You’re hurt and it wasn’t your fault. Someone flippantly ignored their legal obligations, and it caused your injury. Now you’re interested in filing a claim. The question is: Do you really need an attorney?
While representing yourself is an option, working with a lawyer can help ensure a successful claim in many instances. As a slip and fall lawyer can share, a lawyer can help you with:
- Handling deadlines
- Negotiation
- Being your advocate and representing you during the entire process
- Trial skills in the event that your claim goes court
Deadlines
There are many deadlines that come along with a personal injury claim. Starting out, the first goal is to determine if you have a valid claim under state law. Each state has a statute of limitation for filing a lawsuit for injury claims. It’s usually either a two or three deadline, depending on the state. However, there are exceptions to that law, and if your claim involves multiple parties your statute of limitations may be longer than you might expect from just searching the information online yourself.
Once your claim is filed, there are deadlines related to discovery and trial. If you choose to represent yourself, you’ll be held to the same standards as an attorney. This includes meeting deadlines and filing your own petition, motion, or answer that you wrote. Missing a deadline can result in your claim getting thrown out. This is hard for a non-attorney to accomplish.
Negotiation
Most claims are settled outside of the courtroom. Doing so requires strong negotiation skills. If you decide to represent yourself, you will be responsible for negotiating a fair settlement agreement. There could also be more than one defendant which certainly puts pressure on you by handling multiple parties.
During the negotiation process, the defendant will have a lawyer representing them. Insurance companies have their own legal departments. Another party’s lawyer cannot give you advice on whether the negotiation is fair. It’s a big concern since insurance companies are for-profit businesses. If you hire an attorney, you stand a better chance of receiving a fair offer.
Handling The Insurance Company
If you choose to represent yourself, you will be the one responsible for maintaining contact with the insurance company as our friends at Herschensohn Law Firm, PLLC can share. This is a bigger deal than it sounds like since they will record your statement and could use certain factors against you. If you choose to hire an attorney, the attorney will work with the insurance company while representing what is in your best interest.
Trial Skills
If negotiation wasn’t successful, you may then get prepared for a trial. Keep one very important thing in mind: You will be held to the same standards as if you were an attorney. This means adhering to the rules of evidence and court rules. Court rules can be as” minor” as the size of your font and margins around any specific document. If court rules and the rules of evidence aren’t followed, you could end up losing your case.
Think these factors over before you make a decision whether you’ll represent yourself in court. Contact a lawyer near you to consider all options available to you.
