Fort Lauderdale Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
Fort Lauderdale Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
If you or a loved one were injured in a motorcycle accident because of someone else’s negligence, you don’t have to fight your battles alone. We know that navigating the Florida legal process can be overwhelming. Fortunately, we have the legal expertise necessary to help smooth the process so that you can focus on what’s really important—your physical recovery. Contact an experienced Fort Lauderdale motorcycle accident lawyer at our firm today to get a free case evaluation and to learn more about your legal rights and options.
Looking at Florida Motorcycle Crash Statistics
According to the 2010 Florida Traffic Crash Statistics, released by the state, 6,686 persons were injured in motorcycle accidents that year on Florida roads and highways while 76 lost their lives. While this may not seem excessive, any injuries or fatalities are tragic events involving trauma, tremendous financial repercussions, and temporary or permanent disability problems for victims and their entire families. In the aftermath of such a confusing and devastating incident, being able to rely on the experienced legal ability of an attorney can make a huge difference in your life. Let a Fort Lauderdale motorcycle accident lawyer help you obtain the best results while you concentrate on recovering your health.
over
10+
of Millions Recovered
Rise in Injuries Due to Motorcycles
Motorcycles have become a popular form of transportation and recreation for Floridians in the last few decades. As a favorable state for tourism, Florida also hosts many motorcycle rallies and events. Due to the increased usage of motorcycles in the state, the risk of traffic accidents involving them has risen. Unfortunately, motorcyclists and their passengers generally suffer the brunt of any accident due to lack of bodily protection. The impact of hitting another vehicle, the road, and other objects can be life-threatening, resulting in catastrophic and even fatal injuries.
While such accidents occur due to the misconduct or wrongdoing of others, injury victims have the right to pursue legal compensation for damages through an injury claim or lawsuit. They and their families may require such compensation to survive spiraling medical costs, loss of wages and income, damage to their bike, and the compounded effects of pain, suffering, and more.
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Representing Injury Victims Throughout Fort Lauderdale
Plantation Personal Injury FAQs
When Is It the Right Time to Call a Personal Injury Lawyer?
The right time to call is as soon as possible after your accident. There are many reasons why you need to begin the legal process as quickly as you can. The legal process may even begin without you, with many calls from the insurance company trying to either rush you or to pressure you to give a statement. They may try to catch you unaware and trick you into compromising your legal rights. Hiring an attorney could prevent this from happening.
Equally important, as time passes from the time of your accident, the evidence that could help your claim can become harder to find. People might quickly clear the scene of the accident, and you may lose the ability to contact witnesses. The witnesses that you have may begin to lose their recollection of what they saw. When you hire a personal injury lawyer, they will get to work immediately to gather the evidence before it is lost.
Calling a lawyer to get started on your case is a crucial step in the legal process. Knowing that you have someone on the job with the experience and tenacity to fight for you can give you at least some peace of mind during an undoubtedly difficult time.
How Do Insurance Settlement Negotiations Work?
An insurance claim is just like any other negotiation. You have a number in mind for what you think that you should receive for your injuries, and the insurance company has a much lower number in mind for what it wants to pay. Your insurance claim begins when your Plantation personal injury attorney files a demand letter with the insurance company. This is when the adjuster goes to work to try to save money for their bosses.
The insurance adjuster may outright deny your claim or question liability. They may come back with a settlement offer. When the number seems low, and it will, know that this is just their opening offer. Your Plantation injury attorney will likely reject the offer and respond with your own demand.
Eventually, you will lower your number, and the insurance company will raise theirs, and you could meet somewhere in the middle. This is a time-honored dance that personal injury lawyers have been doing with insurance companies since the advent of courtrooms. Even when you seem very far apart from the insurance company, most cases eventually will settle.
What Happens After I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Filing a personal injury lawsuit is an early part of the claim process. Most cases will never go far enough to see the inside of a courtroom. Statistically speaking, a vast majority of personal injury cases are settled out of court. However, if your case does make it to court, you should expect going into it that the trial process may take one to two years to complete. The legal system is far from rushed, as courts and judges have busy schedules and full dockets.
In the short term, you can expect motions and attempts to obtain evidence. Many people associate a lawsuit with a trial, but that only happens after many months of the nuts and bolts of the legal system. The phase of your case that will take the longest time is discovery. This is when the two sides obtain evidence that the other has in their possession. At this point, you may even need to sit for a deposition.
Filing a lawsuit will not cut off settlement negotiations. As was previously mentioned, most cases will settle without a trial. If anything, litigation may give each side more incentive to settle. The two parties usually continue negotiating right up until the point when the jury is seated.
What Evidence Can Prove My Injury Claim?
Negligence is the basis of every personal injury claim. When you file a lawsuit in court, you have the burden of proof. It will be up to you to show that what you say is more likely than not to have happened. You need to back your claim up with evidence.
Your Plantation personal injury lawyer will work to gather things that can backup your side of the story, including:
— Witness statements from people who say your injury or accident
— Pictures of the scene of your accident
— Security camera footage
— Expert witness testimony that could reconstruct the accident
— Maintenance logs of the area or vehicle involved
— Medical records that can help prove damages
These are things that can be difficult to get on your own and piece together to tell the story of what happened. Injury lawyers in Plantation, Florida, know how to both get the evidence and use it to prove that someone else was responsible for your accident.
What if I Cannot Work Due to My Injuries?
Your personal injury damages include both economic and non-economic compensation. Economic compensation aims to pay you back for the actual money that you lost. This includes bills that you paid and earnings you lost. This specifically pays you back for lost wages from your job when you are unable to work. Since you would have worked, this is money out of your pocket.
Lost wages in a personal injury settlement are much broader than you think. Of course, this includes the time that you have already missed from work. It also encompasses time that you will miss from work in the future. You do not need to outright miss work to receive compensation for this. For example, if you were qualified for a promotion but cannot get it now because your injury limits you in the type of work that you can do, you can get compensation for the reduction in your earning capacity.
Lost wages are often a very contested part of your personal injury claim because you can bet that the insurance company will see things differently to try to lower its bill. They may dispute what your possible earnings are or use a lower rate of inflation to calculate what they may be in the future.