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We don’t get paid unless you do.
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We will do everything we can to win your case, maximize your settlement amount, and resolve your case as quickly as possible. You can leave everything to us. We will deal with the insurance companies and build your case while you focus on your health and recovery. When you’ve been injured in a car accident or other incident, it is important to hire a personal injury attorney who can protect your rights and guide you through the complex legal process. The decision to hire a personal injury lawyer should not be taken lightly. The sooner you hire us after an accident, the better we will be able to prepare your case and protect you from the insurance company’s tactics, common mistakes, and costly pitfalls that can happen along the way.
When you choose us, you can be sure you’ll always understand the status of your case, and feel confident your case is in good hands.
If you have been injured because of the negligence of another person or a company, you may not be sure what to do next. However, the insurance company for the at-fault party will immediately begin working against you to pay you as little as possible, or nothing at all. After all, insurance companies do not make money by paying out claims. They want to keep all of the money for themselves to buy more TV commercials and invest for their own benefit. You may be asking yourself, “Do I need a lawyer or should I handle it myself? Often times injury victims think the insurance company will do the right thing and are later surprised to find out that is not the case.
The insurance adjuster may tell you that they will pay for your medical bills and lost income, but as the weeks and months pass, that does not always happen. The insurance adjuster may give you “the runaround,” or dispute that your medical bills are related to what they claim is a “pre-existing” condition, or challenge other aspects of your claim to minimize paying you what you are owed.
Having a personal injury attorney in Charleston may be a good idea to protect your legal rights. The days after an accident can be very important to your case. In order to build the proper foundation for your case, an experienced personal injury lawyer can help conduct the proper investigation. Often times, injury victims seek to hire a personal injury attorney after trying to represent themselves. Studies show that injured people who hire attorneys receive significantly larger settlements, and net more money in their own pocket even after the attorneys’ fees are paid. You only get one case. Hiring an experienced personal injury in South Carolina immediately after an accident can be a smart financial decision.
Choosing the right attorney will ensure that you are able to focus on recovery, and know that your case is in good hands. Our legal team is prepared to do everything we can to reach a favorable outcome in your case.
While researching attorneys, you should consider the following:
Will this attorney maintain regular communication throughout my case, to ensure I understand what is happening at each phase?
Does this attorney have experience handling injury cases like mine?
What do this attorney’s former clients say about their experience hiring them?
Immediately after an accident, if you are injured, you should call 911 and seek immediate medical attention. This may seem obvious if you have pain at the scene of the collision, but often times injury victims may not feel pain until the adrenaline wears off, hours or even days after an accident. Any delay in seeking medical attention and the appropriate diagnostic testing could lead to problems down the road. Next, before contacting any insurance company, it can be smart to consult an experienced South Carolina accident attorney to protect your rights.
You will likely want to make sure that your medical records, bills, lost income, and other issues are being handled and documented properly.
Does health insurance pay for your medical bills? Does the other person’s insurance company pay? What is Medpay? How do you submit a claim for lost income? Should you go to your primary care doctor or a specialist? What if you don’t have a doctor? Who fixes your vehicle? Where do you take your vehicle? These are questions an experienced South Carolina personal injury attorney can assist you with. It may also be a good idea to have your attorney conduct an investigation on your behalf as soon as possible so important evidence does not get lost.
First, you should call our office and speak with us directly about your case. Or, you can fill out our online form and we will call you as soon as possible to go over your claim and answer all of your questions. We are happy to meet with you in-person, through a virtual conference, or over the phone.
If you decide to hire us, we will send you the necessary paperwork so we can immediately begin working on your case.
When you hire us, we immediately go to work on your case. We will deal with the insurance company, the investigation, gathering of your medical bills, and building your case.
After getting your vehicle repaired or replaced, you only have one job to do after hiring us. Get better. We want you to focus on your recovery and follow all your doctors’ orders. Doing this will hopefully put you on the path toward a full recovery.
Immediately after you hire us, we will begin building your case. First, we will send a letter to the insurance company stating that you have retained representation, and that they are not allowed to contact you directly. They must go through us.
We quickly start investigating your accident by obtaining witness statements, obtaining evidence, gathering your medical records, calculating your wage losses and future medical bills, and any other damages you may have suffered as a result of your accident. Your only job is to go to the medical appointments and try to get better.
A settlement is typically a sum of money paid by an insurance company. The vast majority of cases settle before going to court. However, we prepare all of our cases for a trial if that becomes necessary. We will fight to the fullest extent of the law to try and get you full and fair compensation.
Typically clients want to know two things: How much is my case worth and how long will it take? No lawyer knows the answers to those questions when you first hire them. The fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of factors that will determine the answers.
Early in the case, you may not know the extent of any permanent injuries for which you may need compensation, and you may not know the total amount of your medical bills until a later date. Once your condition stabilizes and our investigation into the case is completed, your South Carolina accident attorney will be able to give you a more informed legal opinion. At that time a “demand” is typically sent to the insurance company to begin the potential settlement process.
Once a demand is sent to the insurance company, the insurance company usually responds after completing an evaluation of your case. At that point, your accident attorney will discuss the insurance company’s response with you. If you are not satisfied with the insurance company’s settlement offer or response, and no settlement is reached, then the next step is for your accident attorney to file a lawsuit.
Most of the time, auto accident cases are resolved in a settlement, but in some instances, they require a lawsuit to get resolved. In this instance, the first step is for your auto accident attorney to write a legal document called a complaint. The complaint is filed at the courthouse, and then the defendant (more likely his insurance company) will have an attorney file a formal response with the Court. Filing a lawsuit does not mean that you are going to trial. Again, the vast majority of lawsuits also settle before trial. People often think they are “going to court” if the file a lawsuit. In layman’s terms, the filing of a lawsuit simply takes the case out of the informal setting between your lawyer and the insurance company and formally puts it in into the court system so that a judge can assist with any legal disputes that arise.
The discovery phase begins after a lawsuit is filed. This phase of the case allows both sides to ask questions and obtain additional documents that may not have been available without a subpoena. The purpose is to “discover” the other side’s evidence, and learn more about the opposing party’s case. This is done by many methods, including submitting requests for documents, and submitting interrogatories (questions in writing that the opposing party must answer) or depositions (in-person or videoconference interviews conducted by the attorneys.)
At any point during the case, you can decide to settle your case. There are several ways to settle a case.
Sometimes cases settle on “the court house steps”. That means that the case settles right before trial. Often times, the threat of a jury trial is the only thing that encourages the insurance company to increase their settlement offer. That is because during your case, the settlement money is under their control. Once a trial begins, the insurance company loses some of that control and it is placed in the hands of the judge and/or jury – who may order a lot more money to be paid to you than what the insurance company wants to offer. Sometimes the most reasonable and fair settlement offers do not get made until right before a trial is scheduled to begin. Some cases even settle during or even after trial. While this is less common, it occurs from time to time.
Mediation is a process where both parties meet in front of an agreed-upon mediator. Mediators are trained professionals who are skilled at moderating fair negotiations. The goal of mediation is a resolution, but if no resolution is reached, the case will continue on.
During the course of the case, both parties may also engage in direct negotiations.
We prepare every case as if we are going to trial. We believe the best way to avoid trial and obtain the best settlement possible is to show the insurance company that we will accept nothing other than a fair settlement, and take it to a trial if it is necessary.
At trial, we will present your case in front of a jury or judge to let them decide the fair value of your case.
At the end of trial, we typically receive a verdict, which can result in a judgement. Trial can take anywhere from a day to a week (or more) depending on the complexity of the case.
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