Our personal injury attorneys work to get injury victims the compensation they deserve after an accident. Insurance companies may undercut damages and aim to settle low, but we look to maximize the damages you receive.
Injury cases often cover medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. These damages can be essential to you and your family during your recovery, and we want to see every cent compensated.
Contact our personal injury attorneys right away at the Law Office of John J. Sheehan by calling (617) 925-6407.
When Should I Contact a Lawyer?
As soon as you are injured, the clock starts ticking on your injury case and many pieces of evidence.
The statute of limitations to file your claim is typically 3 years. If your case is not filed by then, the court can dismiss it, no matter how strong your evidence is.
You also stand to lose a lot of evidence if you wait longer than a few days to start collecting it. You should call a lawyer well before 3 years so that we can collect video evidence before it is overwritten, get witness statements before they forget the accident, and secure other evidence before it is lost or destroyed.
What Evidence is Needed for an Injury Case?
If you are able to collect evidence on the day of the accident – such as the contact info for the defendant – make sure to do so. Then, turn the case over to our personal injury lawyers to help collect other evidence.
Evidence You Should Collect
If you have to go straight to the hospital after an accident, focus on your recovery first. However, if you can get this information, make sure to take note of…
- Where and when the accident happened
- Who was involved (store owners, drivers, etc.)
- What exactly happened
- The at-fault party’s insurance info (especially for car accidents)
- The names and departments of any responding police officers.
Also, save any communications, financial records, or reports you receive in the following days and months.
Evidence Our Lawyers Can Collect
Other evidence may be out there, but you might not know where to look. Your job is to focus on recovering; our job is to build your case.
We can collect many of these pieces of evidence as building blocks of a strong case:
- Medical records
- Statements from medical experts about your ongoing condition and ability to work
- Financial statements detailing lost wages
- Appraisals of property damage (e.g., your car, damaged cell phone)
- Expert statements detailing future lost earnings
- Expert opinions about defective products, medical malpractice, and other issues
- Camera footage (e.g., dashcams, security cameras).
We can also talk to witnesses and take depositions, putting on the record what these people saw and heard before too much time passes and they forget what happened.
What Damages Can I Claim?
Your case will involve two major areas of damages:
Economic Damages
Economic damages are paid to cover any expenses you faced because of the accident. This is where you record the cost of medical care, ambulance rides, childcare, household services, and other costs caused by the injury.
If the injury stopped you from working, you can also claim lost wages. If this lasts for a few days or the rest of your life, the full value should be included.
If you can work part-time despite your injury, the difference in pre- and post-injury wages is used in calculations.
Non-Economic Damages
Many harms have no costs associated with them. Non-economic damages cover pain, emotional distress, and other intangible effects.
If the injury made your life harder or less enjoyable, that is factored in here. Non-economic damages also cover lost ability to perform tasks or activities, e.g., snowboarding or hiking.
Who is at Fault for My Accident in Abington, MA?
Our lawyers determine who to sue – i.e., who was at fault – by looking at the totality of the case. In many cases, the type of accident will determine who we look to for fault:
- In car accidents, other drivers are responsible
- In slip and falls, property owners or operators are responsible (e.g., homeowners, stores)
- In other property accidents, we also look to property owners and operators
- In defective product cases, we look to manufacturers and sellers
- In medical malpractice cases, doctors and hospitals might share liability.
There are many other potential injury cases you could face as well.
No matter what happened, we can investigate, looking for anyone who breached a legal duty to cause your injuries. This is the basic foundation of any “negligence” claim – the most common personal injury lawsuit.
Should I Talk to the Insurance Company?
Once you are represented by a lawyer, you should not talk to anyone involved in the case without us. Insurance companies often want recorded statements and try to take anything you say to use it as an admission of fault or to twist your words against you. It is especially important not to talk to them without our advice and counsel.
Can I Cash a Check from Insurance?
If the defendant’s insurance company offers you a check, cashing it typically functions as a settlement. You should never accept money or sign any paperwork from the insurance company without having us review it.
Payments from your own insurance policy might not be settlements; however, you should still check with a lawyer. For example, in a car accident, your insurance might cover some medical expenses, but you can still sue the defendant and get payment from their insurance after that.
Even when it is your insurance company paying, they might be able to take a portion of your winnings back later to recoup what they paid. Additionally, if you and the defendant have the same insurance company, be careful about which policy the checks and insurance representatives are from.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers in Abington, MA Today
Dial (617) 925-6407 for your free case assessment from our personal injury attorneys from the Law Office of John J. Sheehan today.