How A Accident Attorney Can Help With Medical Bills

If you were in a car accident, you could have thousands of dollars of medical bills that you cannot pay. How will you pay them? One way is to work with an accident attorney Portland Oregon to help you get a fair settlement or favourable verdict.

Your attorney can help you get more money for a settlement to cover your medical bills, lost earnings, and pain and suffering. When the case settles, your accident attorney in Portland Oregon can set up a medical lien to ensure that you get the medical treatments you need.

Once the case concludes, your medical providers are paid from the settlement. But it is common for lawyers to work with medical providers and insurance companies to pay the bills for less than you owe. Because they can get your bills paid for less in some cases, you can wind up with more money in your pocket. This is a less understood advantage of working with an accident attorney Portland Oregon but one that you should not discount.

It also is more likely that your attorney can get you more money if you see your medical providers immediately after the accident. While many injured parties might not want to see a doctor right away, this will almost always help you get a better settlement. When you go to the doctor as soon as possible, it ensures that the accident is connected to the accident. The insurance company will probably try to argue that you were not hurt in the accident if you do not get medical treatment right away.

Remember to engage with an accident attorney in Portland Oregon to help you get the best settlement and possibly get your medical bills covered for less. You could end up with more money in your pocket.

Mistakes When Hiring An Auto Accident Lawyer

Were you in a car accident and suffered serious injuries? Then you may be thinking about hiring the best auto accident lawyer. Your attorney can potentially obtain compensation for your losses and damages, including pain and suffering, medical costs, and lost wages.

However, hiring the wrong attorney can lead to serious problems. The case could be undervalued or even thrown out. So, do not make the following errors when hiring your attorney!

First, you should never bring in a lawyer who is not skilled in car accident cases. Personal injury cases and car accidents are specific types of legal actions. Your attorney should be experienced with investigating car accidents and haggling with insurance companies.

Your attorney also should have good relationships with medical professionals. It can be hard sometimes to get a doctor to treat you after an accident. There are sometimes delays in the doctor getting payment. But using the best auto accident lawyer may mean you can get help with your medical treatments with payment coming after the case settles.

Second, you should not hire an attorney who does not have large financial resources. Insurance companies may draw out a car accident case if they think your attorney cannot afford to take the course all the way to court. A large law firm has the money and resources to see the case through a trial if needed. While many car accident cases end in settlement, it is always best to have an attorney who can take the course to trial.

If you remember these key points about hiring an attorney, you will have the best chance of getting a better car accident settlement. Talk to the best auto accident lawyer you can find and you may be on your way to a fair settlement.

What Happens If A Car Accident Claim Goes To Court?

If you are in a car accident, you may have various injuries and damages. Your Portland car accident attorney will attempt to settle the case out of court. They will negotiate with the insurance company for the other driver to obtain the best settlement they can.

While many car accident cases result in a settlement, sometimes this does not happen. The insurance company may dig in and refuse to offer you enough money to pay you for your losses. If that happens, the case will go to court.

Keep in mind that car accident trials can take a long time. The court date may be scheduled months in advance, so you probably will not see any money for a long time. You and your Portland car accident attorney need to decide if you can wait that long to be compensated. If you cannot wait, you may need to settle for what the insurance company offers.

The trial will probably be done in front of a jury that is selected from the community in which the accident occurred. Your attorney and the defense attorney will present their best case. Your attorney will argue that you should be compensated by the defendant for your losses, while the other attorney may argue that they were not at fault.

While most trials end in a verdict, remember that your Portland car accident attorney can still try to settle the case up until a verdict is reached. A possible downside of a trial is you may get nothing if the jury rules against you. You and your attorney need to carefully weigh whether your case is strong enough to be won at trial. If the attorney thinks it is, it could be worth it to take the case to court.

Want to Get More In Your Car Accident Settlement?

If you plan to settle your own car accident claim, you want to follow best practices to ensure you get more money. The tips below should help you get more money for your damages. However, there are many cases where you are better off having a car accident lawyer in Portland Oregon handle the case. If you have serious injuries, you are usually better off with an experienced car accident lawyer in Portland Oregon fighting for your rights.

If you do decide to handle the claim in a minor accident, start the claim as soon as you can. It’s best to call your insurance company immediately after the accident. This is when your memory is freshest. Tell them what happened to the best of your knowledge. Stick to the facts and don’t offer opinions or leave anything out. If you think you were partially at fault, you should tell them that.

Next, you want to remember to include all of your expenses when calculating what a fair settlement would be. Some laypeople don’t remember to include all of their costs, which may include:

The cost of medical bills and all related expenses
How much income you lost because of your injuries
Whether you will need long term medical care and if you are disabled
Any pain and suffering you have
The cost of getting your vehicle back on the road
Damage to any other property you own such as computers, clothing, cell phones, etc.

When you add up all of these, you should set up a bare minimum amount you will accept and not go below it. If you aren’t sure how to value pain and suffering, this is a good time to call a car accident lawyer in Portland Oregon for help.

Remember these tips so you can get the best settlement for your injuries.

Insider Tips To Get The Best Auto Accident Lawyer

So you were in a car accident and have injuries. How do you locate the best auto accident lawyer so you can get a big settlement? Let’s take a look at some of the insider tips we’ve read recently:

First, it always pays to ask around and get referrals. Referrals are always one of the best ways to find a professional who is really good in their field. When you are dealing with a serious car accident injury, finding the best auto accident lawyer from a friend or family member is very important.

Getting referrals from people you know can save you a lot of time looking around online and reading the Yellow Pages.

Talk to your friends and relatives about any skilled personal injury attorney they have worked with in the last few years.

Second, you should find a car accident attorney with a lot of experience in cases like yours. You are less likely to receive a large settlement in a car accident claim if your attorney doesn’t handle car accidents often.

Also, the attorney should have experience getting good settlements and verdicts for injuries similar to yours. For example, if you break your hip in a serious car accident caused by a truck driver, you should look for an attorney who has gotten big settlements in these kinds of cases.

It’s particularly important to find someone with experience when you have a serious injury that could take months of recovery. You need to have enough compensation to pay for your ongoing medical needs, pain, and suffering, and lost work time.

Third, it’s also important to look for a large law firm that has significant financial resources. Remember, large personal injury cases can take months or even years. You need to have a lawyer who has the money to take the case to the end, however long it takes.

If you remember these key points when you are looking for a personal injury attorney, you are more likely to get the best case result.

Do You Want To Get The Most For Your Oregon Pedestrian Accident?

Anyone hurt in an Oregon pedestrian accident probably has pain and suffering and medical bills to deal with. But how do you get more for your pedestrian accident settlement?

The first step is to choose the best pedestrian accident law firm to represent you. Next, keep these tips at top of mind:

Collect Evidence Thoroughly: Every pedestrian accident case is only as good as the available evidence. The more evidence you bring to your pedestrian accident law firm, the more likely you will enjoy a favorable outcome.

Sure, your attorney will work hard to get all the evidence, but you can help:

Take a lot of pictures immediately after the accident if you can. Take pictures of your injuries, who was involved in the accident, vehicle damage, and positions of the cars before they are moved. Also, take pictures of the surrounding area and intersection so it’s easy to get an idea of how the accident went down.
Talk to witnesses as soon as you can and get reliable contact information.
If the accident was in a public area, there could be surveillance video available. So, get copies from any business or government entity if you can.
File a police report right away.

Decide What You Will Settle For: It’s always best to have a good idea of what you will settle your case for. Your personal injury attorney will help you come up with a ballpark idea.

You can bet the insurance company will give you a low settlement amount to start with. But you and your attorney should have a firm idea in mind of what a good number is for you.

Finish Your Medical Treatments: It’s vital that you finish with all of the medical treatments your doctor recommends. If you don’t, the insurance company will say you aren’t seriously injured.

The more treatments you have, the stronger the case will be against the defendant. More medical bills show you have more serious injuries.

Remember these tips and you will have a stronger pedestrian accident settlement or lawsuit.

How To Start Driving Again After A Serious Car Accident

You may have had a serious car accident recently that left you with injuries and damages. If you had a good car accident lawyer in Portland, Oregon, you probably got compensation.

But just because you are healed from the accident doesn’t mean getting behind the wheel again is easy. After a serious accident, you might be wary of driving again or are extremely cautious to the point that driving safely is difficult.

Fortunately, many people find their fears of driving again tend to fade after a few weeks or months. But if you are still having trouble driving, remember the following tips.

First, you should write down everything that happened in the accident. Many people discover that writing down what happened helps them to deal with the trauma and feel their emotions.

Despite what some think, avoiding the trauma doesn’t help you get better. It’s best to deal with your feelings as soon as you can.

Keep writing down what happened and how it makes you feel, and you should find it helps you with driving again.

Second, don’t keep what happened in the accident to yourself. Telling family members and friends what happened can reduce your anxieties and fears. Sitting on those feelings and fears can make it harder to get over them, and harder to get behind the wheel again.

Third, some accident victims find it helps to have another adult with them when they start driving again. Having a friend or family member to lean on while you get used to driving again can make a huge difference.

Fourth, keep your initial drives short and sweet. You shouldn’t undertake a four-hour drive across the state. Instead, just drive to the grocery store or gas station. Once you get accustomed to short distances, you can work your way up to longer drives.

Next, you should not avoid seeing the crash site. Changing your route or slowing down at the crash site isn’t productive. If you cannot see the place it happened without having a lot of anxiety, seeing a counselor can help a lot.

Last, if you still find driving gives you a lot of stress, consider a defensive driving class. The skills you learn in class can make you feel more confident behind the wheel. And being back in a car without an accident happening will increase your confidence.

Defensive driving classes also help you see situations that could lead to accidents. And taking one of these courses can reduce your insurance bills, too.

These tips will help you get behind the wheel and get on with your life. If you are still thinking about filing a claim or lawsuit, talk to an experienced car accident lawyer in Portland, Oregon.

The Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make After A Car Accident

Were you just in a car accident? This is an upsetting time and it’s important to take care of your injuries as soon as you can. Also, remember to talk to a car accident lawyer in Portland Oregon soon.

Another piece of advice: Don’t make the following mistakes after a car accident.

Don’t Underestimate Your Injuries: There is a tendency after a car accident to say you’re ok and you aren’t hurt. But if you say that to the other driver and to witnesses, it can complicate your settlement negotiations later.

Anyone who heard you says you weren’t hurt could tell the defense attorney that you said you weren’t hurt. This could make the insurance company deny any claim you make.

Also, saying you aren’t hurt may mean you don’t seek medical attention. It could turn out you have injuries that get worse because you don’t get medical help right away.

Don’t Wait To Seek Medical Attention: When the police and first responders come to the accident, it’s smart to get medically checked out to see if you have injuries. It’s common for the adrenaline to be flowing after the accident, and you may not feel any pain.

But after a day or so, the adrenaline rush will fade and you could find yourself in a lot of pain. And if you wait, it could be too late to document your injuries and connect them to the accident.

Imagine if you have serious injuries and can’t go to work. But you waited to seek medical treatment so now you can’t get compensation for your injuries.

Don’t Wait: After the accident, you may want to just wait to do things because you want to focus on feeling better. This is understandable but it may be a mistake.

Here are some things you shouldn’t wait on after an accident:

If you delay medical care, you don’t have full documentation of your injuries for settlement negotiations.
If you wait to have the crash investigated, essential evidence may disappear. And remember that witness memories are best in the first few hours after the crash. They may not remember as much if you wait.
If you wait to talk to a car accident lawyer in Portland Oregon, you could have trouble finding a good attorney to take the case later. The best attorneys want plenty of time to prepare your case.
If you wait too long to file the lawsuit, the statute of limitations may run out.

In many states, you have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit, so make sure you never wait to talk to an attorney.

None of this is to rush you and make you anxious after your accident. But you should take care of these issues promptly to ensure you have the best possible care and recovery.

Don’t Give the Insurance Company Too Much Information: Don’t think any insurance company is your friend, including your own. Of course, you need to give your insurance company all the information they ask for so you can get the accident covered if it’s necessary.

The major issue is when accident victims are too open and honest with the other insurance company. There are many things you can say that unwittingly damage your case.

Remember to talk to a car accident lawyer Portland Oregon for the best possible outcome for your case.

How Do I Choose The Best Pedestrian Accident Lawyer?

So you were hit by a car and have a broken leg and injured back. You have thousands of dollars of medical bills and you can’t work for six weeks. How do you choose the best pedestrian accident lawyer to get the settlement you deserve?

Below are some tips to ensure you get the right lawyer for your pedestrian accident case.

How Long Have You Been Practicing?

You should first ask how long the Oregon personal injury attorney has worked on pedestrian accidents. He or she should have years of experience with pedestrian accident cases.

Experience matters because pedestrian accident cases have their own quirks. For example, if you crossed the street without a crosswalk and were hit by a car, the case gets more complicated.

You still may get compensation for your injuries, but the insurance company is certain to argue you caused the accident. If your attorney is good, they’ll say you may have been partially responsible, but will try to show the driver still was partially liable.

Perhaps you crossed the street at the wrong place, but maybe the driver was going 15 MPH over the speed limit and was texting when he hit you. Those are the details of a pedestrian accident case that could still get you plenty of compensation – if you have the best pedestrian accident lawyer!

Have You Worked On Cases Like Mine?

Next, ask the attorney if they’ve worked on pedestrian accidents with injuries like yours. It helps that your lawyer has worked on cases where the injured parties had a broken leg or fractured hip like you.

Or, if you have a spinal cord injury, it’s imperative that you have an attorney who has settled cases like yours for millions of dollars.

Of course, your attorney cannot guarantee any result (run if an attorney does that!). But their past case results on cases similar to yours are an indicator of what you might expect.

Do You Go To Trial?

Most personal injury cases settle without a trial because the injured person needs money now, and the insurance company usually wants to avoid the unknown with a jury.

However, you should still find a lawyer with an excellent track record at trial. This increases the chances that you’ll see a good verdict if it goes to trial.

Also, it helps when your attorney has a good track record at trial during settlement negotiations. If the insurance company knows the lawyer could take them to the cleaners at trial, it’s more likely they’ll offer a fair settlement.

Who Will Handle My Case?

People with serious injuries in a pedestrian accident don’t want a junior attorney handling their case. You want to have the best attorney in the office on your case so you get more money.

Now that you know what to look for in the best pedestrian accident lawyer, you’re more likely to get more money for your injuries.

X Myths About Auto Accident Injury Lawyers

If you’re ever in a serious car accident, you may call on auto accident injury lawyers. But as you do your research, you may see some myths about auto accident injury lawyers online.

Below are some of the most common myths that you shouldn’t necessarily believe. Always talk to an auto accident injury lawyer when you are in a serious accident; he or she can tell you in a free consultation if you would benefit from legal representation.

You Always Will Get Compensation in A Car Accident: When you file an auto, accident claim with your or the other driver’s insurance company, you may believe that you will always get compensation. But this is often not the case. Some car accidents are clearly one driver or the other driver’s fault. But not every case is so obvious. You may have two insurance companies wrangling about who is at fault. In the end, you may not get anything, especially if you don’t have an attorney.

While having an attorney doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a settlement or favorable verdict in a trial, you are more likely to get fair compensation in a serious car accident with an attorney. Even when you account for legal fees, most people get more money in a serious car crash when they have an auto accident injury lawyer.

Any Attorney Can Handle My Car Accident Claim: The legal field is full of specialties. Most attorneys specialize in one area of law and type of case. Personal injury law is its own large legal specialty, and car accidents area another specialty in and of itself. You are always best off hiring an attorney who is skilled and experienced in auto accident law.

Also, car accident laws vary widely by state. You are best off if you hire a car accident attorney who has handled many cases in your state over many years.

Legal Fees Will Eat Up Your Settlement: It’s true that most personal injury attorneys will receive roughly 33% of your settlement or favorable verdict. However, most people in serious car accidents discover they will get more compensation with an attorney’s help, even when accounting for legal fees. One of the biggest parts of a settlement is pain and suffering compensation. Very few laypeople can negotiate effectively with an insurance company for fair pain and suffering compensation.

Most of us don’t know how to negotiate in a car accident claim or lawsuit. We also, can’t back up our negotiations with the threat of an expensive lawsuit if the negotiations break down. You might be surprised to learn how much more willing insurance companies are to offer a fair settlement when they know your attorney has the experience and skill to take them to the cleaners in a lawsuit. It makes a big difference, especially regarding money for pain and suffering.

In summary, you shouldn’t always believe everything you hear online about auto accident injury lawyers. Many car accident victims are thankful they got an attorney involved in their case in the end.