Hampton, SC Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injury lawyers help victims after accidents that lead to mild, moderate, or severe injuries. If you spent any time in the hospital or away from work because of an injury that you suffered, then you have damages that you need to compensate for, and our lawyers can help you get them.
If you attempt to file an insurance claim without a lawyer, you may be able to get some damages paid, but this will often leave you shortchanged. Insurance companies are often unwilling to pay full damages without intense negotiation. Even then, they might refuse to pay unless and until you get a jury verdict against them. Our lawyers will help you make this happen.
For your free case review with our experienced personal injury lawyers, call Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers at (803) 451-4000.
What Should You Do After an Accident in Hampton, SC?
Immediately after an accident, take these steps:
- Call 911 and report the accident if it was a car accident.
- Get medical care – which can mean calling for an ambulance if you need it or going straight to the hospital under your own power or by getting a ride from someone.
- Document the accident scene if you are able, including by taking pictures of the dangers and injuries.
- Gather any witness contact info so you can contact them later.
- If any at-fault parties are present, get their names and contact details (plus insurance info, if it was a car accident).
- Note whether any security cameras were around to catch the accident happening.
In the days after, call a lawyer and let them help you with insurance claims and lawsuits. They can also help you get medical records, security footage, financial records, and other evidence.
What Injuries and Damages Qualify for a Personal Injury Case
All of these injuries qualify under a personal injury claim:
Physical Injuries
These are called “personal injury” cases because they deal with bodily injury. Injuries can be slight or serious, but as long as you suffered actual injury, this satisfies the requirements.
When there is an injury, no injury is too small or too insignificant. While your damages will certainly be lower for minor injuries, the fact is, you can bring your case and seek compensation for any money you spent or lost because of the injury.
Mental and Emotional Effects
In many cases, you may be more concerned with your mental and emotional injuries than physical injuries. You can often seek damages for emotional distress and mental anguish related to a physical injury.
It is, however, much harder to get damages when there is no physical injury. For example, if you were in a grocery store and saw a sharp corner on a shelf and thought, “Wow, that could really hurt someone!” that usually will not be enough for a lawsuit.
Economic Damages
You can also seek damages for the expenses tied to your injuries. This commonly includes medical bills and lost wages, which you might suffer, even for a relatively minor injury.
Of course, you can also sue for injuries resulting in long-term disabilities or life-altering injuries, which often have much more extensive medical care needs and more lost time at work.
Elements of an Injury Case
When you sue for an injury, you typically file a “negligence” claim. While you can sue for intentional injuries, most claims based on “negligence” allege that the defendant merely violated a legal duty that they owed you rather than injuring you on purpose.
Duty and Breach
You must prove the defendant owed you a legal duty and violated it to cause the accident.
Duty is usually based on either a law or general principles of reasonableness in the given situation. For example, traffic laws and building codes impose explicit duties on drivers and property owners, respectively, and any injury they cause you by violating these rules could allow you to sue them.
However, something like the care a doctor owes their patient will be based on what is reasonable for a doctor with similar training and experience to provide.
Causation and Damages
You must also be able to show that this breach of duty actually caused your injuries. If some other intervening event caused the injury, that would be the cause instead. If the injury was unavoidable, it might be difficult to show it was the defendant’s fault.
This must also result in damages – discussed above – for you to sue.
Evidence in a Personal Injury Case
Evidence is needed to prove your claim.
Burden of Proof
Plaintiffs have the “burden of proof and production.” This means it is up to you – the party bringing the case – to have your personal injury lawyers bring evidence to court that is sufficient to prove your claim is more likely than not to be true.
Types of Evidence
These are the four most common areas of evidence in an injury case:
- Your testimony and any eyewitness testimony will be vital in explaining what happened.
- If there are videos or photos that help back up this testimony, these will be great visuals for the jury.
- Any records related to the accident – such as accident reports and medical records – can be great evidence to help show the accident was serious and to indicate when and where the accident happened.
- Bills, financial statements, and other records will also be needed to prove the economic damages you faced.
Other pieces of evidence may be involved in your case, depending on what type of injury case it is. For example:
- In a product injury case, the product that injured you will be important evidence, as will expert witness reports examining the product to explain how and why it failed.
- In medical malpractice claims, expert witnesses will also be needed to explain to the jury what medical care was required and why the medical care actually given in your case was insufficient or negligent.
When to Reach Out to a Lawyer for an Injury Case in Hampton, SC
As mentioned, your case potentially qualifies for a personal injury claim whenever you face an injury – and our lawyers can help you seek justice.
Mild and Moderate Injuries Are Enough
Even cases with mild or moderate injuries might be worth pursuing in court if you have damages and expenses you need covered, and you should not hesitate to contact a lawyer for these kinds of cases.
Timing
As for when in the process you should call a lawyer, this can be challenging. If you are able to look up a lawyer online and make a call on the day of the accident, that would be ideal.
However, many injury victims need to spend the first days or weeks after an accident focusing on their recovery, especially in cases of near-fatal accidents or serious injuries.
Should You Call a Lawyer or Doctor First?
If you need to, focus on getting treatment first. However, keep in mind that South Carolina law only gives you 3 years to file your case, and it takes quite some time to prepare a case. As such, you should call our lawyers as soon as you can after your accident.
Do You File an Insurance Claim or a Lawsuit for Injuries?
You will generally start your claim with an insurance claim, but a lawsuit may be necessary. If we can negotiate for a fair settlement and get the case settled with the insurance company, there may be no need to sue.
However, if the defense will not settle, we can go to court. There, they have additional pressure to settle, or else they have to spend more money taking the case through trial, only to potentially lose before a jury.
Who Decides Fault?
Generally, the insurance company will decide whether we have proven fault or not. If they agree that we have, they will likely settle.
If they refuse to acknowledge fault, then the case can go to court. There, the jury – not the judge – decides who was at fault.
Can You Talk to Insurance Companies After an Accident?
You should work with a lawyer when filing insurance claims. Do not give the insurance company additional information or recorded statements if you do not have to. Your personal injury lawyers can talk to them, provide them only what they need, and negotiate for a fair settlement while you focus on your recovery.
Do not accept or sign anything from them, or it may function as a settlement and end your case.
What if You Were Partially at Fault?
You can still get damages under South Carolina law if you contributed to your own accident. Our comparative fault laws allow us to get paid for the defendant’s share of our damages, and we only lose the share of the damages equal to our percentage of fault in causing the accident.
However, if your fault is more than 50%, you cannot sue at all.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers in Hampton, SC Today
Call (803) 451-4000 for a case assessment with the personal injury attorneys at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers.
