Category: Personal Injuries
Do All Personal Injury Cases Go to Court?
October 3, 2013 | Adriel B. VillarrealGoing to a personal injury attorney does not always mean launching a lawsuit. Sometimes the presence of an experienced Minnesota attorney who knows what you’re entitled to is enough to convince insurance companies to offer a fair and reasonable settlement. However, “fair and reasonable” isn’t always a clear cut number. It’s important for you to give your attorney everything he asks for so he can investigate the facts of a case. Determining the Value of Your Personal Injury Case Personal injury compensation figures are not simply pulled from the air. Instead, they are based on the facts: the size of your medical bills, the amount of lost wages, and other factors. There may also be multiple responsible parties who need to issue checks under the law. This means obtaining all of the facts that led up to your injury, talking to witnesses, reading police reports, and more. It also means reviewing medical bills and evaluating lost wages. It can also mean counseling you to take the steps necessary to protect yourself in the event that you have injuries that are not immediately apparent after the accident, like whiplash. You never have to take a settlement if you’re not satisfied with it, and you can push for a trial if you wish. A trial…
Read MoreDealing With Collection Calls during a Personal Injury Case
September 30, 2013 | Adriel B. VillarrealIn an ideal world, a personal injury case would conclude quickly, and everyone would be paid before a single medical bill makes it to any collection agency. However, a case can take a lot longer than anyone might wish, which means the phone may start ringing soon. When collectors start calling it’s natural to want to avoid the calls. Collection agents are trained to make you feel guilty and they’re trained to give you the sensation of being “in trouble,” even if their words remain within the boundaries of the Fair Debt Collection Act. This feeling can be exacerbated by the helplessness you can feel knowing that your ability to do anything about these bills seems trapped somewhere in legal limbo. Unfortunately, ignoring the calls only makes things worse. The phone will keep ringing, and you’ll keep experiencing more stress at a time when you should be trying to recover from the injuries you have sustained. All this stress is actually unnecessary! There’s a reasonably easy way to get these bulldog agencies off your back. Just pick up the phone and explain that the debt in question is part of a personal injury case. Give them all of your attorney’s contact information. Then tell them to “cease communications” with you or anyone other…
Read MoreWhat Should I Do If I’m Bitten by a Dog?
September 26, 2013 | Adriel B. VillarrealIf you are attacked by a dog or any other dangerous animal there is a chance that you have the standing to pursue a personal injury case. In fact, it’s a good idea to contact a personal injury attorney right away. Dog bites and other animal-related injuries are not minor concerns. Some injuries could be fatal, especially to children. Some injuries could be disfiguring. You may have medical bills associated with healing the bite, and they can skyrocket if there is any complication, such as an infection. The law entitles you to compensation that will help you cover those bills. If you need psychological treatment or lose wages you also have the right to get those expenses covered as well. In a case such as a dog bite injury, you may have to prove you were bitten unprovoked. The dog owner may claim you provoked the dog. The case gets harder if the dog was a stray, since the suit would be filed against the owner of the animal in question. The owner might try to claim that he or she had no reason to believe that the animal was dangerous or prone to attacking. Fortunately, this argument is completely irrelevant under Minnesota law. Even if your dog bite case seems straightforward you…
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