Suffering a personal injury is both painful and disruptive. Depending upon the severity of the incident, you may need extensive medical care that leaves you out of work or disabled and facing substantial bills. Personal injury attorneys have education, experience, and resources specifically dedicated to helping you recover the maximum compensation available, but they do so at a cost. If you’ve been injured and are considering filing a personal injury claim without an attorney, you are certainly able to do so. But before you proceed it’s a good idea to understand all of the ramifications of going it alone and the benefits of using a knowledgeable attorney.

While it is certainly possible to file a personal injury claim without an attorney, doing so will take a significant amount of time and research, and that can lead to further expense.  While a minor incident like a slip and fall may be resolved with a simple phone call and submission of your out-of-pocket expenses, as soon as things get more complicated you are likely to need to file papers with the court, gather statements from witnesses, and prepare other evidence. You’ll need to come up with a reasonable estimate of your damages, including lost earnings, and possibly lost earnings capacity. Perhaps most important of all, the opposing side’s attorney will be well aware of your lack of experience and is likely to take advantage of that.

These are just a few of the costs and complexities of representing yourself instead of allowing an experienced attorney to do so on your behalf. Though it is true that an attorney will take a fee, it is also true that almost all personal attorney injuries get paid on a contingency basis. That means that you don’t pay any out-of-pocket, up-front costs: the attorney will take a percentage – usually about one-third – of the amount that they win on your behalf, and if they don’t win then they don’t get paid at all. Consider the incentive that a personal injury attorney has not only do they avoid cases that they (and you) can’t win, but they want the compensation that you receive to be as generous as possible, as that impacts the amount that they get paid.

Fears about personal injury attorney fees often lead people to unnecessary effort and lower damages amounts. To learn about our representation and how we can maximize the amount of money that you receive for your personal injury, contact us today.