After sustaining an injury in Florida, you may ask yourself, “Do I need a personal injury attorney?” You are not required to hire an attorney, but it makes the path ahead of you much easier to navigate. Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer to handle your case is one of the best ways to make sure you understand all your rights and options.
Contact Cardoso Law, PLLC, for a free consultation with a knowledgeable and compassionate personal injury lawyer about your case. During your initial consultation, we’ll review the accident that caused your injury, explain your options for seeking compensation, walk you through the legal process, and answer any questions you have.
To quote one of our client testimonials:
Cardoso Law was with me through one of the difficult times of my life. They were supportive, informative, and cared about my progress. Cheryl worked tirelessly on my behalf with insurance companies. Both Ryan and Cheryl made a tough situation better explaining the process and always communicating updates or changes. I highly recommend this firm for legal help.
– Yvette G. (5 Star Review)
Understanding Personal Injury Law
Personal injury law allows victims to seek compensation from the parties responsible for causing their injuries. For example, suppose you sustained an injury by slipping and falling on a wet floor in a grocery store. In that case, you may be able to recover compensation from the store’s insurance company by filing a personal injury lawsuit.
For a successful personal injury claim, you must show that the at-fault party’s actions contributed to your injury and that your injury resulted in compensable losses, such as medical bills, lost wages, or pain and suffering. This is done by gathering various types of evidence and using it to build a strong case, which is one of the major roles of a personal injury lawyer.
Some of the types of personal injury cases our lawyers handle in Florida include:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Slip and falls
- Truck accidents
- Premises liability
- Bicycle accidents
- Brain injuries
- Pedestrian accidents
- Spinal cord injuries
- Boating accidents
- Wrongful deaths
Why File a Personal Injury Claim?
Filing a personal injury claim is the primary means for victims to recover compensation following a devastating accident or injury. Through a personal injury claim, you can seek compensation for the following losses associated with the incident:
- Past and future medical expenses, including physical therapy, surgery, hospital stays, medical devices, medical treatments, and prescription medications
- Lost wages and loss of future earning potential caused by your injuries affecting your ability to work full-time or at all
- Physical pain and suffering caused by your injuries
- Emotional distress, including anxiety, PTSD, and depression, caused by your injuries or the accident itself
- Permanent disability accommodation, including hiring in-home care or modifying your home or vehicle to be accessible
Is Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer Worthwhile?
Hiring a personal injury lawyer is worthwhile because they have helped people in your situation before. They understand the law and how to navigate personal injury claims. They can prevent you from accepting a low settlement offer from the at-fault party’s insurance company and protect your right to seek compensation by meeting all of the deadlines in your case.
Most personal injury lawyers also work on a contingency fee basis, which means they don’t collect fees unless they secure compensation for you through a settlement or trial award. With this fee structure in place, you won’t come out of a personal injury lawsuit with less money than you had at the beginning.
What Can a Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Do for You?
Many injury victims wonder, “What do personal injury lawyers do?” When you hire a personal injury lawyer, they’ll take on every aspect of your case from the very beginning to the very end. With an experienced lawyer on your side, all you have to do is focus on fully recovering from your injuries. They’ll handle the rest.
Fight to Maximize Your Compensation
Personal injury attorneys understand how to determine the maximum amount of compensation you could be entitled to and fight for every cent you are owed. When you file a personal injury lawsuit, the goal is always to get as much compensation for your injuries as possible, and a lawyer can help you do that.
It’s always good to remember that the other side will have a lawyer or team of lawyers. If you don’t have a lawyer of your own, you will immediately be at a disadvantage. Lawyers have legal knowledge, resources, and experience that are vital for your lawsuit.
Prove Liability and Build a Strong Case
At the start of your case, your lawyer will investigate the incident that caused your injury to identify the at-fault parties. They’ll then collect various types of evidence to establish the at-fault party’s liability and use that evidence to build a strong case.
Evidence your lawyer may use to prove liability includes:
- Accident scene photographs
- Surveillance or traffic camera footage
- Eyewitness statements
- Expert witness testimony
- Medical records
- Property or vehicle maintenance records
Obtaining this evidence by yourself is a daunting task, but law firms have the resources and know-how to gather the necessary evidence for your case.
Deal with Insurance Companies
Insurance companies always look out for their own best interests, not yours. Even if the insurance adjuster says they want to help you receive fair compensation for your injuries, you should not believe them.
Always direct the insurance adjuster to contact your lawyer, and don’t speak to them without your lawyer present. Personal injury lawyers have extensive experience in dealing with insurance companies and the tactics they use to devalue or deny claims and delay legal proceedings. Your lawyer will be able to push back against these tactics, giving you the best shot at securing the compensation you need.
Navigate Legal Procedures and Paperwork
The legal system is complex, especially if it’s your first time dealing with it. By relying on a personal injury lawyer’s knowledge and experience with legal procedures and the paperwork that must be completed in your case, you can reduce the risk of your case running into administrative errors that could lead to further complications.
Access to Resources and Expert Witnesses
Personal injury lawyers have legal assistants backing them, allowing them to evaluate large amounts of evidence relatively quickly. Trying to go through all of this evidence on your own, especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for, is a surefire way to harm your case.
Lawyers also often have working relationships with expert witnesses who can testify on specific aspects of your case. For example, your lawyer may have a medical professional testify about the severity and extent of your injuries. They may have a vocational expert testify about how your injuries will impact your ability to work. And they may have an accident reconstruction specialist demonstrate how the incident that caused your injury occurred.
Reduce Stress During Your Recovery
Recovering from a traumatic injury is challenging enough. Nobody wants to deal with the legal system during their recovery period. And that’s a significant reason why you should hire a lawyer to handle your case.
Stress can harm your physical well-being, so anything that reduces stress can assist with your recovery and potentially help you recover faster.
Avoid Costly Mistakes
Unfortunately, many personal injury victims make mistakes that impact the compensation they could recover through their lawsuit. When you work with a lawyer, they can keep you from making these mistakes.
Some of the most common mistakes we see injury victims make are:
- Speaking to the insurance adjuster without their lawyer present
- Posting on social media, even if the posts have nothing to do with their injury or legal case
- Not following up with their medical treatment until they have fully recovered or reached maximum medical improvement
- Not hiring a personal injury lawyer to handle their case from start to finish
- Accepting the insurance company’s first settlement offer
Negotiate a Better Settlement
Lawyers are negotiation experts. Most personal injury cases end with a settlement before going to trial, so having a lawyer experienced in negotiating with insurance companies is essential.
Since insurance companies always want to pay out as little as possible, they tend to offer settlements below what they know cases are actually worth. When victims don’t have a lawyer on their side, it’s often difficult or impossible for them to know the value of their case. This may lead to them accepting less money than they could have received with a skilled negotiator working for them.
Expedite Your Claim
Sometimes, insurance companies engage in delaying tactics during settlement negotiations or other phases of your case. They often do this to pressure you into accepting a low settlement in exchange for getting the compensation you need sooner.
A lawyer can hold the insurance company accountable and prevent the adjuster from engaging in some of these practices.
No Upfront Fees
Most personal injury lawyers work for a contingency fee that’s between 30 and 40 percent of your settlement or trial award. When you work with such a lawyer, you’ll never have to worry about how to pay for their services. If they don’t secure compensation for you, you don’t owe them anything.
Meeting the Deadlines
Florida has strict deadlines for personal injury lawsuits. Under the state’s statute of limitations, victims only have two years to file lawsuits against the parties responsible for their injuries. Failure to file your case within this deadline will result in the courts barring you from recovering compensation, which is another reason to hire a lawyer and let them handle your case.
Contact Our Pensacola Personal Injury Lawyer Today
If you were injured in Pensacola, contact a Florida personal injury lawyer at Cardoso Law, PLLC, for a free consultation about your case. Our highly qualified legal team is well known throughout Pensacola, the Emerald Coast, and the western Florida Panhandle for the personal attention and clear communication we provide to every client.