In our world saturated by advertising both online and offline, it’s common to hear the phrase “personal injury attorney” without really knowing what it means. A personal injury attorney is a lawyer who provides legal representation to those who have been injured as a result of another person or entity. Personal injury lawyers tend to be especially knowledgeable and have more experience with regard to the area of law put in place to relieve the people who have suffered harm from the wrongful acts of others. A personal injury case is a case involving someone injured at the fault of someone else. Personal injury attorneys work on cases involving auto accidents, work injuries, medical mistakes, and many more. These lawyers can help navigate you through the uncertain time after your injury has occurred.
A good personal injury attorney will offer peace of mind that you are being represented well; they will protect your rights and do whatever possible to get you the best results for your case; offer personal advice and treat you with respect; keep you informed and up-to-date on what to expect; and, they will handle the stress of dealing with the insurance company. There are also elements that go into every personal injury case that an experienced personal injury attorney must prove.
The three elements of a personal injury case
To establish whether or not there is a legitimate personal injury claim, three factors must be met. The factors are:
Negligence: Who is at fault? Someone has to be at fault for causing the damages acquired. An experienced personal injury attorney will know how to establish negligence, even in cases where the act of negligence is unclear. Negligence is usually caused by someone doing something they should not have or not doing something they should have.
Damages: The negligent act of the other person has to have created some sort of damages in the person who was harmed. Your personal injury lawyer will show what has been damaged because of the particular negligent act. The best examples of suffering damages is having to pay medical bills because of someone else’s mistake or, in the event of an auto accident, having to pay to fix your car.
Causation: This can be the most difficult thing in a personal injury case for your personal injury attorney to prove. Causation is asking if the negligent act caused the damages. In some cases this is very clear. For example, if someone hits you in the arm with a baseball bat causing your arm to break, the causation is obvious. Other cases are not so clear-cut. Cases where the injuries are not so apparent leave an opening to question where the damages actually came from.
I hope you found this article helpful in your search for a qualified personal injury attorney in Seattle. If you have been injured on account of someone else’s wrongdoing, or you comparing attorneys for your case, I welcome your questions.