Accidents rarely occur for no reason. They typically involve some form of human instigation. As an accident victim living with the consequences of someone else’s negligence, you are entitled to compensation from the at-fault party. At H Groves Law, we are an experienced and competent law firm that has been helping personal injury victims in Atlanta seek the compensation they deserve. An Atlanta personal injury lawyer could be the key to you getting the compensation you need.
It’s impossible to predict when you or your family member will be involved in an accident that results in personal injury. Unfortunately, if you or a family member has been involved in a catastrophic accident, the injuries can be severe, and recovery could take months or years. In some cases, a full recovery may not be possible.
At H Groves Law, our skilled legal assistance will enable you to receive a favorable settlement that matches your pain, suffering, and loss. Contact our reputable team of personal injury lawyers from Atlanta at (770) 329-1868 for legal aid in seeking personal injury compensation.
What Should I Do After an Injury?
Although thinking clearly after an accident is not easy, this is precisely what you need to do. If you make the wrong moves, there is a lot at stake, including your life, recovery, and personal injury compensation. You must act decisively to safeguard your interests and the integrity of your Atlanta personal injury claim.
Here are the steps our personal injury lawyers near Atlanta recommend following the aftermath of an accident.
Get Medical Treatment If Needed and Keep Records of All Treatment
Whether the injuries you sustain after an accident appear minor or major, you should seek medical attention. You will need a comprehensive medical examination by a doctor to dismiss the potential of latent complications, leading to severe issues later on. After examination, your doctor may diagnose your injuries and develop a treatment plan that offers the best recovery path.
Take Photos/Video If You Can
For you to have an easier time seeking compensation for your injuries, you need to present concrete evidence to the insurance company. You should begin collecting evidence for your case immediately after the accident. Take photos and videos of the accident scene, damage to property, and any visible injuries you may have.
Photos and videos from your smartphone will suffice — you don’t need any sophisticated equipment to gather evidence.
Get Names and Numbers of Any Witnesses
Once you have collected the necessary evidence, look around the accident scene for witnesses. Talk to witnesses and request their names and numbers. The testimony of these witnesses will be crucial later on as it will shed more light on the incident and strengthen your personal injury case.
Report the Incident
It’s critical that you report the incident to the appropriate authorities. If the accident was a car crash, call the police, and once they get to the scene, tell them how the accident happened.
If it was a workplace accident, report it to your superiors. Remember, you have 30 days to report a workplace injury in the state of Georgia. If you fail to do so within this window, you risk losing your compensation benefits.
If the accident was an animal attack, notify animal control services in Atlanta, GA.
Never Admit Fault
Many people tend to blame themselves in the wake of an accident. However, if you want your personal injury compensation case to be successful, you must be extremely careful not to mention anything that may indicate you are admitting fault. Saying things that may be construed as an admission of guilt can jeopardize your case.
Call an Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer!
It’s essential that you speak to your lawyer about the events and allow them to be the point of contact between you and other parties in the legal process. The personal injury claims process can be very complicated, and things will only get more challenging if the case ends up in court. If your accident occurs in Atlanta, you should call our reputable personal injury attorneys for sound counsel.
Here are just a few types of personal injury accidents that we can help get compensation for:
- Brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Slip and falls
- Dog bites
- Wrongful deaths
At H Groves Law, we will leverage our superlative skills and experience navigating the depths of federal and state personal injury laws to ensure that you end up with the best outcome for your case. We will fight tenaciously so that you get every penny of compensation afforded to you by law. Call us today to find out how we can help.
Why do I Need a Lawyer?
Personal injury cases are never straightforward, no matter how clear-cut the issue may seem at first glance. Insurance adjusters will use every crafty tactic to protect their company’s profits by minimizing the compensation they will be required to offer you.
Our expert Atlanta personal injury lawyers know all about the crafty tactics that insurance adjusters employ. This means there will be no chance of you getting hoodwinked by insurance adjusters, and you will have tremendously improved your chances of receiving a fair settlement.
Here’s how H Groves Law can help with your Atlanta personal injury claim.
Case Preparation / Filing a Lawsuit
For an ordinary resident of Atlanta, building a robust case and filing a personal injury lawsuit can be daunting. However, as reputable personal injury lawyers in Atlanta, this is what we do almost every day. Our attorneys will file your case on time and start the claims process faster. Moreover, our legal team will conduct an in-depth investigation into your incident’s circumstances to establish negligence and determine liability.
Settlement Negotiation
Personal injury cases are frequently settled out of court via negotiations with the insurance company. Insurance adjusters commonly try to turn the tables and blame the victims so they can pay less compensation. Our personal injury lawyers near Atlanta have experience negotiating with insurance adjusters to ensure every penny of your settlement comes your way.
Trial Preparation & Representation
If the settlement negotiations with the insurance company fail to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, our attorneys will start preparing for trial. Our lawyers will also represent you in court during the trial — if need be. We have a team of competent trial attorneys with lots of experience in swaying the court’s judgment in favor of our clients.
What Type of Damages Can I Recover?
All personal injury cases are unique, and we will need to thoroughly examine your case to determine what damages you are entitled to. Georgia state law stipulates three types of damages for accident victims, which include:
Economic Damages
Economic damages can be calculated into a financial figure by leveraging financial records. These damages exist to aid you in offsetting any out-of-pocket financial expenses and losses you incurred following the accident. These financial expenses and losses include:
• The cost of your past, present, and future medical treatment
• Lost wages and loss of future earning capacity
• Property damage
Non-Economic Damages
These damages are abstract and can’t be allocated a financial figure easily. Non-economic damages compensate you for past, present, and future abstract losses. They include:
- Loss of enjoyment
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of companionship or relationships
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are awarded under special circumstances where you can prove that your injuries result from the defendant’s intolerable, hateful, or extremely reckless actions. Punitive damages punish the defendant for their unacceptable actions, such as drunk driving, and act as a deterrent to others.
How is Liability Determined?
In Georgia, the concept of modified comparative negligence is used to ascertain liability in personal injury cases. This concept dictates that the accident victim is entitled to a settlement only if their involvement in the accident doesn’t exceed 49%.
Under the concept of modified comparative negligence, the subject of negligence is a huge deal. During the trial, you will have to show beyond doubt that the at-fault party was negligent and failed to act in a manner any reasonably-minded individual would have acted in a similar situation. You — the plaintiff — must demonstrate these four elements to prove negligence:
Duty of Care
Duty of care refers to the responsibility that every member of society has to promote safe and harmless interactions. For instance, motorists must follow traffic rules and drive safely to ensure that other road users are safe. Similarly, business owners have a duty to care for their employees and customers.
Breach of Duty of Care
Breach of duty of care is the failure of a party to promote safe and harmless interactions. You will have to prove that the defendant failed to honor their duty of care to you by their actions or inactions.
Causation
You must show beyond doubt that the failure of the defendant to promote safe and harmless interactions is connected to your injuries. Their negligent actions or omissions and breach of duty led to severe consequences, which contributed to your injuries.
Damages
It isn’t sufficient to prove that the defendant was negligent or acted in a threatening manner. You have to show that the defendant’s negligence directly resulted in damages, such as medical bills or lost wages.
How Much Time Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Claim in Georgia?
Each state in the U.S. has a time limit (statute of limitations) in which claims relating to personal injury from accidents can be filed. Under Georgia state law, the statute of limitations for filing personal injury claims is within two years from the date of the accident.
You should contact our Atlanta personal injury attorneys immediately after the accident so that they can initiate your claim process promptly. This will eliminate the possibility of your claim being rejected because it was filed after the statute of limitations had expired. Filling your claim promptly also maximizes your claim’s chances of success.
What Is The Personal Injury Claims Process
When you contact H Groves Law about your Atlanta personal injury case, here’s the claims process you can expect.
Discussion With an Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer
A personal injury attorney with tremendous experience dealing with cases similar to yours will take your case. Our lawyers will invite you to the office for a discussion about your case. During the discussion, share all the details you have about your case, no matter how insignificant some details might seem. Our legal team will be the ones to determine the worth of each and every detail.
Building a Strong Case
Our attorneys will assemble a team of expert legal experts to insightfully look at your case and build a strong winning case. Our legal team will examine all available evidence, your injuries, damages, your employment details, family circumstances, and other related elements to come up with an airtight personal injury case.
Settlement Negotiations
Our lawyer will forward a demand letter to the defendant’s insurance provider laying out your case for damages and demanding compensation. Most of the time, the defendant’s insurance will invite our lawyer and you for settlement talks. Our lawyer will speak on your behalf during these negotiations, ensuring you secure a pleasant settlement.
Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit
If the negotiations fail to reach an amicable settlement, our lawyer will file a lawsuit in court to seek a favorable settlement. Our personal injury attorneys have the experience to file your lawsuit promptly without fuss. We will check to ensure that all documentation needed is appropriately filled out before filing the lawsuit.
Discovery
During the discovery phase of the court proceedings, lawyers from both sides will furnish the court with documents and evidence to support their side. Our lawyers will go through every piece of documentation provided by the other side to find anything that could be useful in supporting your case.
Trial
Our personal injury attorneys in Atlanta will argue your case in your favor. This will involve calling witnesses to the stand to support your claim. At H Groves Law, our lawyers have an impressive track record of securing millions of dollars in settlements for our clients. You can be sure our lawyers will take advantage of their courtroom experience to successfully argue your case.
How Much Will an Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
Hiring a personal injury lawyer from H Groves Law won’t cost you a penny. You won’t have to pay any retainer fees or any court charges. We provide our personal injury legal services on a contingency basis. This implies that we will handle your case and all the associated costs, and you will only pay us a contingency fee after we win you a settlement.
Since we only get paid after winning cases, you can be sure that we will work hard to win you the biggest settlement possible. There is no risk of you letting us handle your personal injury case.
Schedule Your Free Case Review With Reputable Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers
Hiring a top-notch personal injury attorney to take care of your personal injury claim means you will likely end up with a massive settlement. If you are wondering where you will get competent personal injury lawyers in Atlanta — we have a world-class team of personal injury attorneys at H Groves Law.
Our legal team can help you recover the maximum settlement for damages such as lost wages, vehicle repair expenses, loss of reputation, medical bills, lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and mental anguish. What’s more, we offer free personal injury claim consultations.
Contact us today to schedule your free case review. Let us help you get the justice you deserve.