Case Investigation and Discovery
One of the most crucial parts of filing a case is properly investigating the accident. Your personal injury lawyer can interview all witnesses, obtain pictures and videos of the scene, collect police data and medical records, etc.
This will help prove the following elements of negligence.
- A legal duty between the defendant and the plaintiffs
- The breach of the duty
- Damages directly caused by the breach of duty.
Discussing Your Claim with the Insurance Companies
Once you get in an accident, you must talk to your insurance company and the other party’s insurer. Hiring an Alameda CA personal injury lawyer is great for dealing with these situations, as they can advise you on what to say during these conversations and supervise the whole process.
Placing Parties on Notice
Sometimes, the other party will try to contact you. Still, an experienced personal injury lawyer will notify everyone that all contacts must come through his office to keep track of all communications and gather the information needed for the case.
Sending Formal Letters of Representation as a Personal Injury Attorney
In order for all parties to be aware of who to contact regarding the accident, your personal injury attorney will send a formal letter of representation to everyone involved in the accident, such as insurance companies and manufacturers.
Requesting and Reviewing Applicable Insurance Policies
Your Alameda CA personal injury attorney must receive a copy of your insurance policy so that he can review it and explain everything to you to eliminate all doubts and concerns you may have about its coverage.
Reviewing and Documenting Your Insurance Companies’ Subrogation Rights
Another key element your personal injury attorney must consider is any subrogation rights in your policy, which will include your insurance company as a party to all future lawsuits. This means that your attorney must also protect your insurance company’s interests.
Picking Up a Defective Product
If a defective product caused the accident, it is crucial to keep it safely stored. Therefore, your Alameda, CA, personal injury attorney must get an investigator to pick up the product and store it in a safe and controlled environment.
Arranging for Non-Destructive Testing
Once the defective product is in a safe and controlled environment, the lawyer must find an expert to conduct non-destructive testing on the product. Keeping the product as intact as possible is crucial to use as evidence for the case.
Researching Product Defects
If the expert proves that the defective product caused the injury, the lawyer must conduct thorough research to find similar cases confirming the incident.
Requesting Product Testing Reports
Another crucial aspect of testing the defective product is obtaining a detailed report that displays everything the expert found out about the product.
Analyzing Potential Legal Issues
Once the research has ended and all evidence has been gathered, your attorney must conduct a liability analysis in which they must use all of their personal injury law knowledge to create a valid rationale to file insurance claims against the liable parties.
Accumulating Medical Bills and Hospital Records
A personal injury case will need medical assistance, which translates into bills you’re going to accumulate, especially if you’re dealing with a wrongful death case. The lawyer must collect these bills and records to calculate a fair compensation for your case.
Requesting Medical Reports
If the victim reaches maximum recovery, the Alameda, CA attorney must request all medical reports describing the severity of the injuries and the treatment process.
Requesting Lost Income Information
Once the premium personal injury lawyer has gathered all medical expenses and information, they must talk to the victim’s employer in Alameda, CA, to confirm any lost wages caused by the injuries.
Locating Medical Experts
If the accident caused severe injuries to the victim, the chances are that they will need complex treatment and may end up with life-long disabilities. In these cases, a premium personal injury lawyer must hire medical experts who can confirm these diagnoses through a medical report.
Requesting Economic Projections
Our Alameda personal injury lawyers can also hire an economist or an accountant to learn more about the economic projections the victims will suffer because of the accidents. Some of the things that need to be considered are the following.
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Loss of earning potential
- Disabilities
- Ongoing therapy
- Fixing damaged goods
- Property damage.
Requesting Medical Expert Evaluation
Another common practice among Alameda county personal injury lawyers is to discuss the severity of the victim’s physical injuries with medical experts to get a second opinion and strengthen the case.
Confirming PIP Tort Exceptions
In some cases, the victim won’t have the right to file a claim after a car accident. These cases are called PIP tort exceptions and vary depending on whether you’re placed in San Francisco, CA, Oakland, CA, or Alameda, CA. Therefore, your law firm must verify if you can file a claim against the other driver or not.
Filing a Lawsuit
Some cases, such as medical malpractice or construction accidents, may become too complicated to settle outside the courtroom. Therefore, your lawyer must be ready to file a lawsuit against the other party and defend your case in front of a jury in Oakland, CA.
Participating in Alternative Dispute Resolution
More than 95% of the lawsuits filed in Oakland, CA, get settled, which is why the court encourages mediation and settlement conferences.
Preparing for Trial
Preparing for trial is one of the last steps of the case, as most of it is done during the investigation phase.
It is also crucial to consider that trials can last anywhere from a few hours to several months in Oakland, CA, so all parties must be ready to face all its implications.
How Much Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
Many people refrain from hiring an Oakland, CA, law firm because they’re scared the price will be too high to afford, especially after a car accident and dealing with traumatic injuries.
In these cases, there’s nothing better than asking for a free consultation so that you know how much the law firm can charge you for your case.
Before asking for this free consultation, you must know that most San Francisco, CA, law firms work for contingent fees, which means the lawyer will only get paid a percentage of the attained compensation.
They won’t receive anything if they don’t win the case.
Contact Ehline Law’s Alameda County Personal Injury Lawyers
Whether you’re in Oakland, CA, Alameda, CA, or San Francisco, CA, you deserve the best possible personal injury representation, which is why here at Ehline Law, we offer a free consultation for all cases in Alameda county.
All you have to do for a free consultation is to call us at (833) LETS-SUE and ask about our fantastic services in San Francisco or Oakland, CA, or anywhere in the Los Angeles area.
