When to Contact a Personal Injury Attorney

Nobody wants to be that person who sues over every little thing. Even if it may not always be illegal to bring frivolous lawsuits, it is generally considered to be wrong. Nevertheless, a person who has suffered injury as a result of someone else's negligence or malfeasance is most certainly due to be compensated. The following is intended to be a quick guide to knowing when and when not to contact a personal injury attorney.

The first thing to understand is that the insurance companies aren't going to give you one dime if they can avoid it. They generally don't care about any injury done to you because it affects their bottom line. They will attempt to find you at fault regardless of anything. Count on it. As such, you have to make sure that your accident, illness or injury is directly attributable to the entity that you are suing, and you have to make sure you can prove it.

You should always try to obtain surveillance camera footage as soon as possible. If you wait for them to be subpoenaed or handed over voluntarily, they may simply "disappear." Incriminating evidence often has a habit of disappearing like this, especially when it is in the hands of the very people who stand to be incriminated. Witnesses are also a good way to bolster a claim, as a sworn eyewitness does count as valid evidence. Taking written statements from any witnesses is a must. It is also very important to take contact information from your witnesses to ensure that you will be able to find them later.

You also need to demonstrate the level of injury that was done so that damages can be properly assessed. This might include hospital bills, therapy bills, pictures of injured areas, etc. If you cannot demonstrate significant personal injury of one kind or another, you don't have a claim and thus no need to contact a personal injury attorney.

If you are looking for a Tampa personal injury attorney, you have a few good options. To find the Tampa personal injury attorney that is right for you, I would recommend making a lot of phone calls so that you can find one that puts their clients first and which has many years of experience to ensure that they can get the best deal possible for you. Of course, most personal injury attorneys will specialize in particular areas or injury types. This is why you need to check the field out as thoroughly as possible.

For minor claims, some people choose to go it alone and proceed without a lawyer. While the law certainly does allow you to represent yourself, it is a risky business. If you do not know the law very thoroughly for your particular state, I would not recommend doing this. One thing about a personal injury claim is that you only get a short window of time to file it. Your right to sue for personal injury does have a statute of limitations , and you want to make sure that you don't have to waste time by reading every law book in the state.

In closing, I hope the preceding has been helpful. To summarize, you should evaluate your options based on three questions.

1. Can I prove that this happened?

2. Can I prove that the defendant was to blame?

3. Did I suffer a significant injury?

If the answer to all three of these questions is "yes," then you most certainly should contact a personal injury attorney. If not, you would be well advised not to waste your time or anyone else's.

Author Bio: Today’s article comes from Adrian Rubin, a freelance writer and Philly photographer.