Have you or someone you love recently been involved in an accident in San Marcos, CA? You may be entitled to recover compensation for your accident-related injuries. Injury Trial Lawyers, APC has more than 20 years of combined legal experience. During this time, we have successfully helped thousands of clients like you recover millions in compensation.
Contact our San Marcos personal injury attorney today to schedule a free consultation and learn about how we can help you, too. We are available to take your call 24/7 at our San Diego office and offer home visits too.
What Should I Do After a San Marcos Personal Injury Accident?
We know that filing a lawsuit may not be your first thought or priority after a serious injury-causing accident. However, it is incredibly important to take certain steps to help any claims for damages you decide to file in the future. These steps will help to make sure that you are safe after your accident and help to preserve valuable information.
Call the Police
It is important to contact the police immediately after any kind of personal injury accident occurs in San Marcos. When the police arrive on the scene they will complete a Traffic Collision Report or another type of accident report. These reports will not be admissible in court but will help to document important information that is likely to get lost or forgotten over time. A police or traffic report may contain:
- The names of all parties involved in the accident;
- The names and statements of witnesses;
- Preliminary findings of fault;
- Weather, traffic, and road conditions; and
- Photographs and diagrams of the scene.
Your San Marcos personal injury attorney will use the information contained in the police or accident report to assist with a future independent investigation.
Get Checked Out By a Doctor
See a doctor, even if you do not think that you have been seriously injured in a San Marcos accident. Some injuries can take hours, days, or weeks to manifest themselves. If you see a doctor immediately after your accident they can help to rule out any underlying (and potentially dangerous) injuries. Your medical evaluation will also help to link your injuries to the accident. Your attorney will use this information to strengthen your legal argument.
Don’t Speak With Insurance Companies
Insurance companies are not on your side and will do anything to minimize the amount(s) they pay out to you for your injuries. They will try to manipulate the situation and take advantage of your limited understanding of the law. You can level the playing field by hiring an experienced attorney to represent you.
Contact a San Marcos Personal Injury Attorney
Your chances of recovering the money you need after an accident will increase tremendously when you hire an attorney to handle your case. The Injury Trial Lawyers have decades of experience dealing with insurance companies and know the tactics they will use to minimize their payouts. When you hire us we will not let you accept a lowball offer. We will aggressively fight for your right to get the money you both need and deserve. Contact us today to set up your free consultation.
Why Should I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Personal injury accidents can be incredibly stressful, especially when victims suffer serious and life-threatening injuries. These injuries often expensive medical treatment and can even sideline you at work. Most Americans do not have enough in savings to cover the cost of a $500 emergency, so being forced to miss out on a weekly paycheck can make a tough situation even worse. Fortunately, San Marcos accident victims can recover compensation by filing a personal injury claim. Contact our personal injury lawyers today to find out how you can recover much-needed compensation after your San Marcos accident.
When Can I File a Personal Injury Claim?
It is important to act quickly after your accident because you have a limited amount of time to file a personal injury claim for damages. In California, personal injury accident victims must generally file a claim within two years of the accident that caused an injury. If, for some reason, there is a significant delay in the discovery of your accident-related injury, you will have one year from the date of discovery to file a claim. If you do not file your claim within this specified period you will likely be prohibited from recovering any compensation, at all.
Tolling the Statute of Limitations
There are limited exceptions to the general statute of limitations rule in California. The statute of limitations for a personal injury claim in San Marcos may be extended if:
- You are a minor at the time of the injury-causing accident; or
- The at-fault party is out of the state or incarcerated.
Filing a Claim Against the Government
If the government is responsible for your injury the process for filing a claim is different. Before you can file a civil claim in court you must file an administrative claim with the government. This administrative claim must be filed within six months of your accident. The government must review your claim and enter its decision.
If the government approves your claim it will compensate you for your injuries, as you have requested. If the government denies your claim (which is much more common), you will then be permitted to file a civil claim against that government entity in court.
What Can I Recover From a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
When you file a personal injury lawsuit after a San Marcos accident you can request both economic and non-economic damages. The damages that you receive will depend on the types of injuries and harms that you have suffered because of your accident.
Economic Damages
When an accident costs you hard-earned money you can be awarded economic damages. These damages are intended to pay you back for financial costs you would not have had to incur had your accident never happened. Examples of commonly requested economic damages include:
- Hospitalization;
- Surgery;
- Prescription medication;
- Rehabilitation;
- Specialist consultations;
- Nursing care; and
- Medical devices.
Economic damages can also be awarded to compensate you for lost wages or a reduced earning capacity. The amount of economic damages that will be awarded are linked to your specific financial losses (or projected losses).
Non-Economic Damages
Not all accident-related injuries will cause a type of injury that can be fixed with money. Emotional, mental, and social injuries are very common after serious accidents and are just as real to victims. Non-economic damages are awarded to help compensate accident victims for these types of injuries. Examples of commonly requested non-economic damages include:
- Pain and suffering;
- Mental distress and anguish;
- Loss of companionship or consortium;
- DIsfigurement; and
- Embarrassment.
Non-economic damages are difficult to value in terms of money. This is why the damages awarded in personal injury cases can vary significantly.
What Happens When I File a Personal Injury Claim?
We will get to work the moment you decide to hire the Injury Trial Lawyers because you want to get the most out of your personal injury claim. Our award-winning trial attorneys have developed a process that allows us to work on your case efficiently and effectively.
Consultation
Your case will begin with a meeting with our experienced San Marcos legal team. We will ask you to recount the events that led to your accident in as much detail as possible. It is important that you provide any detail that could be relevant to your case. Let us decide if information is important or not. In many cases, the small things will end up becoming the big issues. Our attorneys will use the information you give us during this meeting as a basis for all future work on your case.
Investigation
We will never rely on the insurance company’s investigation into your accident. Instead, we will conduct our own in-depth independent investigation to uncover evidence and information that will help us with your case. The specific actions taken in your case will depend on the facts and circumstances of your accident, but may include:
- Reviewing police and accident reports;
- Analyzing evidence and photographs of the scene;
- Consulting with expert witnesses to better understand complex issues in your case; and
- Interviewing witnesses and gathering statements.
Negotiation
The results of our investigation will be used to craft a custom legal argument to maximize the compensation you receive. We will take this argument to the at-fault party and/or their insurance company and try to negotiate a fair settlement in your case. If we are not satisfied with the settlement offers you receive we will not hesitate to take your case all the way to court. Most insurance companies in the San
Litigation
The vast majority of personal injury cases will settle outside of court. However, if we believe that we can get you a better award in court we will not hesitate to do so. We are award-winning trial attorneys who thrive in the courtroom. We know how to connect with a jury and convince them to compensate you for your injuries.
Contact a San Marcos Personal Injury Attorney Today
If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Injury Trial Lawyers, APC today to find out how we can help you get the money you need and deserve after your accident. Our San Marcos personal injury attorney has more than 20 years of combined legal experience. During this time, we have helped clients recover much-needed compensation for injuries resulting.
It is important to act quickly after an accident because you have a short window of time to file a claim for damages. The sooner you contact our office for a free consultation, the sooner we can get to work on getting you the money you need. The decisions you make immediately after your accident will determine how your future unfolds, so do not hesitate to call us today.