Navigating the legal system after an accident can be as painful as the injuries themselves. Figuring out who was at fault, dealing with insurance companies, and fighting for a fair settlement can be challenging, frightening, and time-consuming. The last thing you want to worry about after an injury is how to pay for the costs or whether you’ll receive proper compensation, which is why it is beneficial to work with a Spartanburg personal injury lawyer.
Fortunately, a personal injury lawyer understands this difficult situation and makes it their mission to try and handle every aspect for you. We can make sure negligent parties are held responsible, medical expenses are covered, lost income is recouped, pain and suffering are accounted for, and rightful compensation is secured.
Common Types of Personal Injury Cases
There are many types of accidents and incidents that may qualify as a personal injury case. Understanding the most prevalent claims is helpful when evaluating your potential case legitimacy. Some of the most common personal injury claims that could warrant seeking skilled legal representation and compensation include:
Car Accidents
One of the most prevalent personal injury cases involves car accidents. Whether you were hit by a drunk driver, were the victim of a head-on collision, or were rear-ended, car crashes often result in severe injuries that lead to extensive medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. An at-fault driver may be held liable.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents can take place at someone else’s home where unsafe conditions exist, in a grocery store, on a wet floor, or on an unsafe property. Businesses and property owners have a responsibility to maintain safe conditions. You may have a valid case if you are injured in a slip and fall incident on an unsafe property.
Dog Bites
South Carolina follows the “one bite rule” when it comes to dog bites. This means dog owners can be liable for bites once they know or have reason to know their dog may be dangerous to others. Dog bite injuries can be complex, but an attorney can help establish liability.
Medical Malpractice
Doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, pharmacists, or other medical professionals have a duty to provide proper medical care that adheres to accepted standards. If you got hurt from an injury or harm because of medical error, malpractice, or negligence, you may have a medical malpractice claim.
Potential Compensation You Could Recover
There are a wide variety of damages that may be included in personal injury claim settlements or court awards. If you are successful with your Spartanburg-area personal injury claim, you may recover several types of monetary compensation and damages, including:
- Medical expenses from accident-related injuries- This includes hospital bills, ambulance fees, physical therapy, rehabilitation, prescription medications, assistive devices like wheelchairs or crutches, and more. Your lawyer can seek compensation for all past, current, and future medical costs.
- Lost income- If injuries force you to miss work for a period of time while recovering, any lost wages can potentially be recouped in a settlement. Lost earning capacity may also be an issue for serious permanent disability.
- Property damage- Repairs or replacement costs for any property damaged, such as your car, bicycle, electronics, eyeglasses, clothing, and other personal belongings that got damaged because of an accident that was because of someone else’s negligence.
- Pain and suffering- There is no precise formula for calculating pain and suffering damages, but this takes into account both physical discomfort and emotional distress resulting from injuries suffered. Things like chronic headaches or back pain fall under this umbrella.
In some cases, punitive damages may also be rewarded if negligence is severe enough. An experienced personal injury in Spartanburg can fight to prove all your losses and possibly maximize compensation.
Understanding Modified Comparative Negligence in South Carolina
South Carolina technically follows a “modified comparative negligence” doctrine, which is different from pure contributory negligence. Under this model, injury victims can still recover some damages even if they were partially at fault, as long as their responsibility does not exceed 50% of the total blame.
For example, if a victim is deemed 30% responsible for causing their own accident injuries, they can still potentially recover 70% of damages from other negligent parties. This allows some leniency for people who may share minor blame. However, if the victim is found 51% or more responsible, they recover nothing. Skilled personal injury attorneys ensure negligence assessments accurately reflect each party’s proportional fault rather than allowing victims to shoulder undeserved exaggerated blame. The ultimate goal is proving maximum eligibility for compensation owed.
How to Provide Solid Proof
The strength of evidence can make or break any injury claim. Your attorney will thoroughly gather the facts and documentation needed to prove liability, causation, injuries, and damages. It is also important that victims take proactive steps to help demonstrate what occurred.
After immediately seeking emergency medical care, make sure to follow all doctors’ orders and attend every appointment. Keep all records related to medical bills, tests, treatments, prescriptions, braces or devices, and rehabilitation services. Also, document any employment absences or lost wages with pay stubs and HR disability paperwork.
Take photos of visible injuries like cuts, bruises, or casts over time to demonstrate severity and duration. Collect police reports, incident witness statements, video surveillance, receipts for any damaged property, and before and after photos of sites. Saving all forms of evidence in an organized fashion will help your lawyer prove responsibility and hopefully win appropriate compensation.
Fighting Back Against Common Defense Strategies
When injury victims make claims against insurance companies or negligent parties, seemingly reasonable case evidence is often met with denials of responsibility, attempts to place blame elsewhere, allegations of exaggerated injury severity, arguments that medical treatment isn’t necessary, and other unfair defensive tactics minimizing valid compensation.
These tactics delay, frustrate, overwhelm, and ultimately unlawfully deny legitimately owed damages. By meticulously gathering medical documentation, evidence analysis, witness proof and more to prove cases, lawyers can build strong arguments countering common insurance company refusals.
Social Media and Your Injury Claim
In the age of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, it’s very tempting to post status updates or photos online after an accident detailing the incident, injuries sustained, audience sympathy, anger at the perpetrators, or even seemingly unrelated aspects of daily life. However, social media activity has the potential to adversely impact personal injury cases. Comments about fault or denial of responsibility before any official legal judgment could negatively influence a settlement.
Also, photos of someone actively engaged in sports or travel after claiming severe disabilities may diminish claims of pain and suffering. For these reasons, insurance companies monitor profiles. Attorneys typically advise limiting what is posted publicly until after a legal resolution is finalized. Don’t let social media posts derail fair injury compensation.
Determining if You Should Accept the First Settlement Offer
After an investigation into liability, the at-fault party’s insurance company may make you an initial settlement offer. It can be tempting to accept this offer quickly, but it’s rarely advisable. Insurance carriers typically start with a lowball offer in hopes of resolving the claim faster and cheaper.
An attorney can assess whether the proposed settlement adequately covers the severity of your injuries, damage, lost income, medical care (now and future), pain and suffering, and other losses. If the offer seems disproportionately low compared to your situation, your lawyer can advise rejecting it and will work to negotiate a fair settlement amount or take the case to trial if necessary.
It’s important not to accept an offer before understanding the full value of your claim. The attorney can handle negotiations and fight for the maximum compensation. While there is no guarantee, you should not settle for less in the beginning.
When a Case Goes to Court
In some instances, despite attempts to negotiate, a personal injury case cannot reach an agreeable settlement outside of court. Factors like disputed fault issues, contributory negligence arguments, inadequacy of settlement offers, or defendants refusing to settle may lead to a lawsuit and trial.
If a trial becomes necessary, your lawyer’s litigation experience becomes crucial. They will have a deep understanding of insurance defense strategies and trial preparation and presentation. An attorney knows how to argue persuasively before a judge or jury, present evidence effectively, undermine defense tactics, professionally examine witnesses, and convey why maximum damages should be rewarded based on the evidence.
Unfortunately, trials are unpredictable and rigorous. Having an assertive lawyer in your corner can help when you go up against big defense firms. While most cases settle beforehand, your lawyer needs to be fully prepared and confident to go to trial if that becomes needed to fight for your rights.
Statute of Limitations in South Carolina
In the state of South Carolina, strict deadlines dictate how long you have to pursue civil claims by filing a personal injury lawsuit after an accident. These time limitations are called the “statute of limitations,” and they vary based on the type of legal case.
For personal injury cases from negligence or wrongful acts in South Carolina, state law mandates that the clock starts on the statute of limitations at the time of the injury. You generally have three years maximum to officially file your claim with the court, though there are some exceptions based on the defendant. Since these deadlines pass quickly during recovery and evidence gathering, immediately consulting with an attorney ensures all legal rights and options are potentially protected. Letting the statute of limitations expire through inaction results in forfeiting your ability to pursue compensation altogether.
Seeking Compensation from Multiple Parties
Some personal injury accidents involve multiple potentially liable defendants. For example, a commercial truck accident may include blame on the truck driver for reckless driving and the trucking company for encouraging drivers to meet unrealistic delivery deadlines or failing to maintain vehicles properly.
Other multi-defendant scenarios could involve suing both a business and a property owner when there are unsafe conditions or filing a claim against multiple drivers when responsibility for a collision is unclear or shared. Having several negligent parties maximizes the chances of recovering complete injury compensation. An experienced attorney can identify all avenues of liability to pursue damages.
Wrongful Death Claims
When the negligence, misconduct, or reckless behavior of an individual or corporation leads to the tragic loss of life of a loved one, surviving family members can pursue a wrongful death lawsuit seeking accountability and fair compensation. Sufficient evidence must demonstrate a defendant’s clear liability in causing the death.
Some damages that may be justified when successfully proving wrongful death because of another party’s actions include coverage of funeral and burial costs, loss of future financial support or inheritance funds, loss of companionship, guidance and nurture, emotional grief and sorrow, and in some severe cases, punitive damages. An attorney helps navigate the complex legal process during an enormously difficult time of coping with grief and injustice. Though a life can never be replaced, holding culpable parties fully responsible is vital.
When to Consider Working With a Lawyer
If you or a loved one suffered harm in an accident caused by negligence or wrongful actions, consult with an attorney as soon as possible after seeking medical treatment. The sooner you get working on your case, the better.
A lawyer knows how to immediately secure evidence, thoroughly investigate all factors that led to the incident, assess liabilities accurately, deal directly with aggressive insurance carriers, fully calculate short and long-term accident costs, and fight relentlessly to get injured victims fair and complete compensation. Handling these complex legal and financial matters on your own can be extremely difficult and risky.
Work With a Spartanburg Personal Injury Attorney
If you were injured in the Spartanburg area because of another party’s negligence, never accept what an insurance company unilaterally decides is a “fair offer.” Contact us to get started with a free consultation so we can potentially help you get started on your case promptly. We can help you determine if a settlement amount may have more potential or if it is ideal for your specific situation.