Personal Injury
Have You Been Seriously Injured in an Accident?
Phoenix is the capital of Arizona and home to over one and a half million souls. People come here to work, raise families, do business, go to school, vacation, and retire. But as with any location where large numbers of people get together, accidents can happen and injuries can occur.
Named Best Personal Injury Lawyers in Phoenix 2019
The Husband & Wife Law Team was selected out of 347 other attorneys by Expertise. Based on their credibility, reputation, experience, professionalism, and availability, the Breyers were named to the top 19 best personal injury lawyers in Phoenix.
If you’ve been injured in an accident in the Phoenix area, you’re likely to be facing some financial hardships due to mounting medical bills, missed work, and possibly the loss of your career. Don’t despair, help may be on the way. If the accident that caused your injury was due to the negligence, carelessness, or intentional act of another party, you may be able to recover some or all of your losses from that party. To find if you have a viable personal injury claim, you’ll need to consult an experienced attorney familiar with Arizona laws, damage caps, and statutes of limitations. The seasoned legal team at the Phoenix based The Husband & Wife Law Team, can answer any questions you may have and help you get the settlement you deserve. Call our personal injury lawyers at today for a free consultation.
Common Types of Injuries
Some common personal injury cases include the following:
Car Accidents: Whether you are a driver hurt in a crash caused by another vehicle, a pedestrian struck by a vehicle, a passenger in a vehicle crashed by a reckless driver, or a vehicle occupant in a car that crashes because of a defective part or design, you have the right to pursue a claim.
Workplace Injuries: If you're hurt on the job, you have the right to pursue compensation. However, you can receive workers' compensation from your employer's insurance. In addition to a workers compensation claim, you may also have a claim for negligence against a third party.
Nursing Home Abuse: When you suspect abuse or mistreatment of an elderly family member, you can hold the facility liable for its lack of care. This can include physical, emotional, sexual, or financial abuse, as well as neglect, all of which can cause major trauma to your relative.
Dog Bites and Other Animal Attacks: Arizona holds all dog owners accountable for bites and other property damage their dog may cause. Dog bite victims, often children, are left facing costly bills from necessary medical procedures and therapy to deal with the emotional trauma.
Premises Liability Accidents:All property owners have the legal duty to ensure that their property is relatively safe for visitors. This could be a slip and fall or trip and fall injury, being cut by a protruding nail, or being attacked due to lack of adequate security.
Truck Accidents: Tractor trailers, or semi trucks, are a large and dangerous presence on our roadways. If you’re injured in an accident with a tractor trailer, you may be entitled to compensation from the truck driver, their employer, and possibly the maker of the truck.
What's important to note is that personal injury cases do not depend on whether something was legal or illegal, and no at-fault parties have to be convicted of a crime in order to be responsible for paying the victim. Often, people who cause personal injury accidents have violated the law in some manner, such as breaking the speed limit in a car crash, but many of these cases center around negligence instead of malicious actions.
As long as you can prove that the person or organization that you have accused has actually caused the accident and your injuries, then you may be able to win your case and get the compensation you are seeking.
What You Need to Know About About the Legal Process
As you go about your daily life, you never think about the possibility of needing to file a personal injury lawsuit. After all, you don't do anything that could overtly cause you to be involved in a collision or other injury-causing accident. Or do you? The reality is that every man, woman, and child has a risk of being involved in an accident that could potentially cause them harm. This is because you drive or ride in cars, go to the supermarket, play at playgrounds, are involved in sports, go to swimming pools, go to work, have a dog or live near dogs or other animals, walk around the neighborhood, ride a motorcycle, or even ride a bicycle.
When you think of it this way, you may realize that your potential for being involved in an injury-causing accident in Phoenix is much higher than you may have previously believed. People who live in Arizona are at a risk of being injured every day, and injury accidents do happen in large numbers every day of the year, even if you don't realize it. Statistics from the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) indicate that more than 49,680 individuals are injured every year in car crashes alone. That's an average of more than 136 injuries per day. The same statistical reports show that many of these injuries occur in the same car crashes, with those 136 people injured per day experiencing their injuries in just over 90 car crashes per day. And then there are the many other types of incidents that can occur that could leave you injured: a slip and fall in the grocery store, a dog bite at the park, getting hurt at the swimming pool, and more.
Other types of incidents you may not think about include hunting and other gun shot accidents, boating accidents, poison, medical malpractice, burns, and other types of incidents that may be due to the negligent actions of another person. If you were injured due to another person's actions, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit and receive compensation for your injuries, pain, and suffering, along with other losses you sustained as a result of your accident or injuries. But it is critical to know that filing a personal injury lawsuit isn't as simple as filling out some paperwork. You need to understand your rights, your responsibilities, and who to call to make sure that everything is properly taken care of and your rights are upheld.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What Happens When You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
When you file a personal injury lawsuit, you are opening a legal case against another person, business, or entity. Your lawsuit is a civil claim in a legal setting that requires mediation, and in some cases, a judge to help the case come to a resolution. If your case goes to mediation, it will go through the process of negotiation. If your case goes to court and is seen by a judge, it will go through the process of litigation. Litigation typically takes longer than mediation. Personal injury lawsuits are lawsuits that are filed by individuals who have been injured, or believe that their injuries were caused, by the actions or inaction of another person, business, or entity. Some people believe that personal injury lawsuits only cover physical harm, however, mental harm may also be a factor that triggers a personal injury lawsuit, depending on the circumstances of the case. Your attorney for your personal injury lawsuit will typically seek recompense for wages you have lost as a result of your pain and suffering, the costs of your medical care, and in the majority of cases, additional compensatory damages for your time and emotional suffering through the process of the trial and the process of healing.
If your case goes to mediation, you likely will receive a structured settlement that makes payments to you at periodic junctures, however, this can cause problems for some victims if the structured settlement doesn't provide enough compensation at each payment. A lump sum payment is typically the best route for many victims as they will receive the entire sum of money at one time and not have to worry about receiving payments that will not cover their expenses. Speaking with an attorney is critical if you think you have a case as a skilled personal injury attorney can help you determine whether you have a case that can be won, and the best ways to move forward with your case and with your recovery.
How Do You Know if You Should File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
If you've been injured in an accident of any type, there may be cause for you to file a lawsuit. The best thing you can do when you've been hurt do to the negligent actions of another person is to call an attorney as quickly as possible. An experienced personal injury attorney can help you determine whether you have a case and what you should do moving forward to ensure that your rights are upheld.
Some people believe that they can achieve a fair settlement through their insurance company, or directly with the negligent party, and that they do not need an attorney, however, having an attorney can ensure that you are treated fairly. What may seem fair to you, or what the attorneys for a negligent party may make you believe is fair, is not always accurate and you may receive less compensation than you need or deserve if you do not have an attorney on your side. However, if you are simply considering whether or not you may need to file a personal injury lawsuit, here are some of the most important things to consider that could help you make up your mind about whether or not to call an attorney.
You were involved in an accident and the person who caused your injuries does not have adequate insurance on their car, home, or otherwise.
You are having difficulty in getting the insurance company to pay for your medical expenses, and you are beginning to receive bills that you cannot pay.
The person who caused your accident and your injuries has no insurance, which means you will be unable to collect compensation from them.
You are being bullied into accepting a settlement.
You do not know what your rights or responsibilities are after your accident, and do not know how to handle your situation.
Your injuries require ongoing medical attention well into the future.
You sustained incapacitating injuries in your accident and are unable to interface with the individuals who will make decisions for your future.
Your injuries have put you out of work for more than six months at a time.
What Makes a Good Personal Injury Lawsuit?
If you've been involved in a serious accident and you need to file a personal injury lawsuit, there are some things that you need to have and know in order to ensure that your case is viable. First, you must be upfront and honest with your attorney about everything. Being dishonest with your attorney can put you in a precarious position because if omit or purposely withhold information it could come back to the case later on and make it impossible for you to receive compensation. In addition, it is critical to remember to do multiple things to show that you have done all you can to take care of yourself, the accident, and the future before pursuing a case.
First, you should make certain that, if able, you write down everything you can remember about the accident, the time leading up to the accident, and the immediate aftermath of the accident. Even during medical treatment, you can and should write down what was said and what was going on with you and your life, so you can show how the accident and your injuries has impacted your life.
Second, it is critical to always go to the doctor. Just because you feel fine immediately following an accident does not mean that you did not sustain injuries. Your injuries may not be prevalent for days in some cases, and only a medical doctor can determine if you've sustained injuries below the surface. For example, some head injuries and internal injuries may not be noticeable until it is too late. If you're able to, photographs of the scene of the accident and of your injuries are helpful in proving your need for medical care and the impact of the accident.
It is important to ensure that you call an attorney right away and that you file your case, gather witness statements, and pull together all of the information needed to present your case as soon as possible so that details are not forgotten, documentation is not lost, and witnesses do not become unavailable to you.
What Happens During a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Before you file a personal injury lawsuit, it is important to understand that the statute of limitations is typically two years or less on all types of injury accidents, and the timeframe is not always the same, even for similar accidents. That means that if your best friend was injured in a car crash and her statute of limitations was two years, yours may not be the same amount of time. Failure to understand this nuance may keep you from filing a case.
Once you have filed your personal injury lawsuit, your attorney and the attorney for the other party will begin the process of discovery, where they collect and share information. In most cases, lawsuits are settled once both sides have reviewed all of the information presented by the other side.
At the conclusion of your personal injury lawsuit, if you win, you will receive a settlement, or damages. Damages are monetary compensation that cover the costs of your medical expenses, losses, bills, inability to work, and other expenses that resulted from the accident. It is critical to understand that the final judgment and award from your personal injury lawsuit is binding. This means that whatever you are awarded is the final amount you are ever able to get from the person who caused your accident and injuries.
The negligent party is responsible for paying your judgment if you win your lawsuit. Unless that individual broke the law, and the District Attorney determines that they should be charged for their crimes, this will be their only punishment.
What is Personal Injury Compensation?
The goal of a personal injury case is not simply to prove that someone caused your injury, it is to recover your losses in the form of personal injury compensation. You may be eligible to receive compensation for any of the following damages:
Current and future medical bills related to your injury
Pain and suffering
Permanent injury or disability
Mental anguish and emotional trauma
Special equipment needed to accommodate your injury
Lost wages
Loss of earning capacity
Diminished earning capacity
And more
Get Legal Help From a Personal Injury Attorney
Getting fair treatment during the course of your personal injury lawsuit and getting a fair settlement can determine your state of mind throughout your recovery. Working with an experienced personal injury lawyer at The Husband & Wife Law Team can help to ensure that you are not only treated fairly, but also receive enough compensation to cover present and future costs associated with your accident and subsequent injuries.