When you or someone you care deeply about has been injured, whether in a commercial semi-truck crash, a slip and fall accident, an animal attack, or motorcycle or other vehicle accident, you have the right to full compensation for your injuries. And the best way to get that compensation is to hire a personal injury attorney in Grand Island.
Below, we detail everything you need to know about hiring a Grand Island personal injury lawyer.
What to Do After Suffering a Personal Injury?
1. Seek Medical Care Immediately.
Often, victims counter-intuitively try to “tough it out” or “walk it off,” and many times fear the expense of going to the doctor or an ambulance ride to the hospital. While it’s certainly true that medical care is expensive, what is more important than your recovery? Additionally, your case will only be helped by medical records which indicate you did not delay getting checked out and assessed for injuries after your accident.
2. Call the Police and Obtain an Accident Report.
This step cannot be overstated. The police should always be called after a serious accident. Evidence must be gathered in the form of witness statements, photographs, measurements, and other details which officers are trained to gather and preserve at the scene of a significant injury collision or other accident. Make sure you obtain a business card of the officer on scene so that you can obtain a copy of the relevant report once it’s complete.
3. Don’t Speak to Anyone About Your Case.
This point might seem a bit paranoid, but the adage “loose lips sink ships” is relevant here. You might be surprised to learn that many clients report being contacted by the other driver’s insurance company very soon after the accident, sometimes while they are in the hospital recovering! You may be on pain medication, tired, and not totally aware of what you’re saying, and experience shows that anything you say can and surely will be recorded and used against you when it comes to adverse insurance companies.
4. Hire a Grand Island Personal Injury Lawyer.
If you take nothing else away from the above, by now you should clearly understand that hiring a personal injury lawyer in Grand Island is vital to obtaining fair compensation for your injuries and other damages in Nebraska.
Experience, advocacy, knowledge, and a will to win are powerful tools that personal injury lawyers use every day to assist their clients against the responsible party’s insurance company. The fact is that the insurance company will have a team of professionals working for them attempting to lessen your claim for damages, shouldn’t you have a better team of professionals working on your behalf?
What Does a Grand Island Personal Injury Lawyer Do?
Many people don’t realize that a personal injury lawyer doesn’t just sue people and companies in court. In fact, most personal injury cases and claims do not ever go to court, and there is never any trial. The best personal injury lawyers build your case with evidence like accident reports, medical records, and investigative facts in order to force the responsible party or their insurance company to negotiate a settlement agreement which pays you full compensation for your injuries, wages lost, property damage, and pain and suffering.
You won’t need to worry about navigating the treacherous waters of insurance coverage and adjusters, benefit limits or medical liens. Your personal injury lawyer should take care of every aspect of your case so that you can focus on your healing, your recovery, and your family. If litigation or a trial does become necessary, your lawyer will represent you against the responsible party and assist you with each stage of the adversarial process in order to win maximum compensation for your damages.
Whether by settlement or verdict, the experienced personal injury lawyers at Steffens Law Offices in Grand Island will work tirelessly to advocate for your rights and simply won’t rest until you are fully compensated for what you have endured.
Do I Need a Personal Injury Attorney in Grand Island?
Despite what some people believe, there is no law in Nebraska that requires you to hire a personal injury lawyer for your case. In fact, when you have been involved in a simple fender-bender, or have slipped and fallen at a business, but did not suffer serious injury, it’s probably better for you to handle your own personal injury claim. Many resources exist which can assist you in filing a case in small claims court or negotiating directly with the responsible party or insurance company. In fact, Steffens Law Offices’ website has many resources which you can access for free, and which can help you navigate a small personal injury claim where no lawyer
is necessary here.
When serious accidents occur which cause severe injuries such as broken bones, concussions, or other trauma, a Grand Island personal injury lawyer will act as your advocate to build your case from the ground up, with the end goal being a presentation of a strong legal and factual argument to the responsible party or their insurance company which persuades them that litigation or trial would be a waste of time that their interests would be best served by settling early and up front for full value. Here are just a few of the things a personal injury lawyer will obtain to strengthen your case:
- Evidence collection
- Accident investigation or if necessary, reconstruction
- Claims for medical care and insurance liens
- Legal deadlines, strategy, and laws
- Damage analysis
- Insurance demands and negotiation
- Mediation and arbitration
- Discovery, including written discovery and depositions
Your lawyer’s only duty will be to advocate for your interests, working zealously to ensure that your claim for damages is advanced ethically and expediently. Most lawyers work on contingency, and this is a powerful motivator for your lawyer to work diligently on your behalf.
Common Types of Personal Injury Claims We See
- Car and motorcycle accidents
- Semi-truck accidents
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Train or bus accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Injuries caused by defective and dangerous products
- Animal attacks
- Premises liability cases (slip and fall, trip and fall, other types of injuries sustained on business property)
- Wrongful death
Steffens Law Offices have staff situated throughout Nebraska, including Grand Island, that are solely focused on your recovery and settlement. This ensures that we can offer the personal service you expect and the attention you deserve no matter where you live throughout the state. We are here to help and we will come to you to help you to discuss your case, so you don’t have to travel.
How To Prove a Personal Injury Case
Proving a personal injury claim in Grand Island and in general, throughout Nebraska, usually means proving the elements of negligence by a preponderance of the evidence. This simply means that the Plaintiff, or injury victim, and his lawyer must prove all the parts of the rule of negligence to prevail either in court or through a settlement.
What is negligence? This is just a rule of law which contains four basic parts, and each part must be satisfied to prove the rule.
A useful example is a car example:
1. Duty of Care: all drivers must drive responsibly so as to not create an unreasonable risk of harm to other drivers and pedestrians upon the roadway.
2. Breach of the Duty of Care: the driver who hit you must be shown to have breached his duty of care to you, the injured victim. For example, the driver was texting and not maintaining a proper look out (the duty), and because he wasn’t paying attention, rear ended your vehicle (the breach).
3. Causation: the other driver’s breach (the act of not paying attention and rear ending you) must be the cause of your injuries.
4. Damages: You must have suffered economic or physical harm to maintain a personal injury claim.
Lawyers who are seasoned and experienced know how best to present your case to the insurance company or other responsible party. Through hundreds of cases and thousands of negotiations, the lawyer should have learned the easiest and strongest methods for obtaining full compensation in the most expedient way possible.
How Much is My Case Worth?
Insurance companies do not like paying out compensation to injured victims. It’s no secret that insurance companies are supposed to be profitable to their shareholders, so companies like Geico, Travelers, All State, State Farm, Shelter, Viking, and many others make less money when they pay out millions in personal injury settlements each year. Therefore, these companies employ teams of professionals who are experts at denying personal injury claims. Adjusters, claims professionals, attorneys, and an army of other employees are organized and trained with one sole focus: to pay you less money.
Thankfully, a good personal injury law firm knows all the tricks, has heard all the excuses, and understands the legal theories and strategies to build a strong case against the responsible party and their insurance company. So, what is your case worth? Here’s where an attorney’s experience and instincts are worth their weight in gold.
Your personal injury attorney in Grand Island should not just be well-versed, but an actual expert in deciphering your medical records and bills. They should understand the specific nature of your injuries, whether it be displaced fractures, herniated discs, or traumatic brain injury causing cognition deficiencies. They should be able to read and follow your treatment plan, including surgery, physical therapy, counseling, and other care. Wage loss can be significant as well, so your personal injury attorney better be able to understand your tax records, W2s, and other employment documents which demonstrate the wages you lost because of the accident.
All this is to say that a good personal injury attorney can value your claim with precision and marshal the facts and legal arguments together to make a formal demand that both properly values your case and expertly persuades the insurance company to pay you full compensation without spending a day in court. If you have any doubt that they can, you are speaking to the wrong law firm.
How Much Does Our Grand Island Personal Injury Lawyer Charge?
At Steffens Law Offices throughout Nebraska, our injury attorney will not bill you unless you are successful in your case. Our law firm operates on a contingency basis for all personal injury claims in Grand Island and throughout Nebraska. We only get paid when we settle your case for full compensation. You will never receive a bill, and you won’t have to pay us until after your case is settled. And even then, only out of the settlement, and not out of your pocket. The amount charged is always agreed on beforehand, and you will never make less than your attorneys, guaranteed.
![Grand Island personal injury lawyer]()
Contact Our Injury Lawyer in Grand Island, NE, Today!
Contact Our Injury Lawyer in Grand Island, NE, Today!If you have been injured and are confused about what to do next, please do not hesitate to call us right now at (308) 872-8327. Our attorneys will take your call and speak to you with no obligation, answer your questions, and walk you through the entire process from learning the facts of your specific situation to winning full compensation for your injuries and pain and suffering. We’ll take your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Start with a free case review by calling (308) 872-8327. You will be glad you called us first!
Steffens Law Offices, We’ll Treat You Like Family!