4701 Oleander Drive, Suite A
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
4701 Oleander Drive, Suite A
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
Car accidents are one of the most common causes of accidental injuries and deaths in South Carolina each year. If you experience an accident, it is natural to have many pressing legal questions about how you can recover your losses and how you can prove responsibility for the crash. An experienced Columbia car accident lawyer is an invaluable asset in this situation, and with their assistance, you can approach your recovery efforts with peace of mind.
The team at Axelrod & Associates, P.A., offers comprehensive legal representation to car accident victims in Columbia and surrounding communities each year. Recovery from your recent accident may be a more complex process than you are prepared to face alone, especially if you have suffered serious injuries or are caring for a severely injured family member. Our goal is to help you recover fully.
Our firm has years of proven experience successfully handling all types of personal injury cases in Columbia, including those arising from motor vehicle accidents. We understand that you may have pressing legal questions that you cannot answer on your own and may face tremendous economic strain due to your inability to work and pay your bills while you recover from your injuries. We can help you make sense of your recovery efforts and assist you in recovering compensation.
Your first legal challenge in the aftermath of a car accident in Columbia is proving fault for the accident. State law requires a driver to prove fault before they can claim compensation for their damages through auto insurance and/or a personal injury claim. The state requires every driver to have personal auto insurance coverage that meets basic coverage requirements for bodily injury liability and property damage liability.
Dealing with insurance companies is often challenging, and it is possible for insurance to be insufficient to fully cover the damages from a serious accident. It is also possible for insurance to be unavailable if an at-fault driver does not have appropriate coverage. In these situations, civil claims for damages may be necessary for injured drivers to recover their losses. Whatever your situation requires, having the right attorney on your side will be a tremendous asset.
Proving fault for your recent accident can be challenging without an attorney’s help. Most of the car accidents reported in the Columbia area are the result of driver negligence, or failure to use reasonable care behind the wheel. Commonly cited examples of driver negligence in Columbia include distracted driving, speeding, and moving violations such as illegal turns, running red lights, or failure to yield the right-of-way.
If your recent accident resulted from driver negligence, you must prove that the at-fault driver held a duty of care that they breached in some manner and, in doing so, directly caused your claimed damages. Alternatively, you might need to prove that the other driver broke the law in causing your accident. The most common example of this seen in South Carolina is intoxicated driving, and drivers who cause accidents this way face criminal charges.
Your Columbia car accident lawyer can help you gather the foundational elements of your case, assisting you in securing all the evidence you will need to firmly establish liability for your damages. Once you have proven fault for the accident, you can proceed with seeking compensation for your damages. You will need to accurately calculate the full scope of the damages you suffered and prove the at-fault driver directly caused them.
If the driver who caused your accident has appropriate insurance coverage, filing a claim against their policy is likely to be your primary method of recovering compensation for your losses. Unfortunately, dealing with insurance companies can be difficult because they will almost always push back against claims, attempting to coerce claimants into accepting the lowest possible settlements. Some will even unfairly deny claims outright.
When an insurance company sees that you have legal representation, it will be less inclined to attempt any bad-faith tactics and will be more likely to process your claim efficiently and in good faith. Your attorney can advise you as to your correspondence with the insurance company and ensure you receive a fair settlement offer. If you cannot fully recover your losses through auto insurance, you may need to file a personal injury suit to ensure the fullest possible recovery.
The objective of a personal injury claim is to prove liability for your damages and secure compensation for those damages from the party responsible for causing your injury. The state’s personal injury statutes enable an injured plaintiff to seek compensation for their economic losses, which typically include property damage and medical bills not covered by insurance along with the wages the victim is unable to earn due to their injury.
Additionally, the plaintiff also has the right to seek compensation for the projected future medical expenses and lost earning potential resulting from their actions. Your Columbia car accident lawyer can help you accurately calculate these losses if this applies to your case. Your attorney can also help you determine fair pain and suffering compensation to seek from the defendant that reflects the severity of your injuries and your anticipated recovery time.
Other forms of compensation could come into play based on the nature of the accident and how the defendant caused it. For example, if they broke the law by driving under the influence and injured you, they face criminal charges in addition to their civil liability for your damages. You could be awarded punitive damages and/or restitution alongside your other claimed losses to reflect the illegal nature of their behavior.
One issue to bear in mind in any car accident case is the fact that if you are found partially liable for causing the accident, it will diminish your recovery by a corresponding amount. South Carolina follows a modified comparative negligence statute, meaning that if multiple parties share fault for damages cited in a civil suit, each liable party will have a fault percentage assigned that reflects their shared liability.
As long as the plaintiff is found less at fault than the defendant, they can still recover compensation, but they will lose a percentage of their case award equal to their fault percentage. If the plaintiff is found to bear more fault than the defendant, however, they cannot seek compensation from any other liable party and will be personally responsible for their own damages. Your attorney can advise you as to whether comparative fault could affect your case.
If you must pursue a personal injury claim in response to your car accident in Columbia, your attorney can help you build a compelling complaint that encourages the defendant to agree to settlement negotiations. The majority of personal injury suits filed in the state are resolved in private settlements, and this saves all parties involved time and stress they would otherwise expend in protracted litigation.
During settlement negotiations, the parties involved in the suit meet privately to discuss mutually acceptable terms for resolving the case. As long as both parties are willing to compromise, it is possible to resolve the personal injury suit in a fraction of the time that litigation typically requires. However, settlement is not always an option, and if you must take your case to court, it is vital to have legal representation you trust on your side.
Axelrod & Associates, P.A., have a strong professional record of successful car accident cases, and we are confident in our team’s ability to provide the legal representation you need for your impending case. In all cases we accept, we take time to learn as much as we can about our client and the effects their accident has had on their life. Our goal for every client is maximum recovery in the shortest possible timeframe.
You can rely on our firm to build the foundation of your case while you rest and recover from your injuries. We can keep you informed of your case’s progress and guide you through each phase of recovery, from proving fault for the accident to filing your insurance claim and resolving any disputes the insurance company raises against you. If you are compelled to file a personal injury suit, you can rely on us to assist you with this as well.
You must act quickly to ensure your recovery from a car accident in Columbia. Evidence will be most reliable and valuable when you gather it as quickly as possible from the scene of the accident, and witness testimony is most credible when it is recorded immediately after an accident. Our team will help you prepare for each phase of your recovery until you secure the compensation you need to recover fully from your accident.
No, it is not a no-fault state for car accidents. Proving fault will be an essential first step in any car accident case. The victim of an accident will need to identify the driver who hit them and prove how they caused the accident before they can recover any compensation for their damages. Proving who was at fault is essential for an auto insurance claim and/or personal injury suit after a car accident in the state.
You can prove fault for a car accident in Columbia by gathering various forms of physical and digital evidence to show exactly how the accident happened. Traffic camera footage, drivers’ cell phone records, vehicle computer data, and witness testimony are often crucial pieces of evidence for proving fault for car accidents throughout the state. Your Columbia car accident lawyer can help you gather any evidence you cannot secure on your own.
The total value of your car accident claim will depend on the scope and severity of the damages you suffered. You have the right to seek full repayment of your economic losses, such as your vehicle repair costs, medical expenses, and the income you are unable to earn after the accident. You will also be able to claim compensation for the pain and suffering you experienced; the amount you obtain will largely depend on the severity of your injuries.
You should hire a Columbia car accident lawyer because your case is likely to be more complex than it initially seems, and you could encounter various legal challenges that you will not know how to resolve on your own. Your Columbia car accident lawyer can help you prove fault for the accident, file an auto insurance claim, and build a comprehensive personal injury suit if necessary to ensure your recovery.
The cost of hiring a Columbia car accident lawyer may not be as much as you may think. When you choose Axelrod & Associates, P.A., to represent you, we will only collect a fee if and when we win your case, and our fee will be a percentage of the total compensation we recover for you. We charge no upfront fees, and you will not pay anything if our team is unable to obtain compensation for you.
The team at Axelrod & Associates, P.A., has successfully represented many car accident victims in Columbia and surrounding communities, and we can put this experience to work in your impending case. If you are ready to learn what an experienced Columbia car accident lawyer can offer in your recovery efforts, contact us today and schedule a free consultation with our team to learn more about our legal services.
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