How You Can Get the Maximum Value for Your Case?
If you’re injured in an accident, you only have one chance to be paid for your medical bills, rehabilitation, lost pay, pain and suffering, and other losses. You and your attorney can do four things to maximize the settlement or jury award you receive:
1. GET PHOTOS – as many as you can. Photograph the wreck, the place the accident happened, and your injuries before and during treatment. The photos make a record of what you went through, and show how serious the accident was. They can help us settle your case for a higher amount. For example, photos of our client’s crushed-in and ripped-apart car, which had been rammed by a city bus that crossed the center line, showed how terrible that accident was and helped us get a substantial settlement.
2. LOOK FOR ANY “HOT BUTTON” MISCONDUCT. Jury awards and settlements are higher if someone caused an accident when they were driving drunk, talking on their cell phone, or breaking a safety law. As experienced accident lawyers, we always try to find those things out. We go through court records, including traffic and safety tickets. We use subpoenas to get the cell phone records of the driver who caused the accident. We investigate everything.
3. HAVE YOUR ATTORNEY GET MEDICAL ILLUSTRATIONS (detailed drawings) of any surgery. They help the doctor explain your surgery to the insurance company and jury, and can increase your settlement or award to more fully account for your suffering.
4. HAVE YOUR ATTORNEY GET A VOCATIONAL ECONOMIST IF YOU HAVE A PERMANENT DISABILITY. A disability as small as 10% or 20% can still make it more likely that you will be laid off or have a harder time finding a job during your lifetime. A vocational economist can compare the low-to-high range of lifetime earnings of a fully able person with those of a partly or completely disabled person to show how much your disability will probably cost you in lost pay. In our experience, this helps to increase the insurance company’s settlement offer, or the jury verdict if your case cannot be settled.
If you have been seriously injured in an accident, you are probably worried about how you will pay your bills and get medical treatment. Please call our injury law firm, Stokes & Kopitsky, for immediate help. Our telephones are answered 24/7. We will talk to you about your case, with no charge for your first consultation. You do not need any money to hire us; our fees and the costs are paid from the settlement or award we obtain for you. If there is none, you do not owe us any fees.
Our office uses a team approach so that you will always have someone to talk to, and someone who is ready to help you with any of the problems that your injury has caused. We are standing by to help you now. Please call us toll-free at 800-700-5050 for highly experienced, very caring legal help.
