How an Auto Accident Attorney Can Negotiate a Settlement

auto accident attorney

          Whenever an insurance agency is informed that one of their insured has been allegedly responsible for injuring another person out on the road, a series of routine systems will kick in. Insurance adjusters will be dispatched, and an investigation will begin. These systems have been established by the insurance agency for one, and only one purpose, and that is to save the company as much money as possible when it comes to settlements.

            All the major insurance agencies have these commercials, with happy smiling employees, all talking about how the only reason the company exists is to help you in your time of need. The sad reality is that nothing can be farther from the truth. These companies exist only to make money, they are not there to help anyone but themselves.

            This is why if you have been injured in a car crash, and someone else is at fault, you will most likely always need an auto accident attorney to represent you. But how can these injury lawyers get you the compensation you deserve? Well, there are a couple different ways, and we will examine them in today’s post.

            Leveraging Evidence

            Directly after you have retained an auto accident attorney, they will begin to compile all the evidence surrounding the crash. This evidence will include any police reports that were made, any traffic or dash cam footage that is available, along with any witness statements that were made from those who witnessed the crash.

            The purpose of this evidence is to show without a doubt that it was the insured who was responsible for the auto accident. In personal injury law, it is possible for one individual to only be partially responsible, with others also sharing the blame. In this situation, the amount of compensation sought will be estimated by the just how “at fault” that person is.

            Your attorney will also collect and index all of the current and past medical bills. These bills will be from any hospitalizations resulting from the accident, bills from doctors’ offices, physical therapy, costs of medications as well as an accounting of any future treatments or therapy that will happen.

            All of this evidence will be sent to the insurance agency along with a “demand letter.” This letter will demand that the insurance agency properly compensate you for your injuries, or your lawyer will sue. The hope is that the legal department of that particular insurance agency will see that due to the evidence provided, they will surely lose if the case goes to court. This will give your injury attorney a great amount of leverage while negotiating a settlement out of court.

            Personal Injury Litigation and Trail

            There could be a number of reasons that the insurance agency would refuse to pay a fair settlement after receiving the demand letter. It could be that they do not wish to set a “legal precedent,” by agreeing to pay, or that perhaps the evidence that was sent with the demand letter did not convince them that they don’t have a chance in court. But for whatever reason, if there isn’t a settlement offer made after sending the demand letter, your attorney will then have to file a formal complaint in court.

            Litigation is the process of filing and arguing motions and pleadings in court after a lawsuit has been opened. Normally, one party will file a motion, asking the judge to make a finding, and then a hearing will be held, where both parties can argue for or against the motion.

            Other forms of litigation involve what is called a deposition. This is an formal meeting between the  parties where one lawyer can ask the other party questions, under oath. The answers to these questions can then be used as evidence in further litigation or even trial.

            If a settlement still cannot be reached during the litigation phase, the case will have to go to trial. Injury trials are ridiculously expensive and time consuming, and for this reason they are very rare.

            Auto Accident Attorney at Justice Law Center

            Our team of expert injury lawyers have been helping the residents of Nevada get the compensation they deserve for over 20 years. We know how to deal with the insurance agencies in order to avoid costly litigation and trials.

            If you need an auto accident attorney to fight for you, we are just a call away. We only take our fees out of the money we win for you and offer completely free initial consultations, so call us today!

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