FAQ

The first thing you or a loved one should do after an auto accident or other catastrophic accident is to seek medical attention. Don’t concern yourself with cost: Seek emergency care immediately. After this, however, it’s time to start thinking about legal representation. You and your family need to get started on your case as soon as possible in order to give yourselves the best chance of receiving financial damages for your ordeal. The claims process includes interviewing witnesses, collecting physical evidence, and other tasks that become more difficult with the passage of time.

The short answer is you don’t. In general, personal injury law allows victims of medical malpractice, vehicle accidents, and other accidents to file claims against those responsible, but due to the fact that liability and negligence laws are often complex, the only way to know for sure whether you have a case or not is to speak with an experienced attorney.

There are complicated formulas involved in calculating how much a claim is worth. These formulas include variables such as lost income, the cost of emergency and continuing care, and the pain and suffering of the victim or victims involved. Both personal injury attorneys and claims examiners use these formulas to determine the worth of a claim, but there is no easy way to estimate how much a claim is worth without further understanding of the details concerned. Given this information, be wary of any calculator claiming that it can tell you exactly how much your case is worth. Every case is completely different from the next and involves different circumstances.

There is no way to be sure whether your case will go to trial, but most personal injury cases are resolved through negotiations during the claims process. It’s very expensive and time-consuming for insurance companies to go to court over a claim, so they will often try and avoid litigation if possible. Often an insurance company will offer a fair settlement at the last moment in order to avoid a trial, especially when an accident victim has a personal injury attorney representing them.

If you case does go to the trial, you will want a lawyer who has the experience your circumstances require by your side. Tactics, aggressiveness, and litigation skills are all paramount inside the courtroom.

Personal injury cases involving oil field accidents, vehicle accidents, or medical malpractice can take months or years to settle, especially if litigation is involved. Getting started on your case immediately, however, may save you and your family valuable time in the future when it comes to resolving your case.

Accident victims and their families who are seeking financial compensation after a truck crash or other catastrophic accident start by filing a claim. In an ideal world, this process would be simple, and insurance companies would always treat accident victims fairly. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The claims process in both Texas and New Mexico is extremely complicated, and victims and their families are often treated in bad faith by claims examiners eager to take advantage of their relative lack of legal experience.

By having an attorney, victims can help make sure that they’re not agreeing to a settlement prematurely or otherwise compromising their rights when it comes to a case. Additionally, sometimes there are third parties such as vehicle manufacturers whose responsibility for an accident may not be immediately obvious. Allowing an attorney to review the facts of your case can help you be sure that you’re identifying all parties who may be liable for your situation.

Finally, if negotiations don’t succeed and your case does go to trial, of course, you’ll want to have an aggressive legal partner on your side. These are all reasons why it’s highly recommended you have legal representation if you’re filing a claim related to one of the many types of cases we handle.

Financial compensation in personal injury cases accounts for both so-called economic costs related to an accident (such as a victim’s lost wages and medical expenses) and for non-economic costs (such as a victim’s pain and suffering). That means that if your claim is successful, you may be eligible to receive monetary damages sufficient to cover your medical bills and missing income as well as help compensate for your physical and mental anguish.

This depends on the state in which the claim is filed. In Texas, for example, the spouse, children, or parents of a victim are eligible to file wrongful death suits. In New Mexico, wrongful death suits are filed by the personal representative of the deceased’s estate.