Kevin Adamson
Dustin L. Crawford
Personal Injury FAQs
After suffering injuries in an accident caused by someone else, you may have many questions. Speaking with an attorney as soon as possible after an accident can clarify your rights and give you peace of mind knowing you have a legal advocate on your side.
We have answered some of the most common questions that our personal injury clients ask. If you have more questions about your case or legal rights, contact Kevin A. Adamson, P.C. today. You’ll get a free consultation with a Duluth personal injury attorney you can turn to for legal advice and assistance. Our legal team will help you understand what to expect in your personal injury case and how we can help you pursue compensation for the harm you’ve suffered.
The amount of compensation you could get for your claim depends on various factors, such as the severity of injuries you’ve suffered, the type of medical recovery you need, the insurance coverage available, and whether you may share fault for the accident.
A personal injury attorney can investigate your case to calculate the amount of compensation you can recover. But several things will need to happen before your lawyer can determine what fair financial recovery looks like in your case, including:
- Completing medical treatment or receiving a final projected prognosis from your doctor
- A thorough investigation of the incident that caused your injuries to secure evidence
- Analyzing the facts and evidence to determine which parties may have liability for your losses
- Identifying insurance coverages or other financial resources for compensation
- Gathering documentation of your financial and personal losses
Once your attorney has all the information available, they can calculate the value of your case and pursue a legal claim to demand compensation from liable parties. Financial recovery in a personal injury case can provide you with money for losses you’ve incurred, including for:
- Costs of medical treatment and rehabilitation
- Costs of long-term care or support services for permanent disabilities
- Lost wages from missed work or reduced earnings on part-time or light duty
- Lost future earning capacity and employment benefits
- Pain and suffering
- Lost enjoyment and quality of life
- Repair or replacement costs for damaged or destroyed property
Georgia law usually does not place caps on the compensation you can recover in a personal injury case. However, state law imposes a cap on punitive damages of $250,000.
Punitive damages do not compensate an injured victim for any losses they’ve suffered. Instead, they punish the liable party for egregious conduct that led to the injury and deter others from similar behavior. The cap on punitive damages does not apply in product liability cases. There is also an exception for cases where the defendant intended to cause harm or was under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.
When you’ve suffered injuries because of someone else’s actions, you deserve to recover compensation for your financial losses and the “pain and suffering” you experience. Compensation for pain and suffering provides money because you’ve had to endure the emotional and physical distress of your injuries and subsequent medical recovery.
With compensation for medical bills or lost wages, you can determine how much you deserve by referring to bills, invoices, receipts, and pay stubs. However, compensation for pain and suffering requires a more subjective analysis. Insurers and courts will look at the evidence in the case to determine a fair amount of compensation. The more severe the injuries and disabilities you experience, the more compensation you can recover for pain and suffering.
Because insurers or juries may discount the negative impacts of your injuries on your life, you must secure evidence to strengthen your claim. Examples of evidence you might use to prove your right to compensation for pain and suffering include:
- Medical records of your treatment and rehabilitation
- Treatment notes from your mental health providers
- Written reports regarding the nature of your injuries or disabilities and how they will affect your life in the future
- Medical and vocational expert reports
- Any journals you’ve kept that document the pain and difficulties with daily life you’ve experienced
- Testimony from you, family members, friends, and co-workers regarding how the accident and injuries have affected your personal and professional life
Most personal injuries occur in incidents caused by someone’s negligence, a dangerous product, a hazardous property condition, or an intentionally harmful act. Examples of common causes of personal injuries in Georgia include:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Boat accidents
- Train accidents
- Aviation accidents
- Premises liability accidents
- Dog bites
- Defective product accidents
- Construction accidents
- Daycare accidents
- Violent crimes
Most personal injury cases involve a claim that another party negligently caused your injuries. Proving negligence requires establishing four elements:
- Duty of care – To succeed in a negligence claim, you must first prove that the other party owed you a duty of care to reduce the risk of harming you. For example, motorists have a duty of care to drive safely and follow traffic laws. A property owner must keep their premises free of hazards or warn lawful visitors of dangers.
- Breach of duty of care – Next, you must show how the other party failed to fulfill their duty of care. In a motor vehicle accident, you might present evidence that the other driver ran a red light or made an illegal turn. Or, in a premises liability claim, you might prove that a store or business failed to conduct regular maintenance checks to clean up hazards.
- Causation – Most importantly, you must prove that the other party’s breach of their duty of care caused your injuries. This can involve evidence of medical records showing your injuries directly after a car accident or slip and fall.
Losses – Finally, you must prove that you have suffered losses you can recover compensation for, such as medical bills, lost income, or pain and suffering. You can provide evidence of your receipts, pay stubs, and other statements to support this.
An accident may lead to significant financial stress as you deal with medical bills and other expenses, especially if you cannot work due to your injuries. Your financial difficulties may lead you to believe that you cannot afford to hire a personal injury lawyer. However, personal injury attorneys understand the financial issues that accident victims can experience. They don’t want to add to their client’s problems and believe that every accident victim should have quality legal representation regardless of their financial standing.
For this reason, most personal injury lawyers represent injured victims on a contingency fee basis. In a contingency fee arrangement, the injured client pays nothing up front to hire their lawyer. The lawyer only gets paid if they win compensation for their client through a settlement or judgment. Many personal injury lawyers will also cover expenses that arise during the case, such as court filing fees or hiring expert witnesses.
When a personal injury lawyer secures compensation for their client, they receive a percentage of the client’s financial recovery as the legal fee. The lawyer bears the financial risk of not winning compensation. And because they receive a percentage of the client’s recovery, the lawyer’s interest aligns with their client’s interest in recovering as much compensation as possible in a case.
Most personal injury lawyers also offer prospective clients free, no-obligation initial consultations. Free consultations allow accident victims to speak with several personal injury attorneys to learn more about their legal rights and find the right attorney for their case.