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wis-injury.com is your source for information on personal injury, liability, insurance and compensation. There
has been a traumatic event, usually an accident, medical bills
are mounting, you or your loved one are no longer the same as
they were before. Is there compensation available?
PERSONAL INJURY ACTIONS
To recover in a personal injury action,
the injured party must prove that someone else wrongfully caused
the injury.
The principal method
for recovering significant sums for the injured person is through
personal injury actions. To recover in a personal injury action,
the injured person must prove that someone else wrongfully caused
the injury. And if there is a viable action, the injured person
may recover many times the medical bills and lost wages as well.
Car accidents are the best example
of personal injury actions.
If someone other than
the injured person caused the accident, then the injured person
can make a claim. If the injured person caused the accident, then
no claim can be made. In many car accident cases, both drivers
may be at fault. If the injured person was the driver, then the
injured person can recover if the other driver was more at fault.
If it is difficult to determine who was more at fault , a claim
should be made. Passengers always have a right to make a claim,
usually against both drivers and their insurance companies. Passengers
can also make claims against the insurance company for their spouse
or other relatives.
Other examples of personal injury
cases involve product liability, slip and falls, industrial accidents,
farm accidents and medical malpractice.
If the injury is caused,
even partially by someone else's fault, a claim should be investigated.
An experienced personal injury attorney should be consulted as
there are often cases against parties that are not apparent to
the injured person or his or her family. In most states, including
Wisconsin, a personal injury accident can not be brought against
the employer of the injured person, as the workers comp benefits
are the exclusive remedy. However, just because an individual
was injured at work, does not mean that no one else can be sued.
For example, if a injured person was injured on a defective machine,
the manufacturer of the machine could possibly be liable.
A personal injury action usually
starts with an effort to negotiate a settlement without court
action. If that is unsatisfactory, a lawsuit is filed. Ultimately,
if a settlement can not be reached, the case will be tried before
a court and a jury.
If there is enough insurance
or a big enough company involved, personal injury claims will
generally provide a greater recovery than social security or a
workers comp action. The reason for the higher compensation is
that the injured person is entitled to be compensated for the
full pain, suffering and disability incurred by the injured person.
Medical bills are fully recoverable, as well as is the loss of
earning capacity. Serious damages are best suited to the full
process of proof that a court case entails. While no amount of
money can replace what a injured person has lost, juries tend
to do their best when presented with the complete picture of disability.
The problem in most
personal injury cases for the severely injured injured person
will be finding enough insurance, or a deep enough pocket, to
fully compensate for the loss. By a deep pocket, it is meant a
company or individual with the capacity to pay a large verdict
or settlement. With the cost of extended hospital care being several
times the average person's auto insurance limits, this is an issue
in most auto cases. The experienced attorney will look at several
different sources to expand the compensation available. There
is often more than one insurance policy available, to do what
is called stacking. If the injured person or someone in his household
had underinsured coverage, this may be used to increase the recovery.
Often, it becomes a matter of looking past the obvious wrongdoers
and to see if there lurks a hidden wrongdoer in the accident.
The critical mistake in too many
personal injury cases is that an insurance adjuster convinces
the injured person or his family to settle for a relatively modest
sum, before the full extent of injury or entitlement is clear.
If an insurance adjuster
is there early in the process, seemingly generously offering to
pay all medical bills, don't sign anything. When faced with the
pressure of catastrophic medical bills, the promise to pay all
the bills may sound wonderful. Regardless of how much they try
to endear themselves to you, the insurance adjuster is not your
friend. He is not offering to pay medical bills out of the goodness
of his heart, but to avoid paying substantially more. The insurance
adjuster's job is to pay as little as he can. An early offer to
pay bills is tantamount to an admission that they realize they
are responsible to pay far more.
Don't sign anything until you have
at least consulted with an attorney. Most personal injury attorneys
will not charge for the initial consultation.
Lawyers can be of great
assistance to the injured person in recovering benefits to which
he or she may be entitled. While it is possible to find your way
through the multi-layered process to maximize a recovery without
an attorney, it makes sense to at least talk to an experienced
attorney to see what they could do for you. Most personal injury
attorneys will not charge for the initial consultation.
Click
here to learn more about the Johnson Law Office.
CAUTION: Sending email creates a serious problem with
loss of confidentiality. Any email sent to someone who is not your attorney
cannot be considered confidential, because email may lack the expectation
of privacy, unless it is encrypted. MORE IMPORTANT, THE LAWYER YOU EMAIL
MAY ALREADY BE YOUR ADVERSARY'S ATTORNEY. While these attorneys represent
only injured persons, the circumstances of an accident may make someone
as close as your spouse, your potential adversary.
Contact Us:
The Johnson Law Office
1-800-992-9447
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No Fee Unless We Win
Contact Us:
800-992-9447
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wis-injury.com, is not intended
as a substitute for legal advice and is not intended to be construed
as legal advice.
Disclaimer
The materials on this World Wide Web
site are provided purely for informational purposes and are not
legal advice. These materials are intended, but not promised or
guaranteed, to be correct, complete, and current. This web site
is not intended to be a source of advertising, solicitation or
legal advice. Therefore, the reader should not consider this information
an invitation for an attorney-client relationship. Readers should
not act or rely upon any information contained in this World Wide
Web site and should always seek the advice of competent counsel.
The owner of this web site is a law firm,
the Johnson Law Office which organized the Brain Injury Law Group.
The Johnson Law Office is licensed to practice in the States of
Wisconsin , Illinois and Michigan. The Brain Injury Law Group
does not wish to represent anyone desiring representation based
upon their viewing any portion of this World Wide Web site that
fails to comply with all legal and ethical rules in such individuals
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to comply with all rules and regulation which may be applicable
to it, the Brain Injury Law Group hereby informs readers that
this site may be construed as advertising and promotional materials.
The Brain Injury Law Group makes no representation that it can
obtain the same results as reported in this web site in other
legal matters.
The transmission of an e-mail
request for information does not create an attorney-client relationship,
and you should not send us via e-mail any information or facts
relating to your legal problem.
If you are a client, remember
that e-mail may not be secure.
©1999 - 2008 Attorney
Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
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