An accident of any type can have a lasting impact on an individual and their family. The degree of the accident can range from mild to very severe, and if it was caused by someone else’s wrongdoing or negligence, the victim should be compensated for their injuries. Now the process to get a settlement payment after an accident can be quick and efficient, or it could possibly be dragged out over years depending on what events occurred. First, we need to identify the various types of accidents one could be injured in to take someone to court for a personal injury case, some of these are but not limited to:
- Car wrecks
- Truck or semi-truck wrecks
- Delivery truck accidents
- Government or municipal vehicle accidents
- Ambulance or other healthcare vehicle accidents
- Boating accidents
- Slip, trip, or falling accidents
- Motorcycle or biking accidents
- Airport or airplane accidents
- Workplace or construction vehicle accidents
- Pedestrian or crosswalk accidents
- Public transportation accidents
And there are many more ways one could be entitled to compensation from a personal injury lawsuit, such as, dog bites, defective drugs, defective products and more. If any of these situations happened to you or a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, reach out to an accident attorney today so they can help get you the compensation from your personal injury.
What to do After your Personal Injury has Occurred
First thing one needs to do after they have been injured is seek the proper medical attention. Once they have got their injury under a certain degree of control, they should contact a personal injury attorney immediately. The process as mentioned before can be very drawn out, the sooner you contact a personal injury attorney the sooner you can get a settlement payment.
Let us begin with the short road to getting your settlement payment after a personal injury accident. There are many instances where these cases will not go to court at all because the two parties involved have come to some type of agreement or settlement. If that happens then the case is over, and the settlement payment will be on its way. Though with that said, your personal injury attorney must negotiate on your behalf in order to get you compensation for the damages accrued. Depending on the case at hand, this could take some time as the parties must both agree to the terms. If it becomes a situation where no agreement is met, then your personal injury lawyer will have to file a lawsuit in court.
If a Settlement Cannot be met, what Happens Next?
This is where a case might get prolonged over months or possibly years, as both sides will have to go through what is called the “discovery phase”. In this situation, both parties will have to gather information about the case and get the facts to prove in court. This takes a lot of time as many things need to happen. Your personal injury lawyer might have to obtain police reports and speak to key eyewitnesses that were present during the accident. Possibly even attain security footage of the instance if any can be found and gathering all of this can take time as not everyone is going to be as cooperative as one would want. With this said, the possibility of a settlement is still on the table during this phase and might be met if the terms can be agreed on.
If the Personal Injury Case goes to Trial
If a settlement can still not be agreed on, then the case will go to trial after the discovery phase. Once a verdict has been made and the victim wins the case, that does not mean they will get their settlement payment immediately. If the defendant losses the case, they can then appeal the verdict and this process can also, like the others, take time. After the appeals process is over and the victim indeed still wins the case then they must deal with the insurance companies involved or other businesses if there are any. This is when a personal injury lawyer can step in and get things moving. Insurance companies will try to prolong the payment as long as possible so they do not have to pay, your personal injury lawyer can take legal action to make them pay you the settlement you deserve. If you believe you have a personal injury case, hire skilled Alabama personal injury lawyers so they can help you get the settlement you so rightly deserve.
