Lakewood Personal Injury

Injuries stemming from a car accident case can be life-altering events. If you have been involved in a car accident in the Lakewood area, sustaining injuries in the process, you need to understand why you need an attorney to represent you. Indeed, there are several key reasons why a lawyer can help a victim of a car accident case like you.

Identifying All Responsible Parties

In some cases, more than one party may be responsible for injuries a person sustains in an automobile accident. That may be the situation when it comes to your case.

Only a skilled, experienced personal injury attorney is in a position to ascertain who all potential defendants may be in your case. Take an accident with a commercial truck driver as an example of how multiple parties can be responsible for the accident and the injuries you now suffer from.

The Driver

The driver of the rig could be responsible for the accident because he was distracted at the time of the accident. Assume he was texting at the time. Unfortunately, despite an ever-increasing number of laws banning texting and driving, millions of people text and drive every single day.

The owner of the rig could also be responsible because the company failed to properly maintain the vehicle. The failure to undertake appropriate maintenance prevented the brakes from responding appropriately at the time of the accident.

The list of other potential wrongdoers could end up being quite long. The reality is that only a well-trained lawyer is able to dissect an accident into its component parts to determine all of the possible responsible parties.

Maximizing Compensation

Another key reason why a personal injury lawyer can help you with your car accident case is by enhancing compensation paid to you. This help comes both in attempting to reach a settlement with an automobile insurance company and in a lawsuit, should one need to be filed in your case.

You necessarily need to obtain the maximum amount of compensation in your case. Anything less would mean that you are not appropriately covered in the aftermath of an accident.

Compensation Varies

The money necessary to compensate an injured person varies from one case to the next. Nonetheless, common areas in which a personal injury attorney can garner compensation for an injured client include:

• Money for medical expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Permanent disability
• Lost wages

In many car accident cases, a person is entitled to compensation for current losses as well as for additional losses reasonably expected to be incurred in the future. An attorney can assist in preparing a compelling case for future compensation in your car accident case.

Lakewood Personal Injury Attorneys and Lawyer Fees

A personal injury attorney provides a free plan that enables you to seek legal assistance in your case without expending money upfront on fees. In a car accident case, lawyers like those at the El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers use a contingency fee. With a contingency fee arrangement, you pay no fee for the firms’ capable representation of you unless you obtain a settlement or judgment in your favor.

The agreement regarding attorney fees is reached at the start of a period of representation. You and your lawyer agree on the specific percentage of any settlement or judgment that will be applied to attorney fees for your case.

Hiring Experienced Lakewood Personal Injury Lawyers

The process of hiring experienced Lakewood personal injury lawyers, like the legal team at the El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers, is not complicated. The process begins by scheduling what is known as an initial consultation.

During an initial consultation, an attorney from El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers will meet with you. The lawyer will provide you with a preliminary, general evaluation of your case.

During the initial session with counsel from the El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers, you are also able to ask questions and provide a lawyer with necessary information about your case. There is no charge for an initial consultation with an attorney from the El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers.

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Lakewood Car Accidents

If you have been involved in a minor vehicle accident, chances are you may feel fine and decide not to get a medical exam or contact a lawyer. However, some accident injuries do not show up immediately or resolve right away. It may be days or weeks before you realize a persistent headache develops or you realize that the accident-related back pain is not going away.

Even if you are fortunate enough not to suffer personal injuries from an auto accident, what if the other driver tries to sue you for negligence to pay for injuries or car damage that he or she caused? Here are important reasons to consult a car accident attorney if you are involved in a vehicle collision.

Unseen injuries may appear later.

Some internal injuries may not show up right away. For example, a slow head bleed due to an accident-related concussion could remain invisible inside the skull until symptoms appear days or weeks later.

By this time the damage may be life-threatening. That is why it is important to be checked out at a local emergency room or urgent care center immediately following an accident. You should also report to your doctor any new symptoms that materialize after the accident.

Minor injuries sometimes get worse.

Even minor injuries should be diagnosed to determine how bad they are, including:

• Ongoing headaches,
• leg pain, or
• hand, wrist, or arm pain

An achy hand that doesn’t get better may actually be a broken wrist, for example. Minor bruises or discomfort, such as whiplash, should be checked by a doctor right after the accident.

Serious injuries require careful evaluation.

Some hardy people try to tough it out with serious injuries following an accident. However, ignoring alarming symptoms like bleeding, confusion, or impaired mobility may cause these respective injuries to get worse instead of better.

Even if you feel the pain is manageable or you’ve had a similar injury before that got better on its own, you should get a medical exam to be sure your injuries receive needed treatment so they can fully and permanently heal. Otherwise, you may end up going back to the doctor every few months for additional exams and treatments that you will have to pay for.

A police report can confirm accident facts.

No matter how minor the car accident, call the police for a report to be made. The facts surrounding the accident need to be made an official public record for future reference if needed. If the other driver tries to claim you caused the accident when in fact it was him or her, the police report can objectively describe the incident.

Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycle riders and bicycle riders enjoy a lot of freedom when they travel. They are also in a unique position when it comes to other vehicles on the road. They are exposed to a higher level of danger than individuals driving vehicles.

There is not a protective barrier between the road, and a motorcycle or bicycle rider. Someone driving a vehicle may not understand how to drive when a motorcycle or bicycle is on the road. This makes them at high risk for serious injury should an accident occur.

Driver Negligence

A motorcycle or bicycle rider can be injured as a result of a vehicle driver’s negligence. It’s all too common for a vehicle to drift into a driving lane and not notice a motorcycle rider next to them. Vehicle drivers have even been known to drive on bike lanes.

This is considered reckless and shows the vehicle driver has a disregard for the safety of motorcycle or bicycle riders. An experienced Lakewood motorcycle accident lawyer from El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers will know how to prove the vehicle driver violated the duty of care owed motorcycle and bicycle riders.

Should the vehicle driver be given a traffic violation after an accident, it can count as proof of negligence. It then will be up to the vehicle driver to show they didn’t cause an accident involving a motorcycle or bicycle rider.

Road Problems

There is a number of problems motorcycle, and bicycle riders have to face when on the road.

• Road Hazards. When a person is driving a vehicle, a pothole, deep puddle, and more are considered annoyances. When a motorcycle or bicycle rider encounters an oil slick, uneven pavement, railroad tracks, road debris, and more, it can result in a dangerous situation that can cause an accident.
• Speed Wobble. This can happen when a motorcycle is going at a high rate of speed, and its front end becomes unstable. It then starts to move back and forth violently. In many cases, this results from the front and back tires being misaligned. It’s possible the manufacturer could be held liable if this results in an accident.
• Visual Recognition. Bicycles and motorcycles are small visual objects to vehicle drivers. It is very easy for them to be hidden by weather conditions, other vehicles, and more. Intersections are the most dangerous. This is where a large percentage of bicycle and motorcycle accidents occur.
• Weather. When a bicycle or motorcycle rider starts out, the weather may be nice but then turn terrible. When this happens, they very vulnerable to the elements. This situation can cause slick spots on the road and more.