Grand Island has a rich history and has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years. Because of its location just on the cusp of eastern and central Nebraska, Grand Island feels both quaint and modern at the same time, which is part of its appeal. However, the city has struggled to modernize its roadways to cope with all the increased traffic, agricultural, commercial, and residential. Unfortunately, all this extra traffic has contributed to an increase in serious motor vehicle accidents which have inevitably resulted in more injured drivers. If you have been injured in a vehicle collision due to another person's negligence, it's highly recommended that you hire an experienced car accident lawyer in Grand Island as soon as possible.
WIth that, you'll likely have questions about how to go about finding the right one for your specific case. With over 25 years serving Grand Island, Steffens Law Offices’ team of personal injury attorneys will work with you to answer your questions by phone, text, email or in-person to make sure you have the information you need to make the very best decisions for your recovery.
Why Hire a Car Accident Attorney in Grand Island, NE?
Great question. The truth is you may not need one at all. When accidents are minor and no significant injuries have occurred, hiring a lawyer may not make sense. In fact, the very best car accident lawyers are usually busy with serious injury cases and will decline to take on a client unless there is enough value to justify the lawyer’s time.
But that should not discourage you from calling a Grand Island car accident lawyer to get answers to your questions. Most experienced car accident lawyers are willing to take your call and provide helpful tips on how to go about settling your personal injury claim for the most value on your own.
Steffens Law Offices’ team of car accident lawyers will always take a call from an injured victim free of charge and listen carefully to the facts of your situation. Even if we can’t take on a case, we’ll provide helpful information and guidance on settling your claim. We’ll even send you a free copy of the book written by our founder, Bill Steffens, Crash Course! which is full of priceless information on settling car accident personal injury claims.
When you are significantly injured from a motor vehicle accident, your whole life can feel unhinged and deciding what to do next can often feel overwhelming. Not being able to work and count on your regular income, fixing or replacing your car, and supporting your family can be just a few of the daunting problems a vehicle accident faces, let alone the medical treatment and therapy which may be required simply to recover. This is where hiring the right car accident law firm and lawyer makes all the sense in the world and can make the difference between receiving fair compensation for your injuries, pain and suffering, or nothing at all.
What Does a Grand Island Car Accident Lawyer Do?
As discussed above, there are many aspects and concerns a person must address after suffering injury from a significant vehicle accident. A good car accident lawyer will want to get involved and begin working for you as early as possible. Here are just a few ways a good car accident lawyer in Grand Island will help you:
- Relieve Stress
Motor vehicle accidents can frequently cause intense stress. Your injuries and pain, your family’s well-being, and getting your life back on track can be enough of a recipe for anyone to suffer a full-blown mental breakdown.
Your car accident lawyer should very quickly get up to speed on the facts of the accident, your injuries and the medical care needed, liability of the other party, the insurance policies involved and every other aspect of your case. This way, you can focus on your family and recovery while your legal team focuses on your case. Didn’t just reading that help relieve your stress at least a little?
- Gather Evidence, Notify Insurance adjusters, and Assert Liability
Lawyers understand which evidence will be important in each situation. A good car crash lawyer in Grand Island, NE, should conduct a thorough factual investigation of all aspects of your collision and the circumstances which led up to it. They will quickly obtain a copy of your accident report and investigation conducted by the local police department. The lawyer’s team will also visit the accident scene and take photos and measurements if necessary. They will want to gather witness statements, any video footage of the collision, and any other relevant evidence which may shed light on how and why the collision occurred.
Once sufficient evidence is obtained and reviewed, your lawyer will notify the appropriate insurance companies and assert liability on the responsible driver. The lawyer does this by sending out letters of representation which prevent the other driver’s insurance company from taking your statement without your lawyer present to protect you and alerting the insurance company and other relevant parties that your lawyer will be negotiating on your behalf.
- Ensure You are Afforded the Absolute Best Medical Care Possible
Serious injuries require serious medical care. Common injuries a car accident victim may suffer include traumatic brain injuries, broken bones, acute whiplash, and other spinal injuries. Victims may spend days or weeks in the hospital and need significant therapy following the accident to help their bodies’ impaired regions heal and recover.
Your Grand Island car accident lawyer will follow your medical care and treatment, obtain copies of your medical records and all expenses, and compile them into summaries for the liable insurance company to understand the severity of your injuries, pain, and recovery, all in an effort to build the value of your case.
- Negotiate for Full Compensation
After the initial steps are complete, your auto accident attorney will use all of the above to craft a formal legal document known as a demand to the responsible party and insurance company. The demand will contain strong arguments that marshal the facts of the case into making the case for clear liability against the responsible driver. It will also provide a detailed explanation of your injuries, treatment, and therapy through the point where you reach maximum medical improvement. If you have missed wages from lost work or other expenses which are recoverable, the demand will have parts addressing this as well. Finally, the demand will formally request a dollar value which you and the lawyer have previously agreed will fairly compensate you for all you’ve endured.
- Receive and Distribute Funds
Your lawyer will act as your fiduciary to receive and appropriately distribute your settlement funds. If there are outstanding medical expenses that need to be paid through the settlement, the lawyer should negotiate with your providers and health insurance company to lower those charges, then know where and how to distribute the final amounts.
Finally, the lawyer will send your settlement funds to you and complete the case. This way, you’ll know you won’t have any outstanding bills left to pay after receiving your settlement funds.
Do You Have a Good Case?
The answer to this question really comes down to three different factors. Watch the video below, as Grand Island auto accident attorney Bill Steffens, discusses those elements.
When to Call a Lawyer After a Car Wreck
As quickly as possible. This point cannot be stressed enough. A good car crash lawyer knows that evidence doesn’t last forever. Witness memories of what they saw get worse over time, video evidence gets erased or overwritten, and tire skid marks fade after a few days or a good rainstorm. Your car accident lawyer’s ability to present the strongest facts of liability and your injuries will largely depend on the evidence that she is able to collect early on.
Another reason to contact a good Grand Island car accident lawyer early - you can bet that the liable insurance company’s team of experts will begin working against you as soon as the other driver contacts his agent. They will use everything at their disposal to deny liability or lessen your damages, in an effort to pay you as little as possible, and nothing if they can.
Often, the other guy’s insurance company will call you and under the pretense of “trying to help and check in with you” attempt to take your recorded statement. The insurance representative will be friendly, kind, and seem genuinely interested in your injuries and recollection of the collision. But don’t be fooled! Nothing you say to them will be helpful to your case. They will replay your statement over and over, trying to find any piece of your conversation to use to lessen the damages they have to pay you. Hiring a good car accident lawyer will ensure you are protected from tactics like these from the beginning to maintain the strength of your case.
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How to Find the Auto Accident Lawyer in Grand Island
How to Find the Auto Accident Lawyer in Grand IslandFinding a car accident lawyer in Grand Island is easy, but finding the right one for you is the better goal.
- First, you may want to search the internet for available car accident lawyers who practice in Grand Island or around your community in Nebraska. With the age of virtual communication now being commonplace, you may not care about finding a “neighborhood lawyer,” you should care about the lawyer’s experience, accessibility, and reputation in the state where they are licensed to practice.
- The lawyer you are considering should be highly experienced with your type of collision and injuries. Were you rear-ended? On a motorcycle? On the freeway or driving down a country road? These different situations present their own unique nuances, so make sure to ask the lawyer you are considering: “How many of these types of accidents have you handled?” If the answer doesn’t inspire your confidence, the lawyer is probably not the right one for you.
- Reputation is also important. A quick search on Yelp, or Google Reviews should point you in the right direction as far as reputation. The lawyers in your area who handle car accidents and are experienced with your type of collision should have at least several dozen reviews about their firm and clients’ interaction with them. For example, Steffens Law Offices has hundreds of 5-Star Google and we are very proud of the reputation we’ve built over the last three decades serving Nebraskan drivers.
- Finally, accessibility seems obvious, but time and time again, we take calls from clients who fired their previous attorney because they said, “I could never get ahold of them.” That really is a non-starter. Your attorney should be easy to contact and readily available to answer any questions or the need to discuss any part of your case. Ideally, the attorney is surrounded by an expert team who can field your questions and get you the answers you need in no time flat. That’s how our team at Steffens Law Offices operates, and you should expect no less.
How Long Does a Car Accident Settlement Take?
This really depends on the nature of your injuries. While most clients want a settlement as fast as possible, it’s important to remember that settling a car accident fast is easy – in fact, the liable insurance company would love to send you a small check and have you cash it as fast as possible! What is much more important, is settling your car accident personal injury claim for the full value, and this can only happen once you reach what is called Maximum Medical Improvement. This simply means that you have undergone all the medical care, treatment, and therapy recommended by your doctor to make a full recovery. Only then can you and your car accident lawyer understand the full value of your injuries, required medical care, pain and suffering, and wages lost as a result of the accident. Face it, the insurance company is only going to pay out once, why on earth would you accept an offer before you recovered completely? Good car accident lawyers will want to settle as expediently as possible, but not leave any money on the table. This is why you want a lawyer with the experience necessary to understand your case, a reputation sufficient to warrant your trust, and the accessibility to keep in contact with you every step of the way.
[Related: 7 Strategies for a Successful MVA Claim]
Contact Our Grand Island Car Crash Attorney for a Free Consult
If you or a loved one was injured in an auto accident due to another person's negligence, in or around, Grand Island, NE, you likely have a case for collecting fair compensation for your injuries.
Contact us today by calling our 24/7 injury hotline at (308) 872-8327 or utilize our contact form! We look forward to hearing from you.