What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?

Personal injury attorneys provide legal support to people injured due to someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing. They investigate the source of an accident, create legal documents and file them with courts as necessary.

Insurance companies will also negotiate on your behalf in order to reach a fair settlement and they’ll act as your advocate, protecting you against anyone trying to take advantage of you.

Gathering Evidence

Evidence is key when it comes to proving negligence and receiving compensation for personal injuries, from physical objects that indicate where the accident took place to medical documents demonstrating your injuries – any successful personal injury case must include evidence that shows this.

If you were injured due to a defective product, it’s crucial that your attorney test it right away. They can ask that it isn’t destroyed immediately by its manufacturer, or arrange to have it sent directly to their lab for testing as soon as possible.

Your attorney will collect evidence beyond physical items such as witness statements and police reports; they’ll request any relevant paperwork from entities involved such as business records; this process is known as discovery. Expert witnesses such as accident reconstructionists, financial experts and medical specialists may be necessary in establishing causation and proving damages in your personal injury lawsuit.

Liability Analysis

Personal injury law permits injured parties to recover damages caused by the negligent actions of others, which falls under tort law – an umbrella legal category covering civil wrongs such as physical or mental injuries as well as damage to property.

To prove negligence, our Manhattan injury lawyers will analyze medical records and witness testimony. Additionally, photographs can help establish what caused an accident – for instance a photo showing unlit sidewalk could indicate how poor lighting contributed to it.

At some point in time, you will likely need to give a statement to an insurance company. Our NYC injury lawyer can handle all communications with insurers on your behalf and protect your rights – as insurance adjusters are trained to deny or minimize claims, you need an advocate on your side who will fight hard on your behalf.

Preparing for a Settlement or Trial

Personal Injury Cases often end in negotiations over settlement or trial. The length of this phase depends on both your legal position and that of your lawyer’s negotiating skills, among other considerations.

Once your attorney has a thorough knowledge of your injuries from a medical standpoint, they can estimate the monetary value of your claim. This may include past and present medical costs, lost earnings, property damage as well as non-economic damages like pain and suffering.

After carefully reviewing your case, your lawyer will present an insurance company demand letter for compensation from those at fault – this formal written request establishes your claim and sets up negotiation between parties involved.

If a satisfactory settlement cannot be reached during mediation or negotiations, your case will go to trial. This can significantly extend its timeline as lawyers must prepare and coordinate witness testimony for trial as well as incur court costs and expenses.

Filing a Lawsuit

Under formal legal proceedings, your personal injury lawyer will file a formal claim in court against those or companies responsible for your accident. This may involve filing suit.

Once your attorney files the complaint, both sides enter into a fact-finding phase called discovery. At this stage, both attorneys exchange documents, emails and communications as well as take depositions — which is an legal proceeding in which witnesses answer questions under oath in front of both attorneys representing both sides while being recorded by a stenographer taking notes – before ultimately arriving at a verdict in your favor.

An experienced personal injury lawyer can assess whether a settlement offer is fair based on your type of injury and similar claims that have settled for comparable amounts. They can also estimate noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and more; it may be difficult to place a dollar value on this, yet can have significant financial ramifications – compensation can even include how your injuries have negatively impacted your work life.