Benefits of Hiring a Spokane Personal Injury Attorney
The aftermath of a workplace or automotive accident can be pretty jarring. Once the dust has settled, you might find yourself wavering between seeking legal reparations and not.
It’s understandable. Seeking compensation for injuries can seem daunting and not worth it from the get-go. Plus, finding and hiring a Spokane personal injury attorney is a big undertaking in and of itself.
However, there are plenty of benefits to hiring a Spokane personal injury lawyer if your situation demands it. Everything from having an actual expert involved in the case to negotiating your claim with insurance companies can take a ton of that burden off you, giving you the mental space needed to recover, both physically and financially.
As we touched on earlier, consulting a Spokane personal injury attorney isn’t necessary for every injury, and we want you to be informed of that.
So, we’ve compiled some things that you should be aware of before hiring a personal injury lawyer in Spokane, WA, as well as why a personal injury attorney could be a massive benefit to your case.
What You Should Know if Hiring Spokane Personal Injury Attorneys
Before diving into the potential benefits of a Spokane personal injury attorney, we’ve got to start at the beginning: do you even need to hire one?
Washington has quite a few nuances to its personal injury laws that may affect your situation. We’ll run through a few of them to give you better insight into your case and if consulting a legal professional is the right decision.
Starting off, it’s important to mention Washington state’s statute of limitations.
Each state has its own statute of limitations that affect different forms of litigation. These limitations essentially act as a kind of time limit to when you can file your case. If you fail to take any legal action within that time frame, you could lose out on any compensation.
In Washington, that statute of limitations is 3 years, which means the second after your injury, the clock starts ticking. It can seem like a pretty substantial amount of time. However, after an accident, it can be easy to focus more on trying to put everything behind you and get some sense of emotional recovery than any financial compensation.
While it’s certainly important to assess where you’re at mentally post-accident, some people take so long to decide if a personal injury claim is right for them that their window to take legal action closes. So, if you want to hire a personal injury lawyer in Spokane, figure out your time frame and go from there. For example, you may still have 3 years left, or you could only have 2 months.
It’s also important to know what laws affect more specific circumstances when deciding if a personal injury attorney is best for you. For example, for dog bites, Washington holds owners entirely responsible, regardless of the dog’s past behavior, so that can certainly affect your decision.
Another case-specific law to understand involves levels of fault. If you caused the accident to some degree, that’s also not a reason to throw your case out. Washington has comparative fault rules that scale recovery based on how much each guilty party contributed to the overall accident.
All in all, determining your need for a Spokane personal injury attorney comes down to your unique situation. However, in most cases, a lawyer can prove helpful due to some special qualifications.
Determining a Spokane Personal Injury Lawyer’s Expertise
We touched on this a bit earlier, but Washington’s comparative fault rules essentially scale what you may be entitled to recover depending on how much of the accident was your fault. So, for example, if you’re entitled to $1,000 in compensation and the court rules that you were 40% at fault, you could still get back $600.
This kind of information can be wielded excellently by a lawyer, who can assess and utilize the facts of the case to ensure you’re appropriately compensated and for the total amount.
Especially in Washington, insurance adjusters will be aware of pure comparative negligence and may try to use it against you, so it’s crucial to have someone on your side who knows the facts.
Your Lawyer Will Mediate Between You & Insurance Companies
Insurance companies can be quite the hassle to work with. If you’ve dealt with an automotive accident or injury in the past, we’re sure you’re well acquainted.
As an injured victim, you’ll most likely have expensive damages to take care of, whether in the form of hospital bills or auto repairs. Therefore, it’s vital to ensure you’re appropriately compensated for these damages. However, insurance adjusters work hard to limit your entitlement, as it means less for them to pay out as a company.
That’s why bringing a personal injury lawyer on board can be so crucial to your recovery. Having a Spokane personal injury attorney representing your case and navigating those otherwise murky insurance waters takes that unnecessary burden off you. It can also be the difference between you getting financially compensated 50% or 100%.
If you’ve decided to look for a personal injury attorney, Spokane.Law is an excellent way to find reputable, trusted legal firms. Our online directory can help you get started toward financial recovery post-accident!
We’re still building our directory, but with other research methods, it can certainly aid in your search for a trusted Spokane personal injury attorney. Findlaw also has a great attorney directory.