If you were injured in an accident caused by another person, you may be able to recover compensation by filing a personal injury claim. However, handling a personal injury case can be difficult in the best of circumstances. It can seem almost impossible to manage if you are recovering from serious injuries.
Fortunately, you have someone in your corner. Arlington County personal injury lawyer at the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC can handle your claim from start to finish, protecting your rights and fighting to get you the compensation you deserve. Call us today.
How Can I Prove Another Party Caused My Injury?
You can only recover compensation from another party if you are able to prove that the party behaved negligently. Without negligence, you have no claim. This means establishing the at-fault party had a duty of care to you, that party breached the duty, that breach caused your injury, and the injury caused you to suffer damages.
For example, say you were stuck in traffic on I-66 when someone rear-ended you. It turns out the driver was texting and did not see you had stopped. When the driver rear-ended you, your kneecap hit the dashboard and fractured. You ended up having to undergo surgery and had to take six months off work to recover.
The driver owed you a duty of care to drive safely. The driver breached that duty by texting behind the wheel. His texting caused the accident and your injuries and led to your damages (e.g., medical bills, lost wages, “pain and suffering” and inconvenience, etc.).
To establish these elements, we would need to gather evidence such as:
- Eyewitness accounts (e.g., someone who saw the driver texting, someone who noticed the driver did not look up when he got closer to your car)
- Surveillance video
- Your medical bills
- Medical records
- Expert witness testimony
- Photos of the scene
- Accident reconstruction
How Long do I Have to File a Lawsuit?
In most cases, the time limit in Virginia is just two years beginning from the date of the accident, per Va. Code § 8.01-243. If you miss this critical deadline and still try to file a personal injury lawsuit, the insurer or court will likely throw out the case as “time-barred.”
If this happens to you, you can still negotiate with the negligent party’s insurance company. However, you have lost all leverage and will likely end up taking what you can get. This is typically thousands less than you deserve. This deadline is why it’s so important to act quickly after an accident or injury.
When you work with the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC, we ensure we meet any and all deadlines necessary to protect your claim. However, you need to give us time to build your case.
Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me 571-229-1800
The Other Party’s Insurer Offered Me a Settlement. Should I Accept It?
Accepting a settlement without first running it by an attorney is rarely a good idea. In most cases, the insurer will offer you a settlement that is much lower than what you need to cover all your expenses. And if you accept the settlement, you cannot go back and request more money later.
We will ensure that your settlement includes an accurate amount for each of the following that apply:
- Medical bills (both current and future)
- Lost wages
- Lost earning capacity
- Miscellaneous expenses
- “Pain and suffering” and inconvenience
- Disfigurement
If the insurer’s offer is too low, we will negotiate. If the insurer still refuses to offer you a fair settlement that covers all your needs, we may consider taking the other party to court.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer in Arlington County Can Help
The last things you want to deal with when recovering from a serious injury are building a case and fighting with a large insurance company that wants to give you less money than you deserve.
When you work with a Arlington County personal injury lawyer from our firm, you do not need to worry about a thing aside from recovering from your injuries. We will:
- Navigate paperwork, allowing you to focus your energy on recovery and spending time with your family
- Gather evidence, allowing us to build a robust case that gets you the fair compensation you need
- Handle all communication with the insurer, allowing you to focus on your recovery and ensuring you do not say something to accidentally jeopardize your claim
- Negotiate for a settlement that covers your damages, ensuring that you don’t accept much less than you need and end up paying tens of thousands out of pocket
When you work with the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC, you can rest easy knowing that your legal team has experience on both sides of the fence. Jim Parrish knows how insurance companies think and operate because he used to represent them. This allows him to stay one step ahead, playing offense instead of defense.
He knows the tactics insurers use to devalue claims. Most importantly, he knows how to work around them. You can trust your case to Jim and the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC.
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Schedule a FREE Claim Review with the Parrish Law Firm, PLLC Today
With an Arlington County personal injury lawyer on your side, you do not have to do it all on your own. The Parrish Law Firm, PLLC is ready to assist you in getting the compensation you deserve and need for any of the following types of accidents and injuries:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Truck accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Dog bites
- Drunk driving accidents
To discover more about how we can help, call us today. We offer FREE claim reviews and don’t charge you for our time until we recover compensation for you.
Call or Text 571-229-1800 or Complete a Free Case Evaluation form