San Jose Personal Injury Attorney
Dealing with a severe injury can be difficult for a number of reasons. First of all, you may be dealing with significant emotional and mental stress. An accident can be incredibly traumatic, and you may be struggling to get back to normal. In addition, you may be dealing with the physical consequences of your injuries, including physical pain or disability. Finally, you may also be worried about the financial ramifications of your accident. How will you pay for your medical expenses, and how will you account for missed wages?
With all of these concerns, it can be difficult to shoulder the added responsibility of taking legal action against negligent parties. This is why it is so important to enlist the help of an experienced San Jose injury attorney as soon as possible. Our legal professionals can help you take legal action against anyone who was at fault for your injury. With the right approach, you can recover considerable compensation to help with medical expenses, missed wages, and any other damages you might have suffered.
It is always best to connect with an attorney who specializes in personal injury cases. Ideally, you should seek out an expert who has dealt with your type of personal injury case in the past. In addition, it is probably a good idea to work with an attorney who has decades of experience with personal injury lawsuits. Mary Alexander & Associates is a fine example of a law firm with the experience and qualifications necessary to achieve legitimate results.
What Does a Personal Injury Attorney Do?
A personal injury attorney in San Jose can help you with many aspects of your lawsuit. When you first connect with your attorney, you will go over the details of the incident during a consultation. Your attorney will then start gathering evidence and building your case. During this time, you and your attorney can speak with any insurance companies that might be involved. Your attorney can negotiate on your behalf and help you pursue a settlement out of court.
If this strategy does not provide you with adequate compensation, then your attorney can take things one step further and help you go to trial. During a personal injury trial, your attorney is responsible for questioning witnesses, presenting evidence, and giving voice to your central argument.
Types of Personal Injury Lawsuits
Personal injury lawsuits can take many forms. All of these lawsuits fall under the general “umbrella” of personal injury, although they are distinct in their own unique ways:
- Personal Injury: A “normal” personal injury lawsuit might involve a car accident.
- Product Liability: Plaintiffs file product liability lawsuits against product manufacturers or designers when products cause damages.
- Premise Liability: Plaintiffs file premise liability lawsuits against property owners when they become injured due to certain hazards on premises.
When Can I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
You can file a personal injury lawsuit whenever someone else’s negligence has led to your injuries. Establishing negligence is not always easy, which is why it is important to enlist the help of a qualified, experienced attorney.
In order to establish negligence, you will need to prove that four elements exist:
- Duty of Care: You need to prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care. This means that a reasonable person should have acted in a manner that ensures your safety.
- Breach of Duty: You need to prove that the defendant failed to provide this duty of care. In other words, they did not act as a “reasonable person.”
- Causation: You need to prove that the defendant’s failure to provide a duty of care led directly to your injury. In other words, there was a clear connection between their irresponsible actions and the accident.
- Damages: You need to prove that you actually suffered damages as a result of the incident. In other words, you suffered a genuine injury.
What Kind of Evidence Do I Need?
In order to establish negligence, you will need to present solid evidence. Although your attorney will shoulder much of the responsibility for collecting, compiling, and presenting evidence, you can help, too.
Medical documents are important pieces of evidence in personal injury lawsuits. Without a clear written record of your injuries, it is difficult to establish that you actually suffered damages. You can ask your healthcare providers for written statements, records, and medical images. For example, an X-ray can show that you suffered catastrophic damage to your pelvis.
Additional evidence may come in the form of photographs or witness testimony. You can take photographs of the aftermath of the accident. For example, you might want to photograph a spill in a grocery store that caused you to fall. If you were injured in a car accident, you can collect contact information from nearby witnesses who can later testify on your behalf.
How Much Compensation Will I Receive?
Damages are split into two categories — economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages are easy to quantify, as they take the form of medical bills, missed wages, and other expenses that are easy to confirm and calculate. Non-economic damages are not as easy to quantify. These are things like pain and suffering and loss of consortium.
Generally speaking, your non-economic damages will take the form of a “multiplier” which is then applied to your total economic damages. If you have suffered a serious, life-altering injury, this can result in you receiving up to 10 times the amount of your total economic damages.
Why It is Important to Take Legal Action as Soon as Possible
If you have suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence, it is important to take legal action as soon as possible. While getting medical treatment is obviously the top priority after you have been involved in an accident, legal action is a time-sensitive matter. The statute of limitations restricts your ability to file lawsuits after a certain amount of time has passed.
You have two years to file your personal injury lawsuit under normal circumstances. Keep in mind that this time limit only begins when you become aware of your injury. In certain circumstances, you could become aware of your injury many years after the initial accident. For example, you may have been exposed to unsafe chemicals that cause adverse effects many years later.
The statute of limitations is even shorter if you are filing a lawsuit against a government agency. For example, you might have been injured by a public bus driver or a postal truck. In this situation, you only have six months to file your claim. For medical malpractice claims, you have one year to file your claim.
Putting the statute of limitations aside, there are other reasons why it is important to file your claim as soon as possible. Certain evidence may be difficult to obtain after time has passed. Your attorney can work most effectively if they can take action as soon as possible.
Enlist the Help of a Qualified Attorney Today
If you have been searching the San Jose area for a qualified, experienced personal injury attorney who can help you pursue justice, look no further than Mary Alexander & Associates. We have decades of experience with a wide range of personal injury cases, and we can assist you as you pursue justice. Even if you are not sure about whether or not you can pursue legal action against those responsible, it is worth booking a consultation and going over your options. Reach out today, and you can approach this situation in the most efficient way possible.
