LawCall™ is a weekly, thirty minute call-in show about legal topics of interest. Each week, we discuss personal injury, auto accidents, truck accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death, slip and fall, DUI accidents and birth injuries, as well as bankruptcy, family law, divorce, landlord and tenant law, dangerous and defective products, legislative matters, and current issues in the legal world. We take your calls LIVE every Sunday at 11:35pm. Call us at 1-877-525-LAWS (5297) during the show.
This Week On LawCall™ — All About Injuries
We talk a lot about personal injury claims on LawCall™, from a traffic accident injury to a fall to an injury caused by a medical mistake. So, what actually happens if you’re injured and need to file a claim? Do you understand what your legal options are? Should you accept a quick settlement from the insurance company? If you have been injured and are unsure what to do next, you need to tune in to LawCall™ this Sunday, when Tallahassee personal injury attorneys Mark Nonni and Kimmy Stewart will be explaining the steps involved in a personal injury lawsuit.
What is personal injury lawyer? Do I need a lawyer if I’ve been injured?
A personal injury lawyer is a lawyer who practices in the area of personal injury law. Personal injury lawyers represent clients who have been injured, or whose loved ones have been killed, or who have suffered a property loss, because of someone else’s actions- or their failure to act. These include injuries or a wrongful death from auto accidents, truck accidents, DUI accidents, birth injuries, slip and fall, dangerous and defective products, and medical malpractice.
If you are serious about filing a claim, you should contact a legal professional to find out what your options are in the matter. In almost every scenario, you’ll want to work with someone who has a deep knowledge and significant local experience in personal injury cases in your city area. At Fasig & Brooks, our attorneys are experienced in handling all types of personal injury cases. We live here; we know the other attorneys, and the judges, and how the localsystem works.
My attorney talked about a settlement. Don’t I have to go to trial?
Not every injury claim ends requires litigation and even less cases end up in trial. Usually less serious injury cases will end in a financial settlement prior to the lawsuit being filed. This is often in the best interests of the client because lawsuits can be costly and time consuming.
You’ll want to work with your lawyer to negotiate the highest possible settlement amount before agreeing to not file a suit.
The insurance company refused to settle the case (or offered too low an amount).
If negotiations are a non-starter, your lawyer will then file a lawsuit if your case is viable. In general, it takes between one or two years before a lawsuit will move to trial. In Florida, you have four years from the time you were injured to file a lawsuit before you hit the statute of limitations.
We filed a lawsuit. Now what?
After a lawsuit is filed, both sides will go through what is called the discovery process. This means that each side will investigate the other’s claims about the case. Both sides will usually request for, and swap, evidence such as medical documents. This portion of the lawsuit process can take up to six months or a year.
Following that, the lawyers often move to mediation. In this instance, a court-appointed mediator will work with the lawyers and parties involved to find an agreeable outcome for the lawsuit. Mediation often works in personal injury cases and the lawsuits are settled before a trial begins.
Settlement talks failed. Mediation Failed. What happens next?
In some cases going to trial may be important to see how the case will unfold. Depending on how complex the case is, the trial can last for a few days or up to several weeks. Our attorneys take injury claims on a contingency fee basis so you don’t have to pay anything upfront.
To learn more about the details of your case and whether you have a strong claim, give us a call at (850) 222-3232. An attorney is always available, day or night, weekday or weekend, to take your call.
LawCall™ features Tallahassee personal injury attorneys, Vinse Barrett, Jimmy Fasig, Dana Brooks, and Mark Nonni, plus guest attorneys from across North Florida who answer your questions on a different legal topic every Sunday. Long-time newscaster Frank Ranicky anchors the program.
