What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?

If you’ve been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may be wondering: what does a personal injury lawyer do? A personal injury lawyer does much more than paperwork. Personal injury lawyers provide you with legal advice, protect your rights, and lead accident victims to recover the rightful compensation they deserve for their injuries, monetary damages, and emotional distress.

Personal Injury Lawyers Protect Your Rights to Recover Compensation

The foundation of personal injury law is that an injured person shouldn’t have to foot medical expenses, lost wages, or personal injury damages where someone else was at fault.

A personal injury attorney guards your legal rights throughout the court process by:

• Translating relevant laws and applying them to your personal injury case.
• Negotiating with insurance companies to prevent lowball settlements.
• Retrieving medical reports, witness statements, and other records to establish fault.
• Negotiating an appropriate settlement to cover medical bills, psychological injuries, personal property loss, and emotional distress.

Most personal injury lawyers also work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don’t pay attorney fees unless they recover money on your behalf.

Experienced Injury Lawyers Handle All Types of Personal Injury Cases

A veteran personal injury lawyer has the skill and experience to manage a wide range of cases.

These are:

• Motor vehicle crashes: Car accidents, truck accidents, and auto crashes with injuries resulting due to the other driver’s negligence.
• Work injuries: Working with injured workers in insurance claims or lawsuits.
• Fall accidents: Slip and fall, which most often involves property owner negligence.
• Medical malpractice: Hospital or physician failures to provide sufficient medical care, leading to horrific injuries.
• Catastrophic injuries: Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, or disability cases with long durations of disability.

Some personal injury lawyers also handle personal injury cases dealing with complex cases involving a number of relevant parties, such as employers, property owners, or product manufacturers.

Personal Injury Attorneys Create Strategies to Navigate Complex Personal Injury Cases

Every personal injury case is supported by unique facts, legal questions, and multiple relevant parties. A professional personal injury attorney develops tailored strategies to overcome the complexities. These could be the review of medical evidence in medical malpractice cases, establishing negligence in car accidents, or coordination with experts in work-related injuries.

A good strategy also takes into account the legal rules under which it operates and the details of the accident. Attorneys prepare for every stage of the case, from settling up to trying the case, in order to best ensure their client will receive maximum recovery.

Good Personal Injury Lawyers Advise Clients on the Legal Process and Their Options

The legal process can be daunting to those who have experienced an accident. Great personal injury lawyers are counselors who lead clients through the whole legal process and explain every step in plain, easy-to-understand language.

They set realistic expectations about possible results from the initial consultation, describe how contingency fee basis representation works, and find out if suing a personal injury case, researching other options for resolving disputes, or negotiating with the insurance company is the best course of action.

Proactive good communication enables clients to make educated decisions about legal options to pursue.

Injury Lawyers Handle Communication with Insurance Companies

Negotiating with insurance firms is quite possibly the most anxiety-ridden aspect of a personal injury claim. Insurers typically try to pay as little as possible by denying the severity of the damages incurred or offering lowball settlements that do not fairly represent personal injury damages.

A personal injury lawyer takes on all contact with insurance providers, safeguarding clients from coercion and ensuring that their rights are preserved. They review settlement offers, negotiate for payment of medical expenses, lost wages, and future treatment, and counter tactics to reduce the value of a claim.

This allows accident victims to focus on recovery while their lawyer fights for a fair settlement.

Personal Injury Lawyers Gather Evidence to Build a Strong Personal Injury Claim

The most important element to any personal injury case is solid evidence. A personal injury lawyer knows how to gather evidence and present it in the best light possible, showing negligence and building liability.

These evidence can be medical histories, billing histories, witness histories, photographs at the accident scene, and documentation of injuries. In complex cases, lawyers also hire expert witnesses, accident reconstruction specialists, or economists to render estimates of lasting financial harm.

By gathering and presenting such information in a strategic manner, personal injury attorneys make their clients’ claims credible, increasing the chances of obtaining fair compensation for medical treatments, emotional distress, and other personal injury damages.

Personal Injury Attorneys Provide Effective Legal Representation in Court

Not all personal injury cases settle out of court. If insurance firms refuse to make a fair settlement, a personal injury law firm must be prepared to try the case.

Personal injury attorneys are experienced at providing effective legal services through:

• Developing a trial strategy based on theories of law and the specific facts of your case.
• Thorough preparation for trial, including preparation of pleadings, motions, and preparation of witnesses.
• Presenting evidence to a judge and jury in an understandable way, such as medical records, expert witness testimony, and proof of personal injury damages.
• Pleading for maximum recovery that goes beyond the medical treatment to include emotional distress, psychological damage, and long-term care for catastrophic injury.

By using their understanding of the legal system and governing laws, most personal injury lawyers ensure accident victims are presented with the optimal case for recovery.

A Personal Injury Lawyer May Use Alternative Dispute Resolution

All personal injury cases in Canada may not be settled out of court. If insurance providers are unwilling to offer a reasonable settlement, a personal injury law firm should be prepared to take the case to a Canadian court of law.

Personal injury lawyers in Canada are well equipped at offering strong legal representation through:

• Developing a trial plan based on Canadian law principles and your case’s specific facts.
• Preparation for trial, including drafting pleadings, making motions, and testifying witnesses.
• Pleading and presenting evidence to a judge and jury in a clear and persuasive manner, including medical records, expert opinions, and proof of personal injury damages.
• Representing for the greatest recovery, which may include as much as medical bills, emotional trauma, psychological harm, and ongoing care for severe injuries.
• Drawing on their knowledge of the Canadian legal system and relevant provincial codes, personal injury lawyers in most situations ensure accident victims the optimal case for recovery.

Contact Our Law Firm for a Free Consultation to Evaluate Your Case

Most personal injury lawyers recognize that their clients are best served when they resolve differences quickly and inexpensively through alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

ADR can reduce the cost, as well as the emotional cost, of protracted litigation. An effective personal injury lawyer will carefully consider if ADR is best for the client.

There are two broad categories of ADR in Canada: mediation and arbitration:

Mediation: A neutral third person, a professional mediator, facilitates negotiation settlement meetings between the hurt client (and lawyer) and the insurance company.

• A lawyer ensures that medical records, witness statements, and supporting evidence are presented effectively. They also protect the client from bullying settlements, instead negotiating on behalf of a settlement incorporating medical expenses, lost income, and future treatment.

Arbitration: More formal than mediation but less adversarial than trial. An arbitrator, a personal judge in effect, hears evidence and argument and then delivers a binding or non-binding judgment.

• Canadian personal injury attorneys typically recommend arbitration if a quicker resolution is desired as long as it still allows maximum compensation.

ADR offers injured victims a quick way of obtaining fair compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and future needs without the delay in trials. However, experienced personal injury lawyers in Canada will only recommend ADR if it will not detract from the client’s avenue to justice.

We Are Here to Protect Your Rights

If you’ve been injured in Ontario or anywhere else in Canada as a result of another person’s negligence, don’t wait. Waiting can jeopardize your rights under the law, limit access to important proof, and weaken your case.

We offer a free consultation to all potential clients. During this initial consultation, a member of our experienced group of injury attorneys will:

• Look at the circumstances of your accident and the extent of your injuries sustained.
• Go through your history of medical treatment and any available evidence such as police reports, photos, or witness statements.
• Explain how contingency fee basis arrangements work in Canada, so you can be certain that you will not be charged legal fees should we fail to recover compensation on your behalf.
• Advise you as to whether settlement, ADR or trial would be the best course of action under Canadian personal injury law.

By retaining our law firm, you are provided access to a team of qualified Canadian personal injury lawyers who strive to obtain just compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, rehabilitation, and future care for injured clients. Our focus is on sound legal defence and effective trial preparation, so that you can be healed while we advocate for your rights.