How Do I Decide If I Need To Hire An Attorney?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:00 GMT

There are situations where an attorney is unnecessary, such as very small cases. Small claims court in Delaware will handle claims up to $15,000. If your injury is a minor one that will not result in any incapacity, or substantial medical care, then you may want to settle it yourself in small claims court.

An attorney should be consulted if you have been seriously injured or are unsure as to the outcome of your injury. These cases can get quite complicated. In such cases, an attorney will have the legal expertise, time and resources to effectively handle your claim. An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to accurately analyze the value of your case and will be able to meet all of the rules, requirements and deadlines that have to be met. Also of note is the fact that statistics show insurance companies pay more than twice as much compensation when an attorney is involved in your claim.

How Can I Determine How Much My Claim Is Worth?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:00 GMT

For purposes of settlement, a claim is valued upon an estimate of what a jury would likely believe the case to be worth, taking into account the severity of the injury, the effects of the injury on your life and the negligence of the other party. If you were partially at fault for the accident, the amount of damages will be reduced proportionately. Benefits received from collateral sources will be used to reduce your recoverable economic damages. Any settlement will be reduced if there appears to be a good chance that the claim will not be successful. Other factors that may reduce the damages include past medical history, preexisting injuries, and prior claims history.

Considerable compensation may be commanded if your injuries are severe requiring extensive medical treatment, absences from work and permanent injuries. This is especially true if you were a healthy, productive, young worker prior to the accident. That is because an important factor in the value of your claim is the difference between your quality of life before the accident as compared to after the accident.

How Long Do I Have To Hire An Attorney?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:00 GMT

The law requires that you file a lawsuit within a specified period of time depending on the nature of the claim and the entity that caused your injury. This is referred to as the statute of limitations. Failure to file suit within this time frame prevents you from filing suit at all. In Delaware, an action for recovery of damages upon a claim for personal injuries must be brought within two years from the date upon which it is claimed such injuries were sustained. If a claimant is under disability of infancy or mental incompetence, the limitation period is tolled until three years after removal of the disability. In claims for medical malpractice, if the injury could not reasonably be discovered, the claimant is given an additional year in which to bring an action and minors six years of age or younger have two years or until their sixth birthday.

How Much Will An Attorney Cost?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:00 GMT

Most attorneys who believe a case has merit will take the case without payment up front. They will take the case on a contingency basis, which means they will receive a percentage of your award if and when you recover for your injuries. Contingency fees average between 25 and 40 percent. Most attorneys charge a smaller percentage if the case is settled before the attorney does all the work necessary to go to trial. If you and your attorney agree to a contingency fee, the attorney must put the agreement in writing and provide you with a signed copy. The attorney's out of pocket costs are in many cases not included in the attorney's fees. You should be sure to pay attention to how an attorney will bill you for costs because they can amount to quite a significant sum.

Delaware limits the amount attorneys may collect as a contingency fee in connection with medical malpractice claims. Fees are limited to 35% of the first $100,000 of damages; 25% of the next $100,000 of damages; and 10% of the balance of any awarded damages. A claimant may elect to pay attorney's fees on a per diem basis as long as a written agreement to that affect is provided at the time of employment.

How Will My Claim Be Processed?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:00 GMT

You should be sure not to sign any documents without prior review by an attorney. You need to attend all scheduled doctor appointments in order to document your injuries. Accurate records should be kept of time you missed from work, medical bills, and property damage repairs. You can document your damages with photographs of your injuries or photos of property damage.

After a lawsuit has been filed, both parties will conduct discovery. Pretrial discovery usually takes about a full year during which time both parties investigate all aspects of the claim. This may include taking oral depositions, obtaining pertinent records, propounding interrogatories, and hiring expert witnesses to obtain more evidence about the claim. During this period of discovery and as the trial date approaches, the parties will exchange settlement offers/demands. A large majority of personal injury claims settle before trial. If you agree to accept a settlement, you will be required to sign an agreement stating

I Was Injured. Can I File A Lawsuit Against The Party That Caused My Injury?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:00 GMT

You can make a claim against another party or parties if they are more at fault for your injuries than you are. In general, when a person is injured as a result of another person's negligence, the injured party may pursue a claim against the party or parties that caused the injuries. Any personal injury case depends on liability, damages, and whether or not you can collect from the negligent party or parties. Delaware follows the doctrine of modified comparative negligence. Under this doctrine, a claimant's action is not barred unless his negligence exceeds the combined negligence of all defendants, but the claimant's recovery is diminished in proportion to his degree of negligence.

Personal injury law attempts to cover all areas and types of injuries suffered by individuals. Some of the most common areas are automobile accidents, premise liability, medical malpractice, and product liability, among others. Whether or not you are entitled to compensation may depend on the type of accident that caused the injury.

AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS

Delaware operates on a form of the "nofault" system that, in general, requires that the owner or operator of a motor vehicle carry nofault (and liability) insurance coverage. Nofault insurance coverage compensates the insured for some expenses without regard to who was at fault for the accident. Reimbursement is provided for reasonable medical expenses and loss of income arising from the accident within two years of the date of the accident to the extent of the benefits available.

In addition to the nofault benefits, you may present a personal injury claim to a negligent driver's insurance company for other compensation. Personal injury claims are generally separate from, and are in addition to, nofault benefits. A personal injury claim can be made for many types of losses, which you can show, arose from a collision, which was not your fault. However, personal injury claims generally cannot include benefits that are required to be provided under nofault insurance. Your claim can compensate you for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering; loss of enjoyment of life; disfigurement; permanent injury; impairment of earning capacity; inconvenience, etc. You can also make a claim for any expenses that would normally be covered under nofault (medical/rehab, lost wages, essential services) but which exceed the nofault dollar or time limitations.

Liability claims are usually the subject of negotiation between your lawyer and the liability insurer for the negligent party. Lawsuits are generally filed when negotiations fail. If you file a lawsuit against a negligent driver, your attorney will need to prove that the other party was negligent and that the other party's negligence caused injuries that resulted in compensable damages.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is coverage that has been purchased to cover you (and people claiming through your policy) if you are injured through the fault of an uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist. The benefits for uninsured motorist are the same as under the liability bodily injury coverage, except the claim is made against your own insurance company. If you are not at fault in the accident, the insurance company cannot penalize you in any fashion for making a claim against your uninsured motorist coverage.

PREMISE LIABILITY

If you were injured at someone else's home or at a commercial establishment, the person responsible for the premises may be found liable. This can cover a variety of situations including slip and falls, dog bites, assaults, among others. The owner or operator of the property must have notice of the defect or circumstances that caused your injury prior to the injury having occurred. The notice can either be actual notice or implied notice, meaning the owner knew or should have known of the dangerous condition given all of the surrounding facts and circumstances. The person liable for your damages is the party in control of the property. That party is responsible for the care, maintenance and inspection of the property. For example, an owner may not be the responsible party if he or she has leased the property to another party who actually has control over the premises. The standard of care owed to a trespasser is usually less than that owed to a person who has permission to be on the property.

PRODUCT LIABILITY

Injury can result from defective products, as well. When a company designs and manufactures a product, they have a responsibility to ensure that anyone exercising reasonable care within the expected parameters of usage expected for the product will not be injured. In a product injury case, you do not have to prove the manufacturer or vendor was negligent. You only have to prove that the product was defective due to faulty design, error in manufacturing, or that the manufacturer did not provide sufficient warning of potential risks or failed to provide adequate instructions. This concept is called strict product liability. A lawsuit can be brought against anyone participating in the chain of manufacture for that product, from the manufacturer, to the designer to the retail store. There are limits to product liability law such as when the product is too old or if the consumer was careless in using the product.

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

When a health care provider causes injury due to his or her failure to meet the accepted standards of care for that particular field of expertise, you may have a claim for medical malpractice. A claim can be brought against physicians, dentists, nurses, therapists, hospitals, clinics, and pharmacists among others. Some examples of medical malpractice include incorrect diagnosis, failure to treat, improper treatment, delay in treatment, prescription errors, surgical errors, rendition of services without informed consent, etc. Medical malpractice claims are some of the most difficult to prevail in and are quite costly due to the need for qualified expert review and testimony.

What Damages Can I Recover?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:00 GMT

You can recover your actual economic losses such as the costs of reasonable and necessary medical care, property damage, car rental expenses, costs of domestic services, and loss of earnings. The law allows compensation for future medical and care expenses that the claimant can prove will be reasonably necessary to treat the injury. The claim may include income the claimant can prove will probably be lost in the future because of the injuries. Loss of earning capacity is also allowed when the patient proves he or she is less able to earn a living as a result of the injuries

You are also entitled to noneconomic damages for physical pain and suffering, mental and emotional suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, etc. There is no definite standard of calculating reasonable compensation for these types of damages other than being just and reasonable in light of the evidence.

In certain instances, damages may be awarded to families of injured claimants for loss of care, companionship, love and affection. Family members can be compensated for the wrongful death of a loved one. These damages may include medical and burial expenses, loss of income that would have supported the family members, emotional suffering, and loss of the pleasures of the family relationship.

Punitive damages are intended to punish a defendant for reckless or malicious behavior and are only awarded in rare cases.

Who Is Responsible When A Person Is Injured?

Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:00 GMT

The law of personal injury is concerned with determining who may be responsible for your injuries and how much they should be required to pay for your damages. Personal injury is part of the law of torts, the legal term that includes all types of injuries to people and their property. There are a number of principles that apply to the law of torts and personal injury. These principles recognize degrees of fault on the part of the person who causes the injury. In general, the degrees of fault can be described as negligence, intentional fault, and strict liability.

The term negligence is essential to tort law. Everyone is expected to take normal ordinary care to ensure that their action or the actions of others under their control, do not cause anyone harm. If they fall below that standard, and someone is injured or their property damaged, then they become negligent. Negligence does not mean that the person deliberately intended to cause harm; it only means that they did not take reasonable care or they did not act when any reasonable person would have. The degree of care varies with the circumstances of each case. A plaintiff likewise has a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances on his own behalf.

Strict liability means that one does not have to prove negligence to recover damages. In the case of product liability, the law now holds that you do not have to prove the manufacturer was negligent if someone is injured while using a product. They only have to prove the product was defective when it left the hands of the particular seller and that was the proximate cause of the injuries. A lawsuit can be brought against anyone participating in the chain of manufacture for that product, from the manufacturer, to the designer to the retail store.

An "intentional tort" refers to a personal injury caused by a person who has the intent to cause harm. It may also refer to injury caused by willful or reckless conduct. Intentional torts include assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, libel and slander, etc.

There may be more than one cause of an injury. When the negligent conduct of two or more parties contributes concurrently as causes of an injury, each party shall be liable to the claimant for the entire judgment, regardless of his degree of negligence.

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