If you’ve suffered an injury or some type of damage as a result of another person’s carelessness or negligence, you’re probably wondering whether there’s any way to recoup your losses. The most effective way of doing so is by filing a personal injury lawsuit, but many people hesitate about taking that route. They worry if they lose the injury will end up costing them more because of the attorneys’ fees they’ll have to pay or assume that they won’t be able to get enough money back for it to be worth their while.
The truth is that when you file a personal injury lawsuit, you won’t have to pay any attorneys’ fees out of pocket at all. Almost every personal injury attorney works on what is known as a contingency fee, which means that they get paid a portion of your winnings – and nothing at all if they lose. With that information in mind, it’s important to note that every case is different, and has a different value. Though the national average compensation paid for a personal injury lawsuit is said to be $19,000, the actual damages that get paid depend entirely upon the costs that the plaintiff suffered.
When you go to a personal injury attorney about your case, they will ask you many questions about what happened in order to determine whether negligence occurred and you are eligible to file a claim. They’ll also ask you what damages you suffered. Damages may include out-of-pocket medical expenses including hospital bills, medication, and rehabilitation; time out of work and lost wages and any property loss such as damage to your vehicle. These are compensatory damages, to which pain and suffering or emotional distress may be added if appropriate. In some cases, an attorney may also add in a punitive damages claim, but this is only applicable where the entity that caused your injury can be shown to have acted in a way that was outrageous or egregious.
If you find the idea of taking a claim to court and speaking in front of a jury about your injury intimidating or uncomfortable, keep in mind that the vast majority of personal injury claims get settled out of court. The first step to learning about your own options starts with calling our experienced personal injury law firm to set up a time to chat.
