Understanding Personal Injury Law

Do I Need A Personal Injury Lawyer?

28 June 2016

Celina Nichols

When you're dealing with a personal injury claim, it can sometimes (but not always) be helpful to call in a lawyer. Here are some things to look at. 

Severity of the Injury

For smaller injuries, such as soft tissue injuries, it may not be that helpful to get a lawyer. You're looking at a simple case that judges see every day. It may not even be necessary to get a trial, since your insurance payout should cover most of the costs. The situation gets more difficult if you receive negligent medical care, and then a personal injury lawyer may be a good idea. 

With a more severe injury that causes long term disability or death, a lawyer is almost always a good plan. If you're looking at a large sum of money, you don't want to have a large margin of error and leave money on the table. This is especially true if you don't feel effective at arguing for yourself, such as when there is a lot of legal or technical expertise needed. 

Government Liability 

If a government organization was partly at fault for your injury, not only should you hire a lawyer, but you should make sure that they have specific expertise in filing claims against the government. Claims can work differently when you're suing the government; there may be filing deadlines and additional stipulations for suing these entities. After all, since government officials are paid to address your claims with taxpayers' dollars, there's a high level of accountability, and your claim may not even be heard if it's deemed to be a waste of time. 

Low-ball or Mishandling Claims

Another time when a lawyer is definitely needed is when you think the insurer has mishandled your claim. This type of trial is called a "bad faith" claim. If you think that the insurance company grossly underestimated your payouts based on the evidence you provided, this can be an issue of contention for a personal injury lawyer to deal with. Another example of a mishandled claim is when the insurance company refused to pay for a medical bill that should clearly fall under their protection, and it cost you in terms of money or health. 

If you're not sure whether your claim needs the attention of a personal injury lawyer, it doesn't hurt to get a consultation. Since many personal injury attorneys are paid on a contingency fee, they're likely to be upfront with you about how strong the case is and whether a lawyer's help would be beneficial. 

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