Personal injury lawyers provide crucial legal representation to individuals injured in accidents.

Operating within tort law – which deals with wrongful acts or injury leading to physical, emotional or financial damage to a person in which another person could be held legally responsible – they pursue financial compensation for clients (plaintiffs) to cover medical treatment, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.

In this blog, we’ll cover some commonly raised topics about personal injury law, including what sort of cases personal injury lawyers handle, how they make money, and the types of compensation they can get for their clients.

What sort of cases do personal injury lawyers handle?

Personal injury lawyers may represent victims in cases of transportation accidents including mass transport, boating, pedestrian, aviation, and most commonly, automotive.

They may also cover:

  • Construction accidents
  • Premise liability cases such as slip-and-falls or animal attacks
  • Defective products
  • Medical malpractice cases
  • Nursing home malpractice
  • Defamation, slander and libel
  • Etc.
How do personal injury lawyers make money?

Personal injury lawyers earn money on a contingency fee basis. In other words, they charge attorney fees once a verdict has been reached and a settlement has been claimed by the client. If the lawyer is not successful, the client is not responsible for any fees.

Normally, personal injury lawyers will accept a percentage of their client’s compensation for punitive damages as payment.

What can a personal injury lawyer do for you?

Personal injury litigation is a complex and often long proceeding. Throughout the process, expect your lawyer to:

  • Investigate claims
  • Gather evidence through camera footage, medical reports, property damage reports, etc.
  • Assemble witness statements
  • Negotiate and communicate with insurance companies
  • Calculate maximum compensation based on case circumstances
  • Prepare pleadings
  • Conduct discovery process
  • Represent plaintiff at trial

Click here for more on what to look for in a personal injury lawyer.

How are personal injury legal fees determined?

Because personal injury lawyers finance the upfront costs for clients, they will only take on cases that are likely to result in a settlement. Typically, the plaintiff and lawyer will come to a contingency fee arrangement to determine how legal fees will be paid (and when).

When determining which cases to accept, legal teams will consider the chance of the success, costs and risks vs. expected recovery, the nature of the claim, surrounding details and more.

What is personal injury compensation?

There are three categories of compensation or “damages”:

Special Compensatory Damages cover economic loss, such as missed wages, damaged property and so on. General Compensatory Damages provide compensation for the intangible, such as pain, anxiety, loss of reputation, etc. Finally, Punitive Compensatory Damages are applied as punishment for the person the plaintiff is seeking them from.

If you or a loved one has suffered a catastrophic injury in an accident and have questions about personal injury law and/or the recovery process, please contact us here or by calling 1-844-288-HURT.