FAQ After a Person Has Been Injured in An Auto or Semi Truck Accident in Michigan

Obviously, medical attention is your top priority. If you are injured you will be taken to emergency and receive the x-rays and tests to treat and rule out certain injuries. If you are released and feel worse or new pain in the following days, you should go to the doctor or hospital again to make sure nothing was missed. You should also notify your insurance company so they can set up a claim for medical payments and other benefits.

Yes, if you have been seriously injured. If you are not injured then you probably have no need for a lawyer. Examples of serious injuries are broken bones, torn ligaments, closed head injuries, permanent scaring or anything that requires surgery. If there is a death, then an attorney would represent the estate in a wrongful death claim. There is too much at stake to not hire a lawyer. No fault is complicated and recovery is based on statutory and case law. The process involves analyzing medical records, police reports, working with expert witnesses, if necessary, and negotiating with insurance companies. An experienced attorney will take care of the entire process and maximize your recovery. The attorney’s job is to help protect your family, your health and your financial future.

In all personal injury cases, the attorney works on a contingency fee basis. That contingency fee in Michigan is normally 33% of the recovery. The attorney does not get paid until the client makes a financial recovery. This makes the attorney and the injured victim essentially a team. It also assures the injured party that there is no risk of paying attorney fees if no settlement is recovered. An experienced lawyer will not accept representation unless they are extremely confident that the client has a good case.

In the case of a motor vehicle accident, the attorney should have a number of years of experience with primary focus on recovery for injured victims in car or semi truck accidents. Friends and family may have a good referral, but go online and make sure you follow up and do your own research.

This is a common question. This question cannot be easily answered. If the injuries are serious and treatment is ongoing, then the attorney will be awaiting final treatment and diagnosis before negotiating settlement. Remember the attorney focus is trying to maximize recovery and put the client back into as normal of a life as possible. An experienced attorney will be able to give the client an educated guess based certain factors in the particular case. For instance, the client’s injuries, the insurance company defending the case, the jurisdiction of the accident, and the cause of the accident would all be factors that would be considered in determining the length of the case.

Every injury case is unique in a number of ways, so estimating exactly what a victim will recover is nearly impossible. All facts of accidents are different. And injuries will affect people in different ways. For Instance, a victim with a closed head injury could be unable to return to their usual employment forever. While another brain injured victim may have a job that allows them to return. In both cases the client has a serious injury but their lives are affected differently. The policy limits of the insurance company of the defendant driver may also play a role in how much is recovered. A victim could be permanently injured, but the driver that hit him may have low bodily injury limits. In a case of low limits, the defendant is often uncollectable. In this case an experienced lawyer will try to make a further claim under the victim’s uninsured motorist policy. Hopefully, the victim has good coverage for this situation. It is for all the reasons that injured victims need to hire an experienced personal injury firm. Call Gerald R. Stahl for any further questions.