Camden Personal Injury Lawyer

Camden Personal Injury Attorney

When you’re injured by someone else because of their recklessness, carelessness, or another mistake on their part, they are legally required to compensate you for the costs that you’ve incurred. They, or their insurance provider, must cover losses such as medical bills, property damage, lost wages, and even the psychological costs of the injuries. However, convincing them to pay what they owe may be more difficult than you hope. That’s where a Camden personal injury lawyer may help.

There may be a dispute regarding who’s at fault for an accident or how much is fair and reasonable compensation. These kinds of conflicts could stall negotiations or even halt them altogether. That’s when using the civil court system and hiring a personal injury lawyer from Axelrod & Associates, P.A., may become necessary to see that you get the compensation you deserve.

What to Do If You’ve Been Injured

If you’re injured in Camden, SC, there are a few different things that you could do to help your claim.

Get Medical Attention

Before doing anything else, be sure that you get any injuries checked. If paramedics have been called to the scene of an accident, then you should let them look to see if you have any injuries. Even if you think that you’re fine, it could be the shock preventing you from recognizing the injury. Let the paramedics examine you, and go for a full medical workup later to see if there is anything they missed.

Document the Accident Scene

Many personal injuries are the result of an incident or accident. If your injuries allow, it can often be helpful to get several pictures and other forms of documentation of the scene of the incident. Continue good documentation practices throughout the process, as it will be important to demonstrate the costs that you’ve suffered as a result of the injury. It’s usually better to keep more than you think you need, as your lawyer can always sort it out later.

Watch What You Say

Be careful when talking with others about the accident. Those on the other side of your case, especially the other party’s insurance company, will be looking for anything to indicate that you were taking the blame for the accident. In particular, you will want to be careful if you’re speaking with any insurance agents, as they know how to twist your words to make their case.

Contact a Camden Personal Injury Law Firm

Finally, be sure to call a Camden personal injury lawyer quickly. They can help you seek proper compensation that covers the full extent of your losses. An attorney can also communicate with the insurance companies on your behalf. This can prevent you from accidentally saying something that could be used to argue against the compensation you deserve. Finally, a personal injury lawyer can represent you in court if necessary to advocate for maximum compensation.

What a Personal Injury Claim Pays Out

Personal injury claims pay out damages. Generally, these damages will come in two forms, and they can occasionally be paid in a third form. The costs that are covered must be shown to be a direct result of the injuries that were suffered because of the defendant. The categories of damages are:

• Economic Damages – Economic damages will cover the financial costs that are a result of the injuries. These include medical costs, lost wages, and any property damage. If the injuries are serious enough to have long-term consequences, future medical costs and lost earning capacity are compensated through these damages as well.
• Non-Economic Damages – These cover the psychological and emotional impacts of an injury, such as loss of enjoyment in life, mental anguish, and pain and suffering. The money may not have a direct effect on these issues, but it may reduce stress and burdens elsewhere in life.
• Punitive Damages – These damages aren’t awarded in every case, as they are meant to act not as compensation for the plaintiff’s losses but rather as condemnation of the defendant’s actions. For them to be awarded, the defendant’s behavior must be malicious or otherwise egregious, which is not often the case.

What a Camden Personal Injury Lawyer Does

A personal injury lawyer can be a crucial part of ensuring that you get the compensation that you deserve, whether the case goes to trial or not. They can be critical to both settlement negotiations and a court case. The foundation of their efforts usually comes from a thorough investigation of your injuries so that they understand who should be rightly held liable and at fault, with the evidence to support those claims.

Before any kind of claim process is filed, there is typically an attempt to negotiate because, if an agreement can be found, it’s usually favorable for both sides to avoid the court process and the potential months and even years it could take for the legal process to work out. Your lawyer can represent you in these negotiations, as this poses a credible threat of going to court if negotiations break down. This can encourage more serious negotiations by the other side.

There are, though, times when an agreeable settlement simply can’t be found. In these situations, your lawyer can make the case for negligence on the part of the liable parties and defend against accusations of your negligence. They can argue for the compensation that you’re seeking as well.

FAQs

Q: How Is Negligence Proven?

A: To demonstrate negligence is to show that the defendant was responsible, through a lack of taking appropriate precautions, for the injuries that the plaintiff suffered. This generally means proving three basic elements.

The first is a duty to care, which is that the defendant had a responsibility to take reasonable precautions to reduce the risk that their activity posed to others. Next, a breach of duty, which is a failure to meet that duty to care, must be shown. Finally, that breach must be directly connected to the injuries that were suffered by the plaintiff.

Q: Is a Settlement Better Than a Trial?

A: To know whether a settlement is better than taking a case to trial is highly dependent on the settlement available in your situation. It will also depend on your personal risk preference and whether you want to wait to receive compensation or not. Generally, a settlement is going to mean getting less than you may have received from taking a claim to trial. However, there are some benefits as well.

One of the major benefits of a settlement is the element of time. Taking the claim to trial could be a process that keeps you from receiving compensation for months or even years. Most settlements, however, are paid out within a month of an agreement being signed. Along with the benefit of time is the reduced risk that comes with a settlement as well. A trial could, even in the strongest of cases, end up going against you. A settlement avoids this possibility and risk.

Q: Will Comparative Negligence Take Away Your Damages?

A: Comparative negligence is a set of rules that could negatively impact your damages award. Under these rules, the defendant is given the opportunity to prove to the court that the plaintiff was responsible for their own injuries. If they can successfully argue the elements of negligence on the part of the plaintiff, then the court will assign percentages that reflect the share of fault for each party.

The plaintiffs’ damage award will be reduced proportionately to their share of fault unless their share is greater than 50%. In that case, they are barred from collecting any damages. For instance, if the plaintiff is found to be 25% at fault for a damage award of $80,000, then they will receive $60,000.

Q: How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim?

A: In most cases, a personal injury carries a statute of limitations of three years. This means that a claim must be filed within three years of the date of the injury. However, there are a variety of exceptions and extensions to this timeline. For instance, if you believe that the government is liable, the process is shortened, and, in many cases, a decision will need to be made within a year. However, if the injuries are discovered later, or if the injured party is a minor, then the opportunity to file may be extended.

Let a Camden Personal Injury Lawyer Help You Get Restitution

Personal injury claims can be a critical help for those who need it. When someone else causes an injury, you are likely going to be left with numerous bills and psychological impacts. You deserve compensation from whoever caused those injuries or their insurance provider, as the case may be. This could mean negotiating a fair settlement, or it could mean taking the claim to court.

Either way, if you want to give yourself a strong chance of getting a fair and just compensation package for your injuries, then working with a Camden personal injury law firm, like Axelrod & Associates, is essential. Contact us to discuss your personal injury claim.