personal injury is a category of tort law, or a civil claim. Tort claims are grounded in two elements: liability and damages. Personal injury claims generally refer to instances where an individual has sustained a physical injury (damage) as a result of a third party’s negligence (liability). The cause of the injury can take many forms. The most common types of personal injury claims are automobile accidents, medical malpractice, dog bites, and premises liability (“slip and fall” accidents).

The amount of compensation received for a personal injury claim is always variable because it is based on the particular components of each individual’s claim. Multiple factors are taken into account, including the nature of the injury sustained, whether or not there is any permanent damage, the extent of the applicable insurance coverage, the amount of medical bills incurred, any lost wages, injury related travel expenses, various out of pocket expenses, and pain and suffering. Depending on the location, or jurisdiction, where the injury occurred, the type of recovery available can vary due to differences the statutory framework.

All personal injury claims are subject to a statute of limitations, or a period of time during which the claim can be legally pursued. Once this time period expires, the claim is barred and cannot be brought afterward. If you wish to pursue a claim, it must be done prior to the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations varies depending on where the injury occurred.

Consulting an attorney regarding the specifics of an individual Personal Injury Claim is advisable. An attorney can provide legal advice about how to pursue your claim, including what documents will be necessary to prove your case, the manner in which insurance coverage works, how you can expect your claim to proceed, and what your rights are. Attorneys are able to provide you with the exact statute of limitations for pursuing a personal injury claim in your jurisdiction. Attorneys also have prior experience with these types of situations. Since the average person is not usually familiar with this situation, it is common to have many questions related to your complaint. An attorney is the best resource to obtain answers for your questions. Because all legal cases are different, an attorney can take into account all the unique aspects your situations and provide information tailored to your circumstances.

Personal injury claims are usually resolved in one of three ways: a negotiated settlement (either without filing a lawsuit or after suit has been filed), through formal arbitration, or by a jury trial. The options for available for settlement of a claim may vary based on the total amount of damages sought and the jurisdictions. There are both advantages and disadvantages to each method of resolution. If you retain an attorney for handle your claim he or she will advise you about which methods are available and what is best for your claim. Ultimately, however, any decisions about settling your claim will be yours. Attorneys provide a resource and an guide to help you navigate your personal injury claim.

If you’ve suffered a personal injury in Arizona, contact a seasoned trial attorney at Petersen Johnson Law Firm. Experienced personal injury attorneys, we will make sure you are justifiably compensated for your injuries. At Petersen Johnson, we get paid only if we successfully collect on your claim. We also front the expenses associated with your claim, including, but not limited to, the police report, expert witness testimony and copies of your medical records and bills.

The typical fee charged by most law firms in Arizona for personal injury cases is 33.3%. Our fee is only 25%.

If you live on the west side, be sure to contact their Phoenix west valley law office at 602-650-1200. Hablamos espanol

Let’s say that you are involved in a personal injury accident in San Francisco. Let’s also assume that like thousands of other folks in the San Francisco Bay Area you have private health insurance (mostly likely through your workplace or employer).

So, you go to the hospital for your injuries, say San Francisco General – and the good folks there send out bills for one amount (what was charged) but accept as payment from your insurance company another amount (what was paid).

If you go to trial on your personal injury case, which amount do you get at trial (assuming you win of course) – what was charged or what was paid?

Well, the Fourth Appellate District of California Howell v. Hamilton Meats answered that question: the jury is able to award the injury victim what was charged. And assuming they do, you, the injury victim, are entitled to obtain without reduction what was charged by your hospital.

The scenario that I outline above is one that has caused an endless debate between personal injury attorneys (not just in San Francisco but across California) and insurance defense counsel.

Personal injury attorneys, like myself, want the jury to hear, be able to award, and the injury victim to be entitled to, what was charged.  And insurance defense attorneys want the injury victim to be entitled to what was paid.

The Court in Howell added their two cents by examining the collateral source rule, its application, and fully evaluating what resides in the gap between what is charged by a hospital to an injury victim and what is paid by the injury victim’s health insurance company for her medical care.

In other words, what does the difference between what was charged and what was paid represent? The Court answered – a benefit within the meaning of the collateral source rule.

To put this as simply as possible: in California, the collateral source rules states that collateral source payments such as insurance or disability are irrelevant in a personal injury trial. The bad guys don’t get the benefit of the injury victim being responsible and having insurance. So, a jury is not allowed to hear about collateral source benefits like health insurance and an award by a jury to an injury victim is not reduced because of such payments for her medical treatment.

When a hospital negotiates with a health insurance company and agrees to take less that what it would normally charge for its services, it is not out of the goodness of its heart. It is because it is getting something for that reduction – a certain volume of business, faster payments, advertising, all sorts of things. Those things – those in-kind benefits – are benefits within the meaning of the collateral source rule.  And when a hospital agrees to accept as full payment the negotiated rate – meaning the injury victim doesn’t owe any additional amount – that too is a benefit within the meaning of the collateral source rule.

So, the Court ruled that you can’t reduce the plaintiff or injury victim’s award by the difference between what was charged and what was paid because that difference is a collateral source benefit.  So there!

Brett A. Burlison is a personal injury attorney and trial lawyer representing plaintiffs in serious personal injury and wrongful death matters with offices in San Francisco, San Jose, and Austin.
http://sf-injury-law-answers.com/
http://www.burlisonlaw.com/

Toronto Injury Lawyers, just like elsewhere in the developed world, specialize in helping injured clients receive compensation. The compensation is however only received by the client when the injury lawyers manage to prove that the accused party or the insurance company needs to pay the client for the injury caused by their either negligence or direct participation. As such, the legal knowledge possessed by a majority of the lawyers comes in hardy.  Some of the cases that Toronto Injury Lawyers deal with include motor-vehicle accidents, brain injuries, disability claims, medical malpractices, construction accidents, boating accidents, animal attacks and product liability. In addition, the lawyers also handle slip-and-fall cases, where the victim feels that the injuries incurred were caused by neglect by the accused party.

Like most injury lawyers elsewhere in the world, Injury lawyers strive to ensure that the injured parties get a just compensation by fighting to protect the clients right, which they do by attending to their respective cases and offering them caring services. They also advise the clients on what their cases entail, and provide them with the knowledge required to convince the court or the accused that the injured are entitled to full compensation.

Most cases taken up Injury Lawyers, just like elsewhere in the developed world, specialize in helping injured clients receive compensation. The compensation is however only received by the client when the injury lawyers manage to prove that the accused party or the insurance company needs to pay the client for the injury caused by their either negligence or direct participation. As such, the legal knowledge possessed by a majority of the lawyers comes in hardy.

Some of the cases that Toronto Injury Lawyers deal with include motor-vehicle accidents, brain injuries, disability claims, medical malpractices, construction accidents, boating accidents, animal attacks and product liability. In addition, the lawyers also handle slip-and-fall cases, where the victim feels that the injuries incurred were caused by neglect by the accused party.  Like most injury lawyers elsewhere in the world, Toronto Injury lawyers strive to ensure that the injured parties get a just compensation by fighting to protect the clients right, which they do by attending to their respective cases and offering them caring services. They also advise the clients on what their cases entail, and provide them with the knowledge required to convince the court or the accused that the injured is entitled to full compensation.

Most cases taken up by Toronto injury lawyers begin with investigations, which are mainly meant to determine the cause of the injury and prove whether the accused parties are to blame for the events that caused the injuries.  This is determine by whether the accused acted negligently or omitted some duties, which may have prevented the accident from occurring. Some cases however are more complicated than others are, and for this, the lawyers have to brace themselves with all the necessary information in order to lodge a good case. Such include cases of brain damage through injury. As such, the lawyers have to obtain psychological and medical prove that indeed the injury occurred, and that the victim had been affected negatively by the accident. Due to the competitive nature of most injury lawyers based in Toronto, most individual lawyers have joined law firms in order to consolidate and market their services more efficiently. They have also revolutionized the legal industry in Toronto by offering free consultations and some even refrain from charging clients until their cases are fully settled and payments received. More so, most have also taken up advanced marketing strategies that attract more clients to their firms. Because of this stiff competition, the Toronto Injury Lawyers are also flexible with the fees they charge their clients.

Clients in Toronto must however be warned that some times, a good lawyer is not all one needs in order to win compensation. In addition to the injury lawyer, the injured person must prove that the accident caused him or her pain, suffering or financial loss. Near misses do not qualify for such claim as also does injuries that do not affect one’s life negatively.  Most injury lawyers in Toronto will most often discuss all the issues concerned with the client first, while informing him or her of all alternatives available.

Toronto lawyers begin with investigations, which are mainly meant to determine the cause of the injury and prove whether the accused parties are to blame for the events that caused the injuries.  This is determine by whether the accused acted negligently or omitted some duties, which may have prevented the accident from occurring. Some cases however are more complicated than others are, and for this, the lawyers have to brace themselves with all the necessary information in order to lodge a good case. Such include cases of brain damage through injury. As such, the lawyers have to obtain psychological and medical prove that indeed the injury occurred, and that the victim had been affected negatively by the accident.

Due to the competitive nature of most injury lawyers based in Toronto, most individual lawyers have joined law firms in order to consolidate and market their services more efficiently. They have also revolutionized the legal industry in Toronto by offering free consultations and some even refrain from charging clients until their cases are fully settled and payments received. More so, most have also taken up advanced marketing strategies that attract more clients to their firms. Because of this stiff competition, the Toronto Injury Lawyers are also flexible with the fees they charge their clients.

Clients in Toronto must however be warned that some times, a good lawyer is not all one needs in order to win compensation. In addition to the litigation, the injured person must prove that the accident caused him or her pain, suffering or financial loss. Near misses do not qualify as also do injuries that do not affect one’s life negatively.  Most injury lawyers in Toronto will most often discuss all the issues concerned with the client first, while informing him or her of all alternatives available.

Toronto Injury Lawyers
For over 49 years we have been dedicated to helping people who have been seriously injured or who have lost loved ones due to the negligence of others. visit: http://www.raphaelpersonalinjurylawyers.com/

1. The insurance company actually has an obligation to settle a case, as long as the terms are reasonable. Without confusing you with a lot of Latin terms and case precedent, insurance companies have an actually legal obligation to settle a case if the requested terms are within the policy limits and if not doing so would expose the company to prolonged expenses. What this means for you is that if you expenses were within the limits of the other persons policy, and it is clear that they are the one that is at fault, there company is almost always going to settle with your initial request. This is why the majority of claims are settles without litigation. The only reason that litigation becomes necessary is when either the damage is beyond the policy stipulations, or when fault is in question.

2. Insurance companies are legal obligated to respond to a request. This does not mean that they have to accept what you are stating, but when you submit a claim to an insurance company, they have a set amount of time in which they have to either accept the stipulations set forth in your claim, or deny your claim entirely. They cannot legally leave you in limbo. The exact amount of time of course various from state to state, but it is almost universally never more then a period of sixty days.