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You may ask yourself why you need to hire a personal injury attorney. The simple answer is that a lawyer is experienced in handling cases of personal injury, but the longer, more complicated answer is manifold. First off, a professional lawyer knows what the insurance companies are looking for when it comes to personal injury claims. Most of the time, there is an insurance company involved when there has been an accident and an injured part is seeking compensation. Insurance companies run just like all other businesses that seek to make a profit and they have bottom lines like all the rest. For this reason, they typically set aside reserves of money for people who have been injured and file a claim. However, they will do their best to pay as little as they can for a claim so that they remain as profitable as possible. Since a good personal injury lawyer should be familiar with their tactics, they can help represent you in a way that you may get a better outcome for your troubles. If you talk to the insurance company without a lawyer, they may be able to pull a fast one, so to speak, and trick you out of receiving your full compensation. Or if the claim goes to court, and you have said some things to the insurance company (they will typically record you in any interviews or depositions), it can be submitted in court and they may try to damage your case in the eyes of the judge or jury. If you say something wrong, they will use it against you to help maintain their profits. A personal injury attorney can help you get the full compensation you deserve. 

For instance, if you have a broken arm and a damaged back as a result of an injury, you need to disclose all of your injuries, including future surgeries so that the insurance company know where to set their reserves. Knowing what you are doing and how to do it can make the difference between fair and unfair compensation for your losses. An experienced attorney will know what a fair settlement for your injuries should be. Going into a settlement blindly with no professional help drastically reduces your chances of a positive outcome. What an experienced attorney can offer you is clout and a presence that can deter the people with whom you are fighting from trying to bully you. Make no mistake, some insurance companies will try to low-ball, steamroll, or ignore you in an effort to get you to drop the case or accept an unfavorable offer. Having a lawyer on your side who will fight for your rights will help keep you from being jerked around by a big company. If you try to represent yourself, understand that you will be facing their team of lawyers by yourself. No one should try to represent themselves and there is a reason that even lawyers will have other lawyers represent them in court. Basically, its all about knowing how the system works and having a partner in your corner that knows the ins and outs of legal issues is a huge benefit when it comes to personal injury cases. 

No Matter What Insurance is Probably Involved

Even in cases that involve premises liability, there will be someone from the insurance company checking in on the situation and seeing what they can do to stifle any financial hemorrhaging. Insurance companies have their place and they do provide a needed service. However, they do have a business to run and they do have to be profitable to shareholders. For that reason, they may not play ball fairly. That is what a personal injury lawyer does for you. They are there with their catcher’s mitt to catch the fastballs that the insurance company tries to throw. If you go into talks with them without a lawyer and they get you to agree to a certain reserve, then you change your mind and decide to go to court. They will most likely throw that back at you that you agreed to a certain amount prior to taking it to court. In the eyes of a judge or jury, that may not bode well for you. For that reason, it’s in your best interest to get an attorney on your side from the get-go. The Galbreath Law Firm works personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. What this means for you is that we don’t get a dime of money unless we bring a check to the table, literally, for you.

Lawsuits can be settled in or out of court. Depending on how the other party is handling things, it can go either way. If they feel strongly that they don’t owe anything to you for your injuries, then you may have to take it to a court to get a positive outcome. We have lots of experience handling cases in both ways and we’re not strangers to fighting for our clients. There is no reason you should face a judge on your own. Deciding to contact a personal injury attorney before trying to handle any fighting on your own will be the first step in the right direction. The next step is deciding which attorney you will use. There is certain amount of trust when it comes to hiring a lawyer and so we understand that it’s not an easy decision to make. The Galbreath Law Firm has been representing injured Texans for decades. You can rest assured that we have your best interests in mind. We believe that keeping you informed is pivotal when handling a case. The more you know, the better off you will be while we work hard on your case. 

Car Accidents 

One thing that comes to mind when dealing with auto insurance companies, is that most, if not all, will tell you not to admit fault when you’ve been in a wreck. I know it says so on my insurance card I keep in the glove box. That assumes even if you did something obvious like run a stop sign to cause the wreck, you still shouldn’t admit fault. Now, why would an insurance company give that as advice? It is probably because they know their own tactics. Anything that you say to an insurance company could possibly be held against you later on down the road, especially is you are bringing a suit against someone. That’s why you want to speak to a lawyer first. A good lawyer will be able to keep you from accidentally agreeing on something that isn’t beneficial for you. 

The other thing about most car crashes is that the police get involved. Contrary to popular belief, the police do not assign fault to any of the people involved in the crash. They are there to help investigate the cause and to hand out citations for any laws that were disobeyed but they don’t determine anything to do with the decision of the insurance people. Most insurance companies will do their own investigation which can involve the police reports, but ultimately the decision of who gets paid what amount will be decided by the companies. Sometimes the payout can be split between the parties involved or it can pay out to one person. When an accident involves several vehicles, that is when things can get a little convoluted. 

Actually, any accident can get convoluted in a hurry. Between all the red tape and procedural processes, it can be overwhelming to try and deal with the aftermath of a personal injury. An attorney who has lots of experience dealing with injury cases will be able to cut the red tape, gather the pertinent evidence for you, and get your case moving along. You will be able to focus on your family or yourself and the necessary physical recovery. 

Commercial Trucking Accidents

You may think that the claims process for a car accident and an 18-wheeler accident is pretty much the same and it really isn’t. Because of the sheer size difference in most commercial trucks and passenger vehicles and the amount of miles a trucker drives cause them to need a different insurance policy than a regular driver. The need for special policies stems from the fact that they carry cargo and they have the capacity to do so much more damage due to their greater mass and how the physics of moving vehicles work. Because these companies carry such hefty insurance premiums, trucking accident claims can involves compensations that is exponentially greater than your average car crash. Since the damages to property and health are typically higher, the amount they have to pay will rise, as well. So it is that these companies will send out their top gun insurance adjusters to see how they can lower the claim amount. As stated before, insurance companies have a bottom line and payouts cut into profits so they will employ whatever tactics will save them money.  

As far as tactics go, they may even offer a large sum of money right up front. This offer may seem like a good idea, however, rushing into a settlement is typically not in your best interest. If you fall for this tactic, you may end up getting less than you actually should. Don’t make this mistake and hire an experienced truck accident lawyer to help make sure you aren’t settling for an an unfair amount. One of the things an 18-wheeler accident lawyer can do is make sure that you get an appropriate offer that has you and your family’s future in mind. 

Many More Regulations for Truckers

Whether the driver who caused the accident is an owner/operator or an employing of a trucking company, they operate under much heavier regulations than someone driving a regular car. Because they typically do so much interstate travel, they are actually Federally regulated by the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration). Because of these rules for safe transportation, an experienced commercial truck accident lawyer can find ways to get you your rightful compensation.