Personal Injury Lawyers Practicing in Decatur

Deciding whether to hire a Georgia personal injury attorney can be confusing. Some people may not need a personal injury lawyer in Decatur to handle their case. Their injury claim might not involve issues that could result in a legal battle.

Some factors that indicate you should talk to an injury lawyer include:

• You sustained catastrophic injuries or permanent impairments
• The accident involved multiple vehicles, a commercial truck, a government vehicle, or a government employee
• Your child was injured because of an accident or other incident
• Fault for the cause of the accident is disputed
• Allegations that you contributed to the cause of your injury
• You have pre-existing conditions or prior accident claims
• A family member died because of an accident or injury
• The injury involved a defective product or medical malpractice
• You were injured on another person's property, on public property, or at a retail or commercial location

Our Decatur personal injury lawyer offers free consultations. Therefore, it does not cost anything to speak with an attorney. It is always in your best interest to seek legal advice and have an attorney analyze your case, regardless of the severity of your injuries or the case's complexity.

Georgia is an at-fault state for personal injury claims. The injured person has the burden of proving another party caused their injury. Therefore, your steps after an accident could help or hurt your case.

Our Decatur, Georgia personal injury lawyer suggests the following steps after an accident:

• Report the accident to the relevant parties (i.e., call 911 for traffic accidents, report slips and falls to the property owner, etc.)
• Document the accident scene with photographs and videos on your cell phone
• Ask witnesses and bystanders for their contact information
• Do not apologize, say you are sorry, or otherwise admit fault for the cause of the accident
• Seek immediate medical treatment after the accident because delays in medical care court hurt your claim
• Avoid talking to insurance adjusters and other parties until you meet with a personal injury lawyer in Georgia
• Document your injuries and damages by keeping copies of all medical records, bills, receipts, and invoices
• Do not sign any documents without talking to a lawyer, including a release for medical records, written statements, or settlement agreements

As soon as possible, consult a personal injury lawyer in Decatur, GA, about your case. An accident attorney can help you avoid mistakes that could hurt your chance of recovering maximum compensation for your injuries and damages.

Georgia's statute of limitations sets deadlines for filing personal injury claims. In most cases, you have two years from the date of the accident or injury to file a personal injury lawsuit.

However, there are exceptions. For example, a loss of consortium claim has a four-year deadline, and workers' compensation lawsuits must be filed within one year of the injury.

In some cases, a statute of repose gives you additional time to file a lawsuit. For example, you might have up to ten years to file a product liability lawsuit if you did not discover your injury within the two-year deadline to file claims. Likewise, you could have up to five years to file a medical malpractice claim if you did not immediately discover your injury.

Suing the government has different rules. For example, you have months to file a claim instead of years. Regardless of the type of case, it is best to talk with a personal injury lawyer in Decatur as soon as possible to avoid missing a deadline.

Damages in a personal injury case include economic, non-economic, and punitive damages. Economic damages are your financial losses, including:

• Medical bills
• Loss of income and benefits
• Out-of-pocket expenses
• Diminished earning capacity
• Nursing care
• Personal care

Non-economic damages represent your "pain and suffering" caused by the accident and injury. You can recover compensation for your:

• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Emotional distress
• Permanent impairments and disabilities
• Mental anguish
• Diminished quality of life
• Physical pain and discomfort
• Scarring and disfigurement

Punitive damages are not intended to compensate you for your losses. Instead, the award "punishes" the defendant for intentional, grossly negligent, or reckless behavior. Punitive damages are only awarded in a few personal injury cases.

The best thing to tell an insurance adjuster is to contact your Decatur personal injury lawyer. Insurance adjusters work to limit liability for claims. Therefore, they will deny your claim or undervalue your damages if possible.

Everything you say to an insurance adjuster could impact your case. The insurance adjuster might take your comments out of context. Talk with a personal injury lawyer in Georgia before agreeing to a recorded statement or signing a written statement.

The timeline for a personal injury case depends on the facts of the case. Each personal injury claim is different. The primary factor that affects how long it takes to settle a claim is your recovery.

You do not want to settle an injury claim until you complete medical treatment. Your doctor cannot tell us if you sustained permanent impairments or disabling conditions until your reach maximum medical improvement. Impairments and disabilities increase the value of a personal injury claim by adding future damages to the claim.

Most personal injury cases settle without going to court. However, if liability is not disputed and the insurance company is willing to negotiate a fair settlement, you could settle your claim within a few months after completing medical treatment.

However, if your Georgia personal injury attorney has to file a lawsuit or fight with an uncooperative insurance provider, settling your claim could take longer. Our Decatur, Georgia personal injury lawyer works diligently to settle claims as quickly as possible to put money in your pocket after an injury or accident.

Yes, you can still file for compensation after an accident or injury that was partially your fault. However, your compensation is reduced by your percentage of fault under Georgia's comparative fault laws.

For example, if a jury awards you $300,000 for a car accident claim but finds you are 20% to blame for the cause of the crash, you will receive $240,000 ($300,000 less 20% or $60,000).

If you are more than 50% at fault for the cause of your injury, you are barred from recovering any money for a personal injury claim.

Negligence is the failure to act with the same level of care that a reasonably prudent person would use in a similar situation. Most personal injury claims are based on negligence.

Proving negligence requires you to provide evidence demonstrating:

• The party who caused your injury owed you a duty of care
• The at-fault party breached that duty of care
• The breach of duty resulted in your injuries
• You sustained damages because of the breach of duty and the resulting accident or conduct
• You have the burden of proving your case by a preponderance of the evidence.

That means you need to have evidence to convince the jury there is more than a 50% chance the other party caused your injury. Investigating and gathering evidence to prove negligence can be difficult without the help of a Georgia personal injury attorney.

It is less costly and quicker to settle claims without filing a lawsuit. The good news is that most personal injury claims and accident cases settle without filing a lawsuit. Some cases settle after filing a lawsuit but before going to trial.

The most common reason a case goes to trial is that the insurance company disputes liability for the claim or refuses to negotiate a settlement in good faith. Our personal injury lawyer in Decatur is a talented and experienced negotiator who aggressively fights to settle your claim without going to trial.

However, as a skilled trial lawyer, our law firm does not hesitate to file a lawsuit and fight for your right to fair compensation in court when that is best to protect your best interests.

Our personal injury lawyer in Decatur accepts personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. A contingency fee means that our law firm does not receive our attorneys' fees unless we recover money for your injury claim. Therefore, we do not require you to pay a retainer fee upfront to hire us.