Lakeland Personal Injury FAQs

How Can a Personal Injury Attorney Help with My Case?

Before picking up the phone to speak to a Lakeland personal injury lawyer, you’ll want to know whether hiring an attorney is the best decision for you and your family. Ultimately, you want the assurance that hiring a legal expert won’t just help you achieve the desired outcome in your case, but also will lighten the load for you and your loved ones. While we can’t guarantee a specific outcome for your case—no lawyer can—we can handle the logistics of your claim so that you can get back to what matters most: focusing on your recovery.

Here are a few ways our lawyers can help you during this challenging chapter of your life:

• Approximate a Fair Settlement: Estimating the potential value of your damages is a crucial step in building a convincing claim. Insurance companies make their money by taking in more in premiums than they pay out in settlements. As such, you cannot trust the claims adjuster to offer you a fair amount. Our accident attorneys will work with you and your healthcare providers to approximate a reasonable sum for the damages you’ve incurred. If it’s likely that you will require further treatment in the future, we may consult with medical specialists and other expert witnesses to estimate the value of such losses. Additionally, our legal team may advise you to start your own personal injury journal to record your pain levels, symptoms, medication side effects, and details about the day of the accident.
• Investigate Your Claim: While the claims adjuster will conduct his or her own investigation, you cannot trust their findings. Insurers may have a strong incentive to misrepresent or skew evidence so it can be used to reduce or deny your claim. Our legal team will thoroughly investigate your case, compile the necessary evidence, and prepare your claim. At Capaz Law Firm, we are here for you–no one else.
• Negotiate Your Claim: If the insurer approves your claim, you will then have to choose whether to agree to a settlement offer. Our injury attorneys in Lakeland will know whether the insurance company is lowballing you to avoid paying out a fair settlement. Ultimately, our aim is to help you obtain the compensation you need to feel “whole” again, which means we will do everything in our power to help you fight for a settlement that reimburses you for all of your accident-related expenses.
• Litigate Your Case: While most personal injury cases are settled out of court, there are some situations where you may have to file a lawsuit. For instance, if you suffered a catastrophic injury and are seeking a significant sum, the insurance company may be unwilling to agree to a fair settlement. In this scenario, you can have peace of mind that our seasoned litigators have the knowledge, resources, and experience to help you succeed in court.

What Is My Personal Injury Claim Worth?

If you suffered a catastrophic injury, it’s likely that your expenses are adding up at an alarming rate. Even worse, your condition may have left you unable to return to work, depriving you and your family of the salary you need to start chipping away at your growing debts. As such, you’re probably eager to find out how much your personal injury claim might be worth.

Having an exact idea of this sum could put your mind at ease and give you the information you need to start planning for the future. However, there is no magic formula for calculating the price tag of a claim. There are many factors that can significantly alter the course a particular case takes and, as a result, our attorneys will first need to thoroughly investigate your case before they are able to estimate the potential recovery.

Below are a few questions they may ask during the initial consultation:

• Were You Unable to Work Due to Your Injuries? If your injuries have left you unable to work, these lost earnings could be factored into the potential recovery. The value of such losses will depend on a wide range of factors, including your salary before the incident, the period of time that you were kept from your job, and whether your injuries will affect your earning capacity down the line.
• Did You Make Any Mistakes? While you may have gathered strong evidence to prove your claim, you aren’t out of the woods just yet. Any oversights, mistakes, or errors you make could lead to disputes, delays, and reductions to your financial award. For instance, if you posted about your injuries on Facebook, the insurance company may use your comments out of context to challenge your case. Alternatively, if you took too long to seek medical treatment, opposing parties may assert that your injuries can’t be that serious if you didn’t need urgent care.
• How Serious Are Your Injuries? The extent of your injuries will have a major influence on the potential value of your claim. Catastrophic injuries and permanent disabilities tend to cost more to treat and have a greater impact on your quality of life than relatively minor conditions.
• Was Any of Your Property Damaged in the Accident? If your property was damaged or destroyed in the accident, you may be able to seek compensation for the cost of replacement or repairs. For example, if you were involved in an auto accident and your car was wrecked, your lawyer may factor the cost of purchasing a new vehicle into the potential recovery.

What Is a Personal Injury Journal?

In the blink of an eye, you find yourself doubled over in pain. While you’re trying to make sense of what happened, your life has undoubtedly changed forever. You may think you’ll never forget the visceral details of your accident, but even vivid memories will fade over time. That’s good news for your mental health, but cause for concern if you are planning to file a personal injury claim.

These cases often hinge on the plaintiff’s ability to remember every moment of the accident and the weeks that follow. Starting a personal injury journal will give you a space to record this information and other elements that might be important to proving your claim. But with so much to keep track of, you don’t want to spend every single second taking notes.

Below are a few examples of what you might want to include in your journal:

• Details of the Accident: It can be difficult to revisit memories of the accident, but doing so in the immediate aftermath, while your memory is still fresh, can ensure that you don’t overlook significant details that could help prove liability or damages. How did the accident happen? What did you do or say immediately afterward? Did another party admit fault? Did you speak to any eyewitnesses? Did you take down the badge numbers of responding officers? Were there any surveillance cameras nearby? The answers to these questions could be helpful to your attorney who may rely on your account to help guide his or her investigation and identify the liable parties.
• Pain Levels: Even minor injuries can cause high levels of pain and discomfort. If you’re still recovering, you already know the extent to which these sensations can impact your emotional wellbeing. Just getting out of bed may be an agonizing experience, and tackling chores around the home could be completely out of the question. As part of a personal injury claim, you may be able to pursue compensation for pain and suffering and other intangible losses. Your personal injury lawyer in Lakeland might employ a number of strategies to prove these damages. One tactic may include using your personal injury journal to demonstrate the effects of your injury on other aspects of your life. By recording your pain levels—making sure to note the duration, severity, and nature of these symptoms—you can begin to paint a clear picture of how the accident has affected your quality of life.
• Doctor Visits: Whether you’re visiting your primary care physician for a checkup or sitting down with a medical specialist, it may help to take notes of everything that is said. This will not only help you keep track of their instructions, but can also help you prove the necessity of certain procedures and other healthcare interventions. Additionally, these notes can help show that you followed your doctor’s orders which may reduce the likelihood of facing disputes over failure to mitigate damages.