Many people have been through the intricate process of suing a person or a company for causing harm. The Clark Law Office has been standing close to clients who have suffered such injuries and need to recover from the damage caused. Personal injury lawyers have received the proper training to deal with such cases. However, their role during the litigation process is obscure among most people. That’s why it would be useful to briefly analyze what a personal injury lawyer does before and during a trial. If you are in the Pacific Northwest, an Oregon personal injury attorney can guide you through the process.
Claims Investigation
It’s important to understand that all injury lawyers get paid after their client has won the case and received recovery payments. For that reason, they are filtering all the clients and checking the cases for their legitimacy and viability. Every case that doesn’t seem probable to win could be excluded. Investigating the claims is crucial for any law firm’s reputation and survival.
Evidence Gathering
Personal injury lawyers use their connections and legal teams to gather the necessary evidence for their clients. Most lawyers have access to police reports and take witnesses’ statements to prove the negligence of the party being sued. Not only hard evidence from the injury scene matters. Lawyers are also interested in gathering medical reports, documents of employment, and property damage reports that are considered evidence to the court.
Negotiations With Insurance Companies
Most people are not trained to conduct official negotiations for damage claims recovery. However, a personal injury lawyer is experienced in such negotiations, especially when insurance companies participate with their legal teams. Lawyers analyze the conditions of the injury and the damage it has caused to their clients. Then they review the insurance policy terms and conditions to take an idea of the maximum limits for recovery. It’s necessary to have a personal injury lawyer conducting the negotiations to avoid having your claims underestimated.
Demand Letters Submission
Even when there are no negotiations between the two parties, your personal injury lawyer has the right to act independently on your behalf. In other words, injury lawyers estimate your damage in monetary terms and send demand letters to the liable parties and their insurance companies. These letters state the accident conditions and link them to your damages, asking for a certain amount of money as a fair recovery.
Pleadings Preparations
Many times insurance companies prefer to proceed in a lawsuit than pay their dues to the injured person. That creates an obligation for them and their clients to send a written response within thirty days to accept or deny the injury claims. Personal injury lawyers perform such pleadings preparations as an action of last resort before proceeding to a trial.
Clients’ Representation at Trials
Going on a trial is not as easy as it sounds. There’s a ton of paperwork to file and send to the local court authorities. Personal injury lawyers may also build their clients’ cases in court. Their legal team tries to bind their clients’ injuries to the negligence of the other party. Representing a client during a trial requires many questions to the witnesses and many others to the liable party. It’s the time when you most need lawyers’ services.
Witnesses Summoning and Interrogation
During the personal injury trial, you may need to summon certain witnesses. Your lawyer is liable for summoning them to the court and asking them the right questions. It’s also necessary to prepare the questions asked to the witnesses summoned by the other party. Lawyers should prepare adequately for the questions arising in the proceedings; otherwise, the judge could overrule them.
The personal injury lawyer’s role is essential during the lawsuit and negotiations with the liable party. People who have suffered a serious injury should never think about anything else besides getting the right lawyer to defend them for their case. Chances to succeed are enormous for those who tell the truth to their lawyers and have legitimate intentions to ask for recovery.
A personal injury lawyer tries to find the negligent actions from the defendant’s side and link them to the accident that happened. It’s not an easy task since liable parties always try to hide the real events and minimize their share of responsibility. However, it is in the best interest to fully understand the role of your personal injury lawyer. That would make you trust him and let him outperform in negotiations or lawsuit proceedings to bring justice and turn your life back to normalcy.