A: Serious injuries, especially those resulting in permanent disability,  cause tremendous financial hardship. Damages may be broken down into actual damages (calculable economic damages), future damages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and shortened life expectancy, if applicable.Medical expenses will include everything related to your medical care, like ambulance transportation, emergency room care, hospitalization, doctor visits, prescription drugs, physical therapy, and surgeries. We work with life care planners to calculate expected future medical care.

The financial strain of medical expenses following an accident are quickly followed by loss of income from being unable to work. When calculating damages in a personal injury claim, your salary will be considered, along with your future earning capacity, which is your reduced ability to earn an income. If you are permanently disabled, this will be calculated to the end of your work life expectancy, and can be substantial.

Along with the actual and future economic damages, compensation for pain and suffering may be available. This includes physical pain, mental anguish, stress, anxiety, and PTSD. They are calculated based on your age and remaining life expectancy, the severity of your injuries.

A final consideration for a personal injury claim is the amount of insurance available. Each situation is different, and the amount of insurance available for your injury claim may depend on the specific facts of your case. Often times multiple insurance companies are responsible to pay. If you try to handle the case on your own, or hire an inexperienced lawyer, you may miss out on a lot of money that is available to pay for your medical bills, lost income, and damages.

A: Under the terms of most insurance policies, you are required to report your accident promptly. This is a contractual agreement you made when you purchased the policy. However, it is usually better if you hire an attorney to report the accident for you. Often times the insurance company, even your insurance company, will try to take your statement and then use it against you later. If you fail to report the accident to them, you could lose your right to file a claim for your injuries. After an accident, get medical attention right away. Then, hire an experienced personal injury lawyer to protect your rights. If you do call the insurance company, give facts only. Do not provide a recorded statement, do not address how serious your injuries are, or speculate on fault. Insurance claims adjusters are trained to be friendly and compassionate, but their job and even their compensation is centered upon one end-goal: paying as little as possible for insurance claims.

A: All states have a “statute of limitations” which is a strict time limit imposed on any civil lawsuit. In South Carolina, you typically have three years from the date of your accident to file a lawsuit. However, the statute of limitations may be shortened dramatically depending on the facts and circumstances of your case. For example, if a governmental entity or contractor causes your injury, you may only have 2 years to file a lawsuit. If your case has “jurisdiction” in another state, you may have even less time. Each case is different, and it is important to hire a personal injury attorney early so you do not miss important deadlines. Of course, we recommend that you hire an attorney as soon as possible. The most important part of many cases is the initial investigation that should occur immediately after an accident. If you wait too long to hire an attorney, important evidence and eyewitnesses may never be found. As soon as you contact us and retain our services, we will begin our investigation. We can handle communications with the insurance companies on your behalf and help ensure your rights are protected, especially in regards to preserving evidence. For example, if you are injured in a crash with a semi-truck, we can immediately send the trucking company a “evidence preservation letter”, to formally demand evidence relevant to the collision is preserved. Immediately after an accident, the trucking company may tow the truck hundreds of miles away to be repaired or destroyed. This evidence is important to your claim. In some cases, a settlement has come down to a single piece of evidence.

A: Mark exclusively represents injury victims and families who have lost loved ones. Mark’s record-setting jury verdicts and settlements demonstrate his experience, work-ethic, and customized approach to each case that he handles. Because of his success, Mark is more selective about the cases he handles than most attorneys. He understands that no two cases are alike. He believes that you deserve a customized legal service and aggressive representation to protect your interests. Excellent customer service is the most important value of our firm. While past performance cannot guarantee future results, a good way to evaluate an attorney is to see what he has achieved for his past clients. If you ask around, Mark has a strong reputation among lawyers and insurance companies. He is known to get significant results quickly and efficiently. Because Mark is willing to try his cases to a jury if the insurance company is unfair or unreasonable, he often obtains larger settlements because the insurance companies know they are up against a serious lawyer. Unlike most lawyers seen on TV and billboards, Mark is a real personal injury lawyer with extensive courtroom and trial experience. Most lawyers on TV never step foot in a court room. They are just figureheads and advertisers. Mark has dedicated his career to practicing personal injury law and helping victims. He cares deeply for each of his clients. Although no one wants to need to hire a personal injury lawyer, clients enjoy working with Mark because he treats them like family. He has had tremendous success recovering maximum compensation for injury claims because he brings knowledge, experience and skill to every case, and insurance companies are familiar with his prior cases. He is passionate about every case he works on.

The attorney rating service Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, has honored Mark Bringardner as a “Rising Star” in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. He also has been listed in the National Trial Lawyers’ Top 100 and “Top 40 under 40” lawyers in South Carolina in 2019 and 2020. Mark has also been recognized by the 2021 edition of “Best Lawyers”, a peer-reviewed publication for legal professionals. Mark also serves as the chairman for the Torts & Negligence section of the South Carolina Association for Justice, South Carolina’s leading plaintiff attorney organization.