The devastating impact a critical injury can have on your life is undeniable. Fortunately, if someone else is responsible for causing your injuries, you do not have to be stuck covering the costs. You can ensure the individual or entity that caused your accident or subsequent injuries is compelled to compensate you for every loss.
Learn more about how much you could recover in your insurance and civil claims when you contact our team for a free consultation. A respected Los Angeles personal injury lawyer at the Simmrin Law Group can help you figure out what your next steps should be and which legal options are most likely to result in maximum financial recovery.
What to Do After an Injury
From the beginning, there are four things we advise all personal injury victims to do.
Do Not Sign Anything
Insurers may send out a check and a stack of release forms. Do not take the money, and do not sign the papers. If you do, it means you will not be able to seek the total value of your claim later on.
Do Not Apologize
Many injury victims apologize or talk down their injuries. Please do not do it. These words will be used against you. Say you need to find out how severe your injury is before you give a statement.
Get the Care You Need
We help you get money for all necessary care, including advanced procedures, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.
Seek Legal Counsel
A personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles, CA, at the Simmrin Law Group, can offer you a free, no-obligation consultation. If you choose to hire us, we will charge you a penny unless we can secure you compensation.
For a free legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer serving Los Angeles, call (310) 896-2723
You Need a Lawyer with Years of Personal Injury Experience Backing Your Case
We have built our law firm around a hand-picked group of top Los Angeles personal injury lawyers. The result is a formidable force both in the courtroom and at the bargaining table. Let us put this force on your side.
When you talk to us, we listen, learning the details of your injury and your story and working to build you a case. We launch a full investigation and put together the hard facts that the insurance company cannot deny and which carry the day in court. We work with all types of personal injury cases in Los Angeles, including:
- Car accidents
- Truck, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents
- Slips and falls
- Dog bites
- Medical malpractice
- Nursing home neglect
- Prescription drug/medical device cases
- Product recalls
- Class action lawsuits
Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me (310) 896-2723
The Cost of Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles
Unfortunately, many accident victims are under the misconception that they cannot afford an attorney. This belief could not be further from the truth. Personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles typically work on a contingency fee basis which means they only collect payment from their clients if they can secure a payout.
When your attorney does win you money, the amount they receive as their fee will be a pre-agreed-upon percentage of your compensation package. This payment plan puts you and your attorney in a similar position when winning your case. You will both receive more money for every additional dollar they can secure.
Click to contact our Personal Injury Lawyer today
6 Reasons to Talk with a Personal Injury Attorney in Los Angeles
If you are unsure about speaking with a personal injury lawyer in L.A. after your accident, consider what you stand to lose if you do not. Then, consider what you stand to win if you do. These six reasons to work with a lawyer might help your decision:
- We beat insurance companies. We know the strategies they use and how to force them to negotiate.
- Experience. We have chosen each personal injury associate based on their knowledge, experience, and success record.
- History of success. Our results for our clients have made us one of the most respected personal injury firms in Los Angeles.
- We side with the people. We never back the insurance company or the employer – we serve the injured.
- Always here for you. We believe you have a right to know the latest developments in your case. We listen to you & keep you informed. We are a top personal injury law firm near you.
- Risk-free guarantee. We do not believe in billing accident/injury victims. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form now
How the Claims Process Works
An injury is stressful enough, and it can derail your life. It would be best not to fight tooth and nail to get your claim paid out too. We give you the peace of mind that you will get the best outcome possible.
Here’s what we do at each step of the personal injury claim process:
- Free consultation: We can meet you in your home, at work, in the hospital, or wherever is convenient, or conduct your consultation over the phone. This consultation is your chance to get your questions answered and learn how strong your claim is.
- Medical care: If you have not already, we will ensure you get the medical care you deserve. We want you to see specialists who have experience with your type of injury, even if you cannot pay, as their professional opinion will help you know what to expect for your recovery and help us prove the total cost of your injury to the insurer.
- Our investigation: Insurance companies expect you to take the findings of their investigators on blind trust. We send our independent investigation team to find out what happened and confront the insurance company with the facts.
- Your total compensation figure: We look beyond hospital bills and missed work time to assess all the hidden costs you have faced or will face in the future. We get you the most possible for pain, suffering, emotional trauma, and other intangible costs.
- Bargaining table: Insurers hope you will settle without ever hiring a lawyer. We know how to present the most challenging case possible at the bargaining table.
- Your settlement: The offer we get you will typically reflect the total costs you face and can help you weather the changes in your life. Most settlements are won without going to court.
Many injury claims never go to trial. You may win your case without ever setting foot in a courtroom.
You Have a Limited Amount of Time to File a Lawsuit
When you have been injured, the time you have to recover compensation is limited. The general statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits in California is two years. You do not have to complete your case within this time, but you must file it with the courts before the two years is up – otherwise, you could lose all your rights to compensation.
However, you should not just blindly assume that you have two years to get your lawsuit filed and delay doing so. Mitigating circumstances can result in a severe reduction in the time you have to file. It would be best to protect yourself by getting started as quickly as possible, and the best thing you can do for your case is to hire a Los Angeles personal injury attorney as soon as possible.
An experienced attorney will quickly be able to determine if there is anything that would shrink your window for filing and ensure that all deadlines get met. Your attorney will also benefit from an early start as they can gather evidence more effectively and have more tools to use when building your case.
9 Most Common Questions About Personal Injury Claims
Get answers you can trust from the top Los Angeles personal injury lawyers.
- How Do I Know if I Have a Legitimate Claim?
- What Should I Do After an Injury?
- What Costs Are Covered by Personal Injury Claims?
- How Much Is My Claim Worth?
- I’m Being Blamed for My Injury or Accident. What Should I Do?
- My Loved One Was Killed in an Accident. What Can I Do?
- Can I Really Recover Money for “Pain and Suffering?”
- Can I File a Claim for Emotional Distress?
- If the Insurance Company Already Offered Me Money, Why Do I Need a Lawyer?
How Do I Know if I Have a Legitimate Claim?
It is hard to be sure if you don’t sit down and discuss it with a lawyer. This lack of certainty is what causes many people to hesitate, to undervalue their injury and its costs, and ultimately to miss the total value they should have gotten from their claim.
It is also why we offer a free consultation. It’s a chance for us to help you understand your claim and its strength from a legal perspective. As a general rule, however, we can say this: if someone else’s carelessness contributed to your injury or if someone else could have prevented it and did not, you have a valid claim.
What Should I Do After an Injury?
You need to protect yourself and your rights. Insurers will jump into action, trying to close out your claim and pay you as little as possible. Meanwhile, other parties involved in the injury or accident will scramble to protect themselves and blame you.
From the beginning, there are four things we advise all personal injury victims:
- Report what happened, whether it means calling the police at a car accident or telling the manager in a store where you tripped and fell
- See a doctor immediately, even if you’re not sure your injuries are serious
- Do not sign anything from the insurance company, accept their money, or give them any recorded statement
- Schedule a consultation with a personal injury lawyer
Once you have a professional opinion, you will be much better positioned to decide how to move forward.
What Costs Are Covered by Personal Injury Claims?
In general, all costs related to the injury are covered. These are known as “damages,” and they include:
- Medical expenses, including medication, doctor/hospital visits, tests, X-rays, surgical procedures, and other treatment
- The predicted future cost of treating your injury, if you are not fully recovered yet
- Any property damage involved (such as your car in a car accident)
- Lost wages, which can include a few days of missed work or being laid up long term
- Compensation for long-term effects such as a disability, cognitive impairment, restricted mobility, etc.
- Any other costs directly caused by the injury
How Much Is My Claim Worth?
It is impossible to give a dollar estimate without looking at your claim. However, many injury claims pay far more than the client initially expected. It is common to see a claim valued in the six-figure range, and many claims even extend into the millions.
If I’m Being Blamed for My Injury or Accident, What Should I Do?
This is sadly very common. The person responsible will try to get out of being held liable, and their first tactic is to try to blame you—the person who was hurt. We see this from:
- Negligent and careless drivers
- Business owners
- Dog owners
- Doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes
- The insurance companies themselves
How you respond to these claims makes a difference. Do your best to stay calm and not blame yourself. Do not second-guess what happened, and do not apologize or accept partial responsibility.
When you have a lawyer, they can serve as your go-between with the other party so that you don’t have to confront these allegations directly.
If My Loved One Was Killed in an Accident, What Can I Do?
The law gives you the right to recover money on behalf of your family member in a wrongful death claim. This includes all the costs discussed above, such as their medical bills before passing. It also includes funeral costs and final expenses.
One of the purposes of a personal injury settlement is to help keep you and your family financially stable after your loss. Your settlement can also include money to offset their lost income or wages. This is often a considerable amount, and you have a right to it.
We will do everything possible to handle the details of your case for you and to get you every penny you deserve. It would be best not to worry about your financial future while coping with a loss.
Can I Really Recover Money for “Pain and Suffering?”
Pain and suffering is a general term for the non-financial costs of an injury. It can refer to physical pain or other types of grievous losses, like the suffering involved in losing a loved one. You have a legal right to recover money for your pain and suffering.
The challenging thing about pain and suffering is that there’s no accurate way to measure it. The cost of surgery can be seen by simply looking at the bill, but the cost of six months of being unable to walk is hard to add up. This means the insurance companies will try to argue it.
We help you prove your pain and suffering by:
- Showing the specific adverse effects the pain or anguish had on your life
- Getting your pain and suffering documented by medical professionals
- Drawing on our knowledge of past similar cases to estimate an appropriate amount
- Knowing how to talk to insurance adjusters, judges, and juries
The amount of pain and suffering compensation you get is based on a “multiplier.” We take the total amount of your financial costs and multiply it by a number to represent your pain and suffering. The multiplier used will vary from case to case; however, pain and suffering money is often the most significant part of your settlement.
Can I File a Claim for Emotional Distress?
Emotional trauma, distress, or anxiety all fall under a legal term known as “mental anguish,” and it’s part of pain and suffering. This refers to the very real but often intangible effects of an injury on your happiness, personality, and sense of security.
You can recover money for mental anguish in your personal injury claim, but there are a few things you should know:
- Insurance adjusters are often skeptical: They will accuse you of claiming mental anguish only to get more money, but this isn’t true. You can demonstrate that you do suffer from mental distress, and if the injury caused or contributed to it, the claim is valid.
- You will need to get personal: We may ask you to give statements describing what you’re experiencing in your own words. You will need to convey what it’s like when you feel depression come on, when you have an anxiety attack, or when you wake up in the middle of the night unable to sleep as your personal narrative helps paint a much stronger picture.
- Diagnosis helps: Your case is easier to prove when you have a formal opinion from a therapist. We can help you see an expert who will understand your condition.
Some of the conditions that may count as mental anguish include:
- Guilt
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Anger or frustration
- Changes in mood or personality
- Loss of someone close to you
If the Insurance Company Already Offered Me Money, Why Do I Need a Lawyer?
Insurance companies are run for profit, and they will always try to pay out as little as possible. They have learned that the best way to save money is not to refuse to pay, which will get challenged but to offer a small amount and see if the person takes it.
When you have just been injured, their first offer might seem big, even generous. You might think it’s more than you need. However, as the months wear on, you may not recover as quickly as you expected, you may have complications, or you may even need new treatment. The “big payout” can disappear fast.
Many people end up deep in medical debt after accepting an insurance payout. This is almost always because they took the first amount, signed the papers, and only found out later the true extent of their injuries.
It does not cost you anything to consult with a lawyer. If the lawyer says you do not have a claim or the insurance money is reasonable, take it. But in many cases, that short phone call will save you tens of thousands of dollars and many years of grief.
Meet with a Personal Injury Lawyer in Los Angeles for Help Today
Whether you were diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, broken or fractured bones, or any other injury that has made it difficult or impossible for you to live your life normally, you can demand justice.
Reach out to an experienced Los Angeles personal injury lawyer at the Simmrin Law Group to take action. Our firm proudly offers free, no-obligation consultations to injury victims across LA and surrounding cities. Claim yours when you fill out our quick contact form or call our office today.
Call or text (310) 896-2723 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
