(Newswire.net — April 10, 2018) — A personal injury is no laughing matter. It’s a stressful time for everyone involved, and not only do you have to rest up and tend to your wounds, but see to it that your rights are respected and that you get the compensation that you deserve. The following 3 important facts about personal injury cases and compensation tend to elude people’s grasp far too often, so don’t make the mistake of ignoring them yourself:
1. There is a limited time to act
After you’ve been injured, you have a limited time to file a lawsuit. After the time period is over, this option is off the table, so you must take action and never let it come to this. In technical terms, the clock starts ticking as soon as you’ve been injured (or, in some cases, immediately after the injury is discovered).
For example, in cases where the elderly are abused, the injury may not get discovered immediately. Therefore, the plaintiff has more time to work with, even though the time-frame is by no means infinite. In some regions, you have no more than one year to act. Typically, the best results are achieved by seeking out the services of a law firm for personal injury.
2. The defendant may not necessarily be a single person
The formality of the court dictates that there must be two parties in a given lawsuit: the plaintiff and the defendant. However, the defendant may not necessarily be a single person; it could also be a corporation or another entity.
An important thing to keep in mind is that personal injury lawsuits are not the same as criminal suits (these are typically handled by the government). In personal injury cases, the plaintiff is seeking a monetary compensation for the injuries sustained, and not putting someone behind bars. These cases are sometimes settled out of court.
3. Personal injury lawyers do not ask for money up front
Other areas of legal representation might ask for money up front, but this is typically not the case with personal injury lawyers. This makes the matters much less stressful for those who’ve found themselves in a pickle and would like a personal injury lawyer to represent them in court.
Instead, these types of lawyers choose to work on a contingency basis, meaning they only get paid a percentage of the claim in case the case is won. If they lose, there’s no money in it for them, so they have all the motivation in the world to do everything in their power to represent your interests the best they can. The percentage they’re entitled to after winning depends on how you negotiate it, but in a typical scenario, this equals 33%.
Conclusion
Were you familiar with these facts before or have you learned something new today? Understanding the things we’ve covered is a fundamental thing to keep in mind if your intention is to prevail in the court of law. The main takeaway is to not delay and act fast so things get to start moving in the right direction as soon as possible. Have you already decided on a lawyer you’re going to be working with?