Read About The Five Most Important Reasons Why You Should Hire Personal Injury Lawyer In Maryland, Virginia Or Washington, DC

Why You Should Hire a Personal Injury Attorney

If you have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, you should contact a personal injury attorney immediately. Our Maryland personal injury attorneys and Virginia car accident lawyers can help you get the compensation you deserve for your injury, but even if you do not contact us, you should consult with a lawyer. Read on to learn why it is so important to get a competent personal injury attorney to handle your claim. Examine our case results and our blog library to get a sense of the complex legal issues we handle for our clients on a day-to-day basis.

1. Experienced Injury Lawyers Have the Knowledge and Expertise You Need to Win Your Case

Experienced personal injury attorneys have the knowledge and expertise you will likely need to maximize your recovery. While self-representation may be appropriate in some instances, in many others, it can be detrimental or even destructive to a case. If you try to represent yourself pro se, you should be aware of the following:

• The rules of evidence apply in most courts where large claims are heard
• Large claims include claims for any amounts over $5000.00
• A pro se litigant’s lack of knowledge about rules of evidence will not prevent a judge from dismissing their claim for failure to comply with local evidence and/or procedural requirements.
• Many self-represented individuals end up in litigation because the insurance carriers do not take them seriously.
• Many unrepresented people frequently end up accidentally providing evidence directly to the insurance carrier, which damages or, in some cases, destroys their own case.
• Once involved in litigation, even in small claims court, the opposing counsel may not provide the pro se litigant with the detailed evidence they need to win their case.
• The law and procedures relating to recovery of money for personal injuries are often complex enough to require expert witness testimony
• Police reports are not generally admissible as evidence in a courtroom
• Opposing counsel, who is familiar with the above rules of law, such as local evidence rules, may use procedural tactics against you to prevent you from arguing your case on the merits.

• Consider: If you are considering going it alone in a courtroom or head-to-head with an insurance carrier and are not familiar with the discovery rules or what documents you are entitled to as a matter of law, or what documents the judge may or may not consider, you may not be able to effectively prove your case. If you go it alone, you may even run the risk of having your case dismissed for failure to correctly prosecute or prove your case, let alone destroying any chance you have at a reasonable settlement sum.

2. Most Competent Injury Lawyers are Experienced in Negotiating with Insurance Companies

Insurance companies may be difficult to negotiate with, especially if you do not understand how they value personal injury claims. The insurance company’s main goal is to protect the assets of their client. They will frequently make low offers of settlement to unrepresented parties. A skilled personal injury attorney with years of experience negotiating settlements with insurance companies will likely have more of a sense when the adjuster is unfairly refusing to offer fair value for the case. A skilled attorney will most likely possess detailed information relating to each insurance company’s usual practices and procedures, including specific insurance adjusters and their usual policies and procedures. Attorneys familiar with such procedures will be able to evaluate your case’s value in a fairer manner and provide you with a realistic assessment of various outcomes.

3. Lawyers Advocate on Your Behalf

We routinely and aggressively advocate for our client’s legal rights. We believe any competent lawyer must do this. When you retain an experienced personal injury attorney from our law firm or any other, you will have a skilled and experienced attorney representing you throughout all the stages of your personal injury case, striving to maximize the value of your recovery while simultaneously protecting your rights and helping you understand the “legalese” relating to your case. It is usually a good idea to examine a lawyer’s track record to see what kind of results a particular attorney is capable of before hiring them. For example, we have helped many individuals recover multi-million dollar settlements over the years to compensate them for their serious injuries. Check out our personal injury case results for more information.

4. Lawyers will Attempt to Resolve Your Case in a Timely Manner

In order to recover damages for a personal injury case, you must file your claim within a specific time frame. In Maryland, for example, there is a 3-year statute of limitations for most injury claim types. Personal injury claims must be “suited” within a 3-year window from the date the injury occurred (or in some cases when you should have known of the injury), or they will be time-barred by the statute of limitations. Additionally, many injury claims against government entities have particular notice requirements, which require that notice be sent to the proper entities via certified mail in order to toll a shorter statute of limitations. Workers’ Compensation Accident Claims also require claim forms to be properly filed, sometimes as early as two months after the date of injury. The bottom line here, though, is that when you hire a competent personal injury attorney, they will prepare your claim and file or provide notice to the proper court or entity in a timely manner. You do not have to worry about being barred from recovery due to missing particular notice requirements or otherwise messing up your claim due to your own ignorance of the law.

5. No Fees if You Don’t Recover

Most personal injury lawyers in Maryland operate on a contingency fee. This means that if you do not win your case or reach a settlement, you do not have to pay attorney fees. This is fairly standard in Maryland and gives claimants a fair shake at a fair result. If every claimant were forced to pay to contest large insurance companies, most potential claimants would be economically priced out of competing for justice. As a result, most lawyers, like ourselves, will take a case that we believe we can win on a contingency, electing to be paid only if we can successfully recover money for our clients. (Note that you may still be responsible for other expenses incurred during litigation or outstanding medical expenses and so forth. It’s best to consult with an attorney directly to discuss what kind of liabilities you will face if you are unsuccessful in your case)

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