Many people choose to handle their minor injury claims independently, without outside assistance, to save on legal fees and avoid all the efforts to find a Kansas City injury lawyer. Still, this attitude is inherently wrong – you can almost always secure benefits from accident lawyer.
Personal injury attorneys work to provide legal cover for various accidents and personal injury situations. For example, an unfortunate victim may have been injured by a reckless driver (a specialized car accident lawyer in Kansas City will be helpful here), slipped and fell with significant damage on someone’s property, or even bitten by someone’s pet. Everything mentioned is a type of personal injury attorneys. Its severity can significantly affect your claim’s filing and legal processing. If you want to expand your knowledge about this, see more here to explore further details and gain comprehensive insights.
There may be cases in which you will be able to handle your claim through insurance or Small Claims Court without external help from an injury attorney. Alternatively – and this consists of almost all realistic scenarios – advice and assistance of a qualified personal injury attorney will be invaluable – everything lies upon the severity of the accident and its legal insinuations. Thus, this article is about managing the case on your own and how to search for the best personal injury attorney in Kansas City.
Handling the case without the help of an accident attorney
Be diligent when deciding this – since giving up only to hire an accident attorney in Kansas City later may unnecessarily complicate the whole claim process. Indeed, it is essential to correctly evaluate your capabilities and what is at stake if you fail in court. Thus, if you are uncertain whether you will be able to do it yourself, it’s rational to consider contacting one. Better make it immediately from the beginning for a proper consultation to find out whether the deal with personal injury lawyers is worth the trouble per se.
Take a look at a few examples that you might be able to handle solo without the help of Kansas City personal injury lawyers.
Car accident with no to minor injuriesÂ
Auto accident injuries often occur in the automobile-rich USA. A typical situation, for example, is an inattentive driver, while almost coming to a full-stop, slightly rear-ending someone else. Indeed, slight injuries may be incurred upon the driver or the passengers that ultimately result in nothing more but a few visits to family physicians. In such a case, filing an insurance claim will often be efficient and productive enough to cover the body shop and physician’s office costs. There will be no need to urgently seek a car accident lawyer.
Residing in a No-Fault stateÂ
The “no-fault” policy specifically prohibits suing unless the severity of injuries reaches a certain threshold (determined either by the origins of the injuries or medical expenses for treating them, depending on the state). Thus, since one is limited in recovering damages from their personal injury protection coverage in a “no-fault” claim, there is little sense in hiring a personal injury lawyer in Kansas City.
Already receiving the maximum compensation possible for your contract
The modus operandi for insurance providers is that they are only paying out the maximum mentioned in their policy or contract. So, for example, should the defendant in the personal injury claim have a $100,000 insurance policy and offer you all of these dollars. Then, getting a court verdict for even more significant compensation is not productive since any additional dollars will have to be collected from the defendant directly. And that is an entirely different story, especially if you assume that the defendant is limited in assets, properties, and activities.
You have confidence to negotiate on your own
Indeed, what’s the point of seeking help from the Kansas City injury lawyers if you are perfectly confident that you will successfully negotiate with the defendant’s insurance agent on your own to reach the settlement amount you consider fair. So, imagining your situation is the case where you can decide to take the defendant to Small Claims Court simply. It’s perfectly valid to represent yourself if you feel confident in your skills, legal knowledge, and the evidence that has been gathered.
You’re enthusiastic about researching the law and settlement processÂ
Though this is energy-, time-consuming, and very resourceful, plenty of people are enthusiastic about researching jurisprudence, law, and settlement, specifically in this civil law sector. That is especially useful for would-be lawyers and law students; besides, it is natural that professional attorneys, even of other branches, will be inclined to learn this branch themselves instead of hiring a colleague. However, should you spend way more time than it’s worth researching law intimacies and getting frustrated by the complications and details? All that may be time to admit that you won’t be the best personal injury attorney in Kansas City and think about consulting a legal professional.
Asking the accident attorney for helpÂ
Remember that in any case, the insurance company you are filing a claim and fighting against will have a corresponding professional personal injury attorney in Kansas City, MO, representing them and fighting back. Such an injury lawyer is more professional and spends countless hours of spare time studying the details and particulars of the specific part of civil law and gathering corresponding knowledge to represent his clients with maximum effort and the best possible results.
So, if the insurance company or the party you are taking to Small Claims Court is employing legal representation, it is rational for you to consider the same. Additionally, read about other reasons.
The damage you suffered is more severe than initially thought
People are often hesitant to hire a lawyer (and undergo concurrent troubles and efforts) for traumas that initially seem to be relatively minor. As an example – should you get into a car accident, consequently bruise your arm and suffer a few scrapes, you won’t think the hassle of hiring a car accident lawyer in Kansas City is worth it. Also, then, if the defendant’s insurance company readily agrees to pay for your medical bills and give a few hundred dollars extra on top of that, you may think there is no reason to seek a car accident attorney.
Yet there are reasons that you should take in mind and therefore consider searching for a car accident attorney in Kansas City, even for seemingly minor injuries.
Minor injuries tend to become major onesÂ
Thus, if your injuries are worse than initially suspected by your doctor, but you have already accepted a compromising settlement offer, nothing can be done to reverse it. You’ve already legally given up your rights for future claims arising from the accident. On the other hand, a qualified auto accident lawyer will suggest you wait until the full extent of your injuries is revealed and then help determine the correct sum and time for an offer.
Never forget about the “Pain and Suffering” damages
Pain, suffering, and emotional distress are categories that the jury always considers should the case go into court. Thus a settlement that excludes this type of damages is apriori incomplete. Qualified car accident lawyers in Kansas City will thoroughly explain all the damages you may be entitled to despite the small scale of the injuries and will fight in court on your behalf to ensure your client receives compensation of good size.
Small cases versus grievous injuriesÂ
An accident attorney is almost imperative if you are unfortunate enough to suffer severe trauma. The reasons are as follow:
- The personal injury attorney will ensure that you are getting the compensation for the full spectrum of damages you’ve experienced;
- Lawyers, being the expert negotiators, will maximize the total amount of money you’ll receive;
- Both insurers, defendants, and the court will take your claim more seriously once you have a professional attorney that got your back.
What about the insurance company I’ve cut a deal with?Â
People often say that they or other parties have proper insurance. Therefore there is no need to hire a lawyer. But this reasoning is flawed at its core. The premise that insurance companies are your friends who look out for you is simply wrong. Consequently, insurance companies have no motivation to pursue what is best for you, and insurance companies’ interests are often directly at odds with their clients’:
- The primary goal of the insurance company’s client is to receive the maximum possible award/compensation for all the spectrum of incurred damages;
- The insurance company’s goal is to pay out as less money as possible and operate with the highest potential profits.
Agreeing on the Contingency Fee
Another reason people hesitate to hire a proper injury attorney is that they think they will be paying exorbitant lawyer’s fees without any guarantee for the result. That is a common misconception – in fact, almost all the personal injury attorneys (including even the best car accident lawyer in Kansas City) work on something called a contingency basis. A contingency basis means that your personal attorney will not receive a penny unless you either win the case or settle out of court. Therefore, this deal is very lucrative to the client with no risk attached whatsoever.
In contingency fee agreements, it is stated that a lawyer is only collecting the pay for his work out of the final settlement sum or damage award. Contingency fee agreements are often structured, with a different percentage of the settlement going to the lawyer depending on various conditions. For example, the agreement may state that the lawyer gets 25 percent if the deal is settled before, 30 percent if the deal is paid after the lawsuit is filed but during the recovery process, and 35 percent should the case enter the court and a jury’s decision award the damages.
Plaintiffs with a personal injury attorney receive more prominent awards
The Insurance Research Council conducted a fascinating study in 1999. The average plaintiffs employing professional legal assistance receive a settlement three and a half times larger than those without attorney help. That is an enormous difference, particularly so for the personal injury settlements – indeed, especially considering the many particulars of the personal injury law that make every case individualized and complicated:
- What if that pesky, inattentive driver (as if that wasn’t enough) doesn’t have insurance at all, or their low-grade sleazy insurance company refuses to pay you out?
- What if the dog bite you experienced resulted in a terrible infection of grave danger and cost you a lot of money?
- What if your neighbor just outright refuses to take any responsibility at all?
So, in these few quick examples, assumptions, and hypotheses, you can see how easy it is to complicate a personal injury claim. Consequently, every time you are unlucky enough to get injured and have the necessity to deal with either an insurance company or another third party, by the court, if necessary, it is in your best interest to consult a lawyer and have one to represent you.
