A personal injury attorney in Houston has a single goal, to protect the interests of an accident victim. Justice for the victim and the correct compensation takes all the talents of a skilled and knowledgeable attorney.
Right after the accident happens there is always a flurry of activity for the victim. The victim has to make many decisions in a very short time span and in the event of injury, many of these decisions are urgent. If the victim is injured he may be focused on his injuries and his medical care; that is if he is capable of making any decisions at all. One of the urgent issues to face is filing a claim for compensation from the negligent party and to make sure they own up to all of their responsibilities. This is the time when you have to decide “will I hire a personal injury attorney or not”. To help you make this decision it may be helpful if you knew exactly what a personal injury lawyer does for his client.
As close to the time of the accident as possible, the lawyer will begin to establish the facts and to gather information which will allow him to make certain critical determinations. In co-operation with his client he will ask a series of pertinent questions, the answers to these questions will help him in determining if the victim bears any responsibility, and if so, how much. The personal injury attorney needs to access exactly who is responsible for the accident and if a claim is lodged will it stand up in court. To establish the initial claim the lawyer needs to know the exact nature of the damages and injuries and if the mishap will result in long term consequences.
Once the personal injury attorney has pulled all this information together he can make a determination if it’s in his client’s long term interest to proceed with the filing of the case. If the answer is yes, then a determination of the settlement demand must be made. The lawyer will always make an attempt to settle out of court but to do so there needs to be a case filed against the negligent party who, at the moment of filing becomes the defendant in the case. As personal injury cases often have a statute of limitations that must be met, filing the case quickly is important for success.
Negotiations in out of court settlements are often time consuming and complex and involve the defendant, his lawyer and the insurance company lawyers. Their focus is to minimize the settlement, your attorneys focus is on maximizing the settlement. If a settlement cannot be reached the case will go to court.
When you select apersonal injury attorney in Houston you must be assured that if an out of court settlement cannot be reached his is comfortable in a courtroom. The attorneys at The Ferrell Law Firm are skilled negotiators both in and out of a courtroom.
