I’ve Been Injured! Now What?

You may be a careful driver who follows the rules of the road. When you walk, you may do your best to be aware of your surroundings. When you have an elderly relative, you may put him or her in the facility you believe will provide the best care. When you are hurt, you may do research to find the best doctor available to help you.

Even if you take all of these precautions, you may get hurt. After all, other people driving on the road may speed, drive recklessly, drive drunk, text and drive, or take other risky acts to endanger other drivers such as you.

Property owners may let sidewalks go into disrepair, construction workers may fail to put cones around damaged walkways. Either of these may cause you to fall and be hurt.

Top senior facilities may employ workers who do not care enough or just had a bad day, leading to injuries to your loved ones, through failure to give medication, incorrect medication, failure to wash and bathe, bedsores, etc.

Even your doctor of 30 years may make a mistake. Were you misdiagnosed? Was an unsanitary scalpel used, giving you an infection? Was the wrong part operated on?

If any of the above—or any other personal injury—happen to you, a friend or family member, it is important to seek out Recommended Personal Injury Lawyers to advise you as to what steps you should take to achieve the maximum compensation for the wrongdoing that you were a victim of.

Indeed, there are many rules regarding any of these claims. The biggest mistake people make is failing to timely file a claim. Every State has a “statute of limitations” for most claims which requires you to file your lawsuit by a date certain. In Alaska, this period is typically two years from the date of the incident, or at least the date you discovered you were injured.

There may also be prior deadlines in certain cases. Medical malpractice claims sometimes require a notice to be filed before the lawsuit. Police brutality claims—as well as any claims against government employees or entities—often require a “notice of claim” to be filed within a much shorter time. Your attorneys will know these deadlines.

The process of commencing and prosecuting a lawsuit also has many steps. First, you file your Complaint, which must have certain writings in it in order for it to not be dismissed. The Complaint is then served on the defendants, and service has specific rules. Once the defendants answer the complaint, there is a “discovery” process where information is exchanged between the parties through written documents and depositions, all of which also have specific rules. There may then be motions filed before trial which—you got it—have specific rules to be followed. Finally, there is a trial, which has a very formal process and procedure even including how questions may be asked of witnesses.

As you can see, there is a lot to know when bringing a personal injury claim. Experienced attorneys are far better at knowing these rules than someone without any training. Even better, reach out to someone you know and trust to find personal injury lawyers to help with your claims. Working with people who know the laws, rules and regulations affords you a far better chance at success.