Personal Injury Lawyer
You may find you need a personal injury lawyer for numerous reasons. The following are a list of situations where a personal injury lawyer may be helpful to your family and/or you. Craig M. Divine with the Divine Law Office, LLC is a criminal defense attorney. Contact Divine Law Office, LLC today for a free consultation.
Car accidents can be caused by any number of hazards from people on their phones to drunk drivers or folks who just aren’t paying attention. Even a minor car wreck or truck collision can mean property damage to your car, personal injury or injury to family members in addition to lost wages and medical bills. Insurance companies are often quick to offer settlement amounts on behalf of their at fault drivers and those settlements are extended with the intent to resolve the claim for an amount favorable to the insurance company. If you are hurt never sign anything presented to you by the other guy’s insurance company until you have talked to an attorney.
Car Wrecks
Even car wrecks at slower speeds can have lasting impact on you physically. Lower back pain and neck strains are commonplace for even minor fender benders especially if you were hit from behind. A quick settlement is not what is in your best interest especially if you have not gotten a clean bill of health from your doctor. Most injuries will require some kind of physical therapy and failure to follow through and complete the therapy can impact the level to which you heal and can create lifetime issues. Don’t settle until all treatments are completed and you can be certain of no lasting health impacts.
Truck Collisions
Big vehicles do big damage and can cause devastating injuries. Commercial drivers have heightened responsibilities to other motorists and if they lapse in those responsibilities you may bear the brunt of their inattention. Accidents like this only share some similarities with the common car wreck and a truck collision can result in claims against not only the driver but possible the company the driver works for.
Property Damage
Every car wreck or truck collision is going to result in property damage to your vehicle but what about the stuff inside? If you have other property inside the vehicle that is damaged or destroyed (cell phone, trunk speakers, etc.) you can also make a claim for the value of these damaged or destroyed items. Just like valuable items within your home if you have a nicer than average car stereo or an in-vehicle entertainment system for the kids, take pictures of those items so when the time comes you can prove what was lost.
Personal Injury
The luckiest among us may walk away from a car wreck or truck collision unhurt but for the rest of us injuries can range from back and neck strain to broken bones, internal injuries, permanent disfigurement and in the worst cases even death. Personal injury claims are often settled independent of the property damage claim meaning you can get your vehicle paid for long before you get your body paid for. Claimants who settle the property damage portion of their claim must carefully read any settlement release to protect their personal injury claims.
Injury to Family
Minor children and persons for whom you are the legal guardian will look to you to make claims for their injuries on their behalf. In car wrecks and truck collision where a family member has been killed the next of kin may have claims for personal injury and wrongful death depending on the circumstances. It is important when making a claim on behalf of another who was injured to have the aid of a lawyer in pursuing compensation.
Lost Wages
Whether you are down and out for one day or one year if you were working and due to another’s actions you are missing work you have a claim for lost wages. In some circumstances an individual suffers injuries that allow them to return to work but not their old job at their old wages due to the lasting effects of an injury or a disability resulting from a crash. Any pay gap between what you were able to make and what you can make now may constitute a claim and with the right legal help you may be able to recover some or all of that difference.
A personal injury lawyer may be able to help you with any of the examples above.
Contact the Divine Law Office, LLC for a free consultation.
Attorney Craig M. Divine is a member of both the Missouri Bar Association and Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association .