At Larson & Gallivan Law, we meet with many people who tried in good faith to negotiate their own personal injury settlement. Maybe they got into a minor crash years ago and they handled the insurance claim themselves. They think it’s easy—a few forms to fill out and then, a week later, a check in the mail.
Unfortunately, personal injury cases are different from small property-damage claims. It’s a good bet to call a Vermont personal injury lawyer to discuss your accident. Our legal team can walk you through the claims process and negotiate on your behalf. Please call us.
You Suffered a Serious Bodily Injury
If you are lucky, you can walk away from an accident without any harm and go on with the rest of your day. Unfortunately, many victims suffer serious, painful injuries. For example, they might immediately suffer:
- Concussion: Do you feel dizzy, confused, or suffer a lack of balance or coordination? You probably have suffered a concussion.
- Fractures: Any broken bone needs to be set at a hospital and is a serious injury. Do you feel pain in a limb or your chest? A bone might have broken.
- Neck injury: Do you feel neck stiffness, or do you struggle to move your head? You could suffer from whiplash or another neck injury.
- Back pain: Does standing or even lying down result in back pain? You could have a bulging disc, fracture, pinched nerve, or sprain or strain.
These injuries require immediate medical attention, which is expensive. In fact, moderate injuries which require that someone spend the night in the hospital can easily cost a victim thousands of dollars in treatment, including rehabilitation costs. Very serious injuries might require surgery or nights in the intensive care unit.
The cost of medical care can bankrupt many people. You should not be responsible for paying your medical bills if you were not at fault for the accident. Instead, we can pursue full compensation in a personal injury claim on your behalf, seeking future medical expenses as well.
You Were Injured at Work
Hundreds of people are injured each year while working in Vermont. You can seek compensation for any workplace injury by making a claim on your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance policy. You will benefit from a lawyer’s help.
In some ways, workers’ comp cases are more straightforward than other personal injury claims, because workers’ comp benefits are no fault. It doesn’t matter if your own carelessness contributes to the workplace accident.
However, many disputes can still arise, such as:
- Whether you were even injured at work or were injured outside work.
- Your degree of impairment once you reach maximum medical improvement.
- Whether you can return to work, at least part-time.
Hire a lawyer to make sure your claim is taken seriously. Thousands of dollars could be at stake, and you should get the benefits you deserve.
There is a Dispute over Liability
Your right to receive compensation depends on whether someone else is at least partially to blame for the accident.
After many accidents, each side blames the other:
- You might have slipped on some trash or debris in a grocery store aisle. You blame the store for not checking its aisles and cleaning up the mess; the store blames you for not watching where you are going.
- You are struck in an intersection. The other driver blames you for running a red light when you are 100% confident your light was green.
- You are injured in an underride accident with a semi-truck. You blame the truck driver for cutting you off, but the trucker blames you for tailgating.
- You slip and fall on a loose tile around someone’s swimming pool, which you blame on the pool owner. They blame you for not being careful.
In these examples, both sides see the accident in radically different ways. Unsurprisingly, they see the event in ways that make them look innocent and the other side liable. Getting to the truth takes time and a commitment to finding all relevant information. Anyone suffering from a bodily injury needs to focus on recovery.
This is why hiring a lawyer is a terrific benefit. Our Vermont personal injury attorneys can canvas the area to find physical evidence and talk with witnesses.
Your Injuries Prevent a Return to Work
Bodily injuries prevent many people from working due to pain and sleeplessness. Someone with a concussion, for example, might struggle with concentration for months, so they are no help on the job. Lost income or wages are considerable. As with medical care, you should not suffer this expense when you are not to blame. Let an attorney vigorously negotiate fair compensation for lost income.
Even severe emotional injuries can keep someone from working. For example, you might have suffered a burn on your left cheek, which is intensely embarrassing. Even though you aren’t in pain, you fear seeing other people, so you become housebound. Emotional distress damages are recoverable in a settlement.
A Loved One Died in an Accident
Vermont’s wrongful death law allows some surviving family members to seek compensation. This lawsuit seeks to hold the defendant financially responsible for wrongfully killing your loved one. This is a very hard legal claim to bring successfully.
A lawyer can:
- Evaluate whether you even have a right to file a wrongful death claim.
- Identify who to sue—it might not be clear who is responsible for your loved one’s death.
- Find useful evidence to show the death was wrongful.
- Negotiate a settlement with the defendant and their insurer for fair compensation.
- Litigate a claim when settlement negotiations falter.
Call Larson & Gallivan Law Today
In the days following an accident the world is a blur. We can set you on the right course by meeting to discuss whether to file a lawsuit. Please call our Vermont personal injury lawyer today to discuss your case.
One concern people have is that they can’t afford an attorney. But you can absolutely afford our legal services. We are eager to share more information about how we charge fees if you call 802-327-8458.
