Is there ever a reason why a personal injury lawyer would not take your case? There are a few cases when a law firm will tell you that you do not have a personal injury claim and an attorney cannot take your case. Here’s what you need to know:
What is Personal Injury?
A personal injury claim begins when you have been injured. Of course, it’s not enough that you simply be hurt. You must have been injured because of the negligence of another party. If another party owed you a particular duty of care and failed to provide it, and that failure was the direct cause of your injury, then you have a personal injury case.
What Are Personal Injury Cases Usually About?
Personal injury claims happen most often because of a car accident, medical malpractice, a fall, or an animal attack. Every state has different regulations for personal injury claims, so there can be limits on how long you can wait before bringing a case, on the damages you can claim, and limits based on how badly you were injured.
What Damages Can I Make a Claim For?
You are typically entitled to recompense for your medical bills, any property damage, any wages that you lost, and other considerations of pain and suffering unique to each case. For example, if you are so badly injured that you lost your job and then your spouse had to curtail work hours in order to care for you, this has to be taken into account even though your spouse was not directly injured.
Why Might an Injury Lawyer Refuse a Case?
There are a few occasions when a personal injury law firm may tell you that you really have no case. Here are three examples:
- The amount to recover is simply too small. A law firm in a personal injury case will typically only be paid out of whatever damages are awarded to you. Because the law firm must pay its employees and expend time and effort to prosecute a case, it’s important for the law firm to determine whether or not a particular case is worth their time. It could be that the amount of money to be recovered would be too small to cover their costs. In that case, a law firm may be financially unable to take your case.
- It It is unclear how exactly the accident occurred. The simple fact that you have been severely injured does not guarantee you a personal injury claim. In order to hold another partner responsible, you and your lawyer must be able to show that they had a clear duty to protect you, that they failed in this duty, and that this failure was the direct cause of your injury. Say, for example, you have been injured in a car accident. You must be able to prove that the other party was at fault. If you were at fault, or even if you were both at fault, you will likely not have a case. If you are injured in a fall but the business owner did not know about the problem that caused the fall and could not reasonably have been expected to know, you will likely not have a case.
- Your injury is not bad enough. The car accident may have been very frightening, but if you are not actually seriously injured it is unlikely that you will be able to prosecute a personal injury claim. For minor injuries, the amount of compensation would be so small that it would likely not be worth a law firm’s time and effort. Additionally, where injuries are minor, insurance companies and the at-fault party usually have no problem paying up what they legitimately owe.
There are some occasions when a law firm will not take a personal injury case. But there are many times when hiring a personal injury attorney is the best way for you to recover the damages that you are owed when you’ve been hurt because of the negligence of another person. Many personal injury lawyers will be happy to give you a free consultation to help you learn more about your particular case.