Forest Acres, SC Personal Injury Lawyer
If someone else injured you through their carelessness or because they were not paying attention, you deserve compensation. These responsible parties can be held liable in a court of law and ordered to pay potentially tens of thousands or even millions of dollars for very serious injuries.
If your life was forever impacted by your accident, you may be entitled to substantial financial compensation, but it is important to work with a lawyer. Defendants, especially corporations and businesses, will hire strong legal teams and put their insurance companies in the way of the compensation you need. You should consider having an equally motivated and experienced legal team on your side to fight these cases.
For a free review of your potential injury case, call the personal injury attorneys at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers at your earliest convenience at (803) 451-4000
Holding Individuals and Companies Responsible for Injuries in Forest Acres, SC
Many accidents happen in a split second, and your first instinct might be to apologize or blame yourself for your injuries. In many cases, it might not be apparent at first, but there might be someone else whose actions or inactions caused your injuries. Without these mistakes, carelessness, or even legal violations, you might have been able to avoid injury entirely. Our personal injury lawyers can investigate your case, determine who is liable, and hold them responsible in court.
Investigations
The first step in any personal injury case is to investigate what happened. In some cases, the problem is obvious, such as another car crashing into yours or a puddle that you slipped in in a store. However, we need to look into why that driver crashed into you – were they running a red light or drinking while driving? – or why that puddle was there – was it reported to staff, and how long did they delay in cleaning it up?
Our investigation may involve taking pictures, subpoenaing evidence and records from the defendant, or subpoenaing depositions so we can interview the witnesses and parties involved.
Determining Liability
Once we know what happened and understand the facts leading up to your injury, we can determine who we should file the claim against. In many cases, an individual will be at fault, such as when a driver crashes their car into yours, a doctor misdiagnoses your condition, or a homeowner fails to repair a broken handrail. In others, a company is directly responsible, such as when a store leaves a dangerous spill in an aisle, or a company produces a dangerous product.
Keep in mind, however, that many companies’ mistakes happen through their individual employee’s actions. For example, trucking companies and taxi and bus companies are often held liable for the accidents their drivers cause. In other situations, an individual busboy might have caused the spill that you slipped in, or a janitor in an office building might have neglected to put up a “Wet Floor” sign, and you will sue the company they work for your slip and fall injuries.
Considering Insurance Claims
Insurance is available for many areas of life, from driving to owning a home, operating a business, and performing medical procedures. As such, an insurance policy likely covers your case, but the insurance company might not be willing to pay you what you deserve.
As part of your claim, our lawyers can help you file insurance claims and consider any potential settlement offers from the insurance company. If their offers are low, we can negotiate and try to raise their offer. If the offer is still too low or your claim is denied, we can take the case to court and try the claim there before a judge and jury.
Suing in Court
In court, a judge will hear all legal questions in your case. This puts them in charge of decisions about evidence, subpoenas, admissibility, and whether the legal elements of your case are laid out in your initial complaint. However, we can often apply for a jury trial, leaving any factual determinations up to a jury.
In a jury trial, we must convince the jury “by a preponderance of the evidence” that your claim is correct and true. The defense will try to undermine this claim with their own evidence and witnesses, with the jury deciding who they believe.
Most cases can be settled through rigorous negotiation before ever getting to jury selection. Even after the trial has begun, so-called “courthouse steps” settlements can still end the case early and get you what you need without having to go before a jury. We can help advise you on whether to settle or not.
Damages for Injured Accident Victims in Forest Acres, SC
In most injury cases, you can claim financial compensation for any of the “economic” harms you faced as well as the “non-economic” harms. Economic damages consist of the expenses and lost money that resulted from the accident, such as property damage, repair bills, hospital expenses, and missed wages and earnings. Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering as well as other intangible harms like emotional distress.
In some cases, you can get additional damages for other complex situations. For one, “loss of consortium” damages might be available to your spouse for the losses they experience because of your injuries. Additionally, punitive damages might be available if the company or individual’s wrongs were exceptionally bad, and they need to be deterred from similar actions in the future. Punitive damages punish the defendant instead of reimbursing you, but the money still goes into your pocket at the end of the day.
Call Our Injury Attorneys in Forest Acres, SC for Help Today
Call Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers today at (803) 451-4000 for a free case assessment with our experienced personal injury attorneys.
