An Accident Lawyer Uses A Variety Of Tools To Fight For Your Rights
Brian O Sutter
Accident Lawyers
When you're injured in an accident, the recovery phase consists of several things. Chief among them is, of course, your physical health. But after your wounds heal, the damage an accident does to your budget can remain for some time. That's why it's incredibly important that you find a good accident Port Charlotte accident lawyer if you're injured in the area. A personal injury lawyer works to help you in a variety of different ways, and taking a look at the tools, resources, and processes they utilize can help you better understand what to expect during their representation of you as well as why they're such an important part of your recovery.
The key job of an accident lawyer is to show that the accident that caused your injuries was the fault of someone else, and that their reckless or negligent behavior directly led to the accident. This can include a variety of things ranging from drunk driving to speeding to failing to install safety features in the workplace, but the one constant is that your attorney must show that they were negligent.
Just how do attorneys do this? There are a number of different tools they'll utilize, to begin with. These include:
- • Accident reports from officers at the scene
- • Insurance documents
- • Witness testimony
- • Photographs of the accident scene after it happens
- • Past driving records
- • Mobile phone records
- • Black box data from modern autos and from commercial trucks
- • Driver's logs if a commercial truck was involved in the accident
Each of these tools can be used in different scenarios. For example, retrieving mobile phone records allows the attorney to determine whether or not the other party was texting at the time of the accident. Driver's logs show whether or not the commercial driver was over his legal driving hours for the week.
Along with these basic steps and tools, an experienced lawyer will also use resources that they have access to that you simply couldn't utilize. Their history within the personal injury law field means that they have built up relationships with various professionals who all can have a direct impact on your case, including the following.
- • Accident Reconstructionists – These professionals can help determine exactly what happened at the scene through a variety of techniques. This helps make it easier to prove who is at fault.
- • Physicians and Medical Professionals – An attorney will use these professionals to help show just what a fair settlement is. The primary focus is on estimating what future medical costs for your injuries may be and how that will impact your life.
- • Financial Experts – As with medical professionals, economists will perform an estimate as to what potential lost wages over the future will be. This helps provide an accurate look at what a fair settlement amount will be.
- • Private Investigators – Private investigators can look into a variety of different things involving an accident, and while they're primarily used by insurance companies to stamp out fraudulent claims, they can help your side as well – especially when proving that the actions of another party were negligent.
By combining all of these resources and tools, your accident lawyer will create a case for you to ensure you're able to get the kind of compensation that you deserve. The first step will be using their judgement just to determine whether or not you actually have the grounds to seek restitution at all. This is important so you know what to expect and so your time, energy, and money aren't wasted. Afterwards, the next steps will be explained to you by your attorney and they'll put their tools and experience to use.