
Hiring a lawyer can help. An experienced car accident attorney has represented dozens, maybe even hundreds, of people who faced and overcame challenges like yours.
A lawyer can serve as your sounding board and trusted advisor, helping you make consequential decisions, guiding you past the obstacles a car accident has placed in your path, and always looking out for your interests above all others.
Of course, a lawyer also fights tooth-and-nail to get you the money you need to regain stability in your life. But many car accident victims find just as much value in having an advocate and ally on their side during the difficult weeks and months after a crash.
Downsides of Not Hiring a Lawyer Immediately
Can you wait to hire a car accident lawyer? Sure, you could, but why would you want to? Any delay in retaining an attorney exposes you to potentially catastrophic — and entirely avoidable — consequences. Here are just a few of the many pitfalls of waiting to find a lawyer to handle your car accident claim.
You Could Run Out of Time
Every car accident claim has an expiration date called the statute of limitations. You permanently lose your rights to compensation if you miss it; no second chances.
But here’s the trick: the statute of limitations in a car accident claim can vary significantly from one case to the next. In most states, it comes at least one year after the accident. But not always. Depending on where your accident happened and who bears liability for your losses, you might have as little as a few months before your rights to compensation start to expire.
Waiting to hire a car accident lawyer means running the unnecessary risk of missing the statute of limitations applicable to your case. That’s a big gamble with no real benefit. Hiring a lawyer today, by comparison, ensures that you’ll meet all deadlines and protect your rights to compensation.
You Could Make a Costly Mistake With Insurance
Several insurance companies might have liability for your losses. And if there’s one thing you can count on, they won’t wait for a second to begin looking for reasons not to pay what they owe. Insurers use various tactics designed to trip you up and undermine your claim. You’re a sitting duck if you don’t have a lawyer on your side to protect you from them.
For example, insurance companies will often pressure you to speak with them about your accident or release medical information for their review, even when you have no obligation to do so. Their requests may sound reasonable, but they have an ulterior motive — to find a reason not to pay you. What you say in an interview or disclose about your health history could give an insurer the justification they’re looking for to deny you compensation.
Insurance companies also frequently offer car accident victims like you quick cash settlements. They try to make these offers sound generous, but they’re not. They’re lowball figures representing a mere fraction of what a skilled lawyer could force them to pay through negotiations or litigation. Insurance companies offer quick settlements hoping you won’t realize the actual value of your claim. If you agree to the small-dollar payment they propose, you’ll sacrifice your right to get more later.
Hiring a lawyer protects you from these and many other insurance industry tactics. Since an attorney takes over all dealings with insurers, there’s no risk you’ll say, disclose, or agree to anything that harms your claim. By leaving your claim in a lawyer’s hands, you maximize the odds of forcing an insurance company to pay the maximum available for your losses.
Life Could Get Harder
Your life already has challenges. Waiting to hire a lawyer could make them worse. For instance, without a lawyer working to get you compensation as soon as possible, you could fall deeper into debt and face severe financial consequences.
You could overlook insurance benefits and other means of support the law entitles you to receive, which could slow your recovery. And as discussed, insurance companies could take advantage of your lack of familiarity with your rights and pay you far less than you deserve, leaving you without the means to stay afloat and meet your future needs.
Immediately retaining a lawyer guards against those outcomes. It puts you on track to receive compensation as soon as possible, minimizing the risk of financial catastrophe. And it gives you the benefit of steady, knowledgeable guidance that can help you navigate the many legal and personal difficulties a car accident can cause.
You Can Afford to Hire a Lawyer Today
Car accident victims sometimes hesitate to hire a lawyer because they worry about the cost. But as understandable as their concerns are, they’re misplaced. Anyone can afford to hire a car accident lawyer because it costs nothing upfront and nothing unless the lawyer wins for you.
Car accident lawyers offer free case evaluations for crash victims like you to learn about your rights. They also represent their clients on contingency. That means they do not charge advance fees or bill their clients by the hour. Instead, they work in exchange for a percentage of the money they succeed in recovering. They only get paid if they win.
Lawyers work on contingency because they know money can be tight after a car accident. Contingent fees make their services affordable to everyone who needs them. So don’t let money worries keep you from calling a lawyer. You can afford to hire a skilled car accident attorney today.
Contact an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer Today
If you or someone close to you recently suffered injuries in a car accident, you could have valuable rights to compensation. But you’ll need an experienced car accident lawyer to handle your claim to make the most of them.
Don’t wait another minute to get the legal help you need. Contact a personal injury attorney in your area today for your free case evaluation.
Stewart J. Guss, Injury Accident Lawyers
12777 Jones Rd
#297
Houston, TX 77070
(281) 664-6500