It is important to understand your rights after suffering a personal injury that was caused by the negligence of another. You may be entitled to compensation for medical bills, lost wages and other damages caused by your injuries. The Albany personal injury lawyers at Roden Law can explain your rights in a free, no obligation legal consultation. This way there is no risk to you in contacting us to discuss your situation. You will not be charged and you do not have to pursue a case. We represent injury victims throughout Dougherty County. We have obtained millions in compensation for victims of a variety of personal injury situations, from car and truck accidents to workplace injuries and premises liability cases.
At our firm, we have the resources and experience to launch an in-depth investigation into your injury to determine fault and the value of the damages you suffered. Our reputable attorneys are prepared to manage every step of the process so you can focus on your recovery. We have comprehensive knowledge of the laws in the Official Code of Georgia that affect personal injury claims.
Our attorneys take personal injury cases on contingency, this means there is no fee for our services. You will not be charged unless you are compensated through an insurance claim or personal injury lawsuit.
Contact Roden Law today by calling 1-844-RESULTS or completing a Free Case Review form.
Advantages of Having Legal Representation
Many personal injury victims consider contacting a lawyer but they decide not to because they are unsure about the cost or they think they do not have a case.
This is unfortunate because there are many advantages to talking to a lawyer about your case and having one representing you throughout the legal process. This includes:
Thoroughly Investigating the Accident
If you have grounds for an insurance claim or lawsuit and decide to pursue it, we will do a comprehensive investigation to compile evidence and begin building a case to attempt to prove you deserve compensation.
We are prepared to take numerous steps to investigate your accident, including:
- Reviewing all relevant medical records to help us determine the value of the physical and emotional damages you have suffered
- Consulting medical experts to gain a better understanding of the medical issues caused by your injuries
- Taking pictures at the scene of the accident
- Interviewing witnesses to find out what they saw
- Obtaining a copy of the police/accident report
- Recovering any available video footage of the crash from security or traffic cameras nearby
Properly Valuing Your Damages
Our Albany personal injury lawyers want you to receive fair compensation for the damages you suffered. We have extensive experience evaluating personal injury claims to determine the damages suffered by the victim and the full value of those damages, including:
- Medical expenses – We want you to be compensated for any bills related to the treatment of your injuries, including bills for surgery, testing, doctor visits, travel to the hospital, stays in the hospital and prescription medications.
- Lost wages – If you miss time at work because you are physically unable to be there or you have to get treatment, we can pursue compensation for all wages lost.
- Lost earning capacity – If you suffered a permanent injury and it affects your ability to continue working in the same job or capacity as you did previously, we can pursue compensation for lost earning capacity to help you support your family.
- Pain and suffering – This includes physical and mental pain and suffering you experience after the accident. It is very difficult to calculate these damages because there are no bills for pain and suffering. This is why it helps to have an experienced Albany personal injury attorney.
- Lost companionship – Personal injuries can have a negative effect on your relationship with your spouse. For instance, you may not be able to have the same sexual relationship as before or be unable to help out around the house as much as before. An attorney can pursue compensation for these damages.
- Property damage – This often applies to car accidents because the victim’s car was damaged in the crash. We can also pursue compensation to repair or replace other property damaged when you suffered a personal injury.
Handling Settlement Negotiations
We have years of experience negotiating for fair compensation with insurance companies and attorneys for at-fault parties. We will not accept unfair offers and are fully prepared to take your case to trial to recover just compensation.
Our Albany personal injury lawyers take on cases involving many types of accidents resulting from negligence, including:
- Car accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Truck crashes
- Motorcycle accidents
Our attorneys understand that no amount of compensation can make up for what happened. However, we have seen how compensation can help families move forward after an accident.
Complete a Free Case Review form right now.
Steps to Take After a Personal Injury
When a personal injury occurs, there are several things you should do to help preserve your claim, including:
Gathering Evidence
The best time to collect evidence is immediately after an accident occurs. Once you leave, things could be repaired or changed, which means they will never look the way they did when your accident occurred.
It is important to take pictures of key elements of the scene and things that may have contributed to your injury. You should also photograph visible injuries and anything else you think might be relevant.
You should also take notes on what you remember about the accident while the details are still fresh in your memory. It can be difficult to recall what happened days or even weeks later.
Reporting the Accident
File a police or accident report after the incident. This report is an official record of what happened, so it is an invaluable piece of evidence that can help validate your case.
Talking to Witnesses
If anyone else saw the accident, talk to them about it. Take detailed notes on what they say and ask for their contact information. Your Albany personal injury lawyer may need to contact them in the future to help with your case.
Contacting a Lawyer
You should contact an attorney because there is a limited amount of time to pursue compensation. It takes time to build a strong case, so it is best to give the attorney as much time as possible.
Personal injury claims in Georgia are subject to a two-year statute of limitations. This means you cannot file a lawsuit more than two years after the accident.
Product liability lawsuits are also subject to a two-year statute of limitations. These lawsuits are also subject to a 10-year statute of repose, which states you cannot file a lawsuit more than 10 years after buying the product.
The sooner you contact an Albany personal injury lawyer, the more time he or she will have to build a strong case. This also helps if we pursue insurance compensation. It can take months to go through the insurance claims process and if we are not successful, our last option will be to file a lawsuit. By contacting us right away, we should have enough time to file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations runs out.
Schedule a free, no obligation legal consultation by calling 1-844-RESULTS.
What Not to do After a Personal Injury
Personal injury victims can unknowingly hurt their chances of recovering fair compensation if they are not careful in the aftermath of their injury. There are several things you should avoid doing in the moments and hours after your accident, including
Admitting Fault
You may hold some amount of fault for what happened. However, that will come out over the course of the investigation. You should only discuss this with your Albany personal injury lawyer.
If you admit fault to the investigating police officer, insurance companies or attorneys for the at-fault party, you could seriously hurt your chances of obtaining fair compensation or any compensation at all. The other parties involved are looking for any reason to deny or devalue your claim.
Stating Your Opinions
If the accident is covered by insurance, you should file an insurance claim right away. However, be careful about what you say because insurance adjusters are trained to take what you say and use it against you. Insurance companies are out for their best interest, and that means paying out as little compensation as possible.
When you talk to the insurance company, provide the facts about the accident. You can say you are receiving medical treatment, but you do not need to provide any details beyond that. You should strongly consider having your Albany personal injury attorney deal with the insurance company after you contact them to file a claim.
Not Seeking Treatment Immediately
Waiting to seek medical treatment helps insurance companies and the at-fault party because they can argue you are not really hurt or your injury was caused by something other than the accident.
You should always obtain treatment from licensed medical professionals as soon as possible. This helps link your injury to the accident. There are multiple hospitals in the Albany area. Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital has multiple locations in the area.
Contact Roden Law today for a free legal consultation.
How to Prove Negligence
Your Albany personal injury attorney must prove another party is negligent to have a chance of obtaining compensation for your damages. There are four basic elements of negligence:
- Duty of care – A duty of care refers to a legal duty to behave the way a reasonable person would if he or she was in a similar situation. This means the at-fault party in your situation had a duty to take reasonable steps to help prevent your injury.
- Breach of violation of the duty of care – We need to prove the at-fault party did not uphold the duty of care that existed in the situation. For example, if a property owner did not remove a hazard that caused you to slip and fall, he or she could potentially be held liable.
- Link between the breach and your injury – Our Albany personal injury attorneys must prove your injury would not have occurred without a breach of the duty of the care.
- Existence of damages – We must establish that your injury led to damages, such as medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
There may be other requirements for proving negligence in your particular case. That is why it helps to have an experienced personal injury lawyer who has experience with many types of cases.
Fill out a Free Case Review form today.
Contributory Negligence
You may be partially at fault for your injury. For example, maybe you broke a traffic law before your car crash. Maybe you were being reckless while operating a boat before your boat was hit by another vessel.
This does not mean you will be unable to obtain compensation. Your ability to recover compensation depends on your percentage of fault for the accident.
Under Georgia’s contributory negligence law, you are prohibited from recovering compensation if your percentage of fault is higher than the other parties involved in your accident.
If your percentage of fault is less, you will still be entitled to compensation. However, your award will be reduced according to your percentage of fault. This means that your award will be reduced by 20 percent if you are found to be 20 percent at fault.
This law is applied in personal injury lawsuits and insurance claims. Our Albany personal injury lawyers will thoroughly review your accident to determine your level of fault. We will fight to ensure you are not assigned more fault than you deserve.
Call 1-844-RESULTS to speak to our legal team.
Contact an Albany Personal Injury Attorney Now
When another person’s negligence causes a personal injury, the victim should strongly consider meeting with an attorney to review his or her options.
The attorneys at Roden Law can determine your potential next steps in a free, no obligation legal consultation. This means there is no risk to you in contacting us to discuss what happened.