Suppose you recently sustained a physical injury, developed a critical illness, or incurred significant financial losses due to the actions of another party. In that case, you may wonder whether you really need to hire legal representation if their fault for your damages is obvious. It is crucial to understand that no matter how straightforward your personal injury claim may seem at first, it is always best to approach the situation under the guidance of an experienced Sacramento personal injury attorney. The Ewing Law Group, PC can provide the compassionate, affordable, and responsive legal representation you need for any personal injury claim in Sacramento, CA.
Even personal injury claims that appear open-and-shut at first can raise complex legal questions and involve complicated proceedings for the victim. The pressure of mounting economic losses, inability to pay bills, and struggling with the medical aftermath of a personal injury can eventually compel a personal injury plaintiff into accepting a lowball settlement that does not fully cover their damages, or they could make other errors that prevent them from making complete recoveries.
If you were to attempt to handle your personal injury claim on your own, you would not only run the risk of settling for much less than you deserve but also jeopardizing your claim at the foundational level or even have it thrown out of court on a technicality. In addition, filing a personal injury claim requires meeting strict court filing deadlines and other requirements, and even slight errors can significantly delay your case proceedings. You would also need to meet these requirements while handling the aftermath of your personal injury.
Approaching your personal injury claim will be much easier with reliable legal representation on your side. Your Sacramento personal injury attorney can not only manage the procedural side of your case, ensuring you meet all required filing deadlines and other preliminary steps, but also ensure that you do not settle for less than you deserve. When you choose an experienced Sacramento personal injury attorney to represent you, you can rest and recover with peace of mind knowing your legal team has the skill and experience to maximize your recovery to the fullest extent possible under California law.
It’s understandable to worry about the potential cost of legal fees when you need representation in a personal injury claim. Unfortunately, many Americans assume that the cost of hiring an attorney is prohibitively high, and this, unfortunately, discourages many personal injury claimants from securing legal counsel when they need it most.
If you are concerned about the cost of your personal injury attorney, make sure you fully understand the attorney’s billing policy before agreeing to their representation. For example, suppose your attorney charges by the hour, and you face a very complex personal injury claim. In that case, their legal fees may be much more than you initially anticipated at the conclusion of your case. The Ewing Law Group, PC is committed to providing effective and reasonably priced legal counsel to our clients in the Sacramento area. Our firm offers various payment options to ensure you can access the legal counsel you need and secure the compensation you deserve for your personal injury. We’ll carefully review our billing policies with you before you sign any contracts for representation, so you can make a fully informed decision about your legal options.
Success in any personal injury claim requires establishing fault for your damages. Personal injury law revolves around the legal concept of “negligence,” or a failure to exercise reasonable care and caution in a given situation. Your Sacramento personal injury attorney will provide crucial legal counsel to help you identify the party or parties responsible for your damages and prove they were negligent in some way that directly resulted in those damages. There are four main components to establishing negligence in a California personal injury claim:
Meeting the requirements of establishing liability for your damages in any personal injury claim will be much easier with the help of an experienced Sacramento personal injury lawyer. Your attorney will know how to establish these four components of negligence, assist you in gathering any evidence you may require, and even secure expert witness testimony to support your claim if your case involves highly technical or complex details that require professional input from relevant experts.
In California, personal injury claimants can recover compensation for their medical expenses, including future medical expenses for injuries that result in long-term pain and impairment or injuries that cause permanent disabilities. Plaintiffs may also receive compensation for lost income or their lost future earning potential if their injuries prevent them from returning to work in the future. It is also possible to recover compensation for property damage, such as vehicle repair and replacement costs, as well as compensation for pain and suffering resulting from a defendant’s negligence.
Determining the full scope of your claimable damages is one of the most critical areas of your personal injury claim, and this is one of the most important reasons you need legal representation from an experienced Sacramento personal injury attorney on your side. The right attorney will help you explore every potential avenue of compensation and gather the evidence you need to substantiate your claims for certain damages.
For example, when you intend to claim compensation for your medical expenses, the full scope of your medical condition following your injury may not be immediately calculable. You may require examination from several medical professionals and specialists. Your attorney will help you gather any medical reports you will need to establish the full range of medical expenses you can claim with your personal injury lawsuit. It’s vital to account for both immediate and long-term medical expenses if your condition is likely to require extensive ongoing treatments.
When it comes to proving your lost income and lost earning potential, it is more difficult to calculate lost future earning capacity than most personal injury claimants realize. Your attorney will be able to help you account for factors such as inflation, expected future raises and promotions, accrual of vacation time, and paid time off so you can provide an accurate calculation of the earnings you could have expected in the future had your injury not occurred.
Finally, you will need legal assistance to prove pain and suffering. This could potentially be the most significant portion of your recovery, but you must provide unambiguous evidence. Some injuries are painful and traumatic, and California state law allows a personal injury plaintiff to recover financial compensation for physical pain, psychological trauma, and emotional distress. You may need to prove the extent of your experience by showing that you sought psychological counseling following your personal injury. You may also need to provide medical reports from your treatment team that outline the full scope of the physical pain your injuries caused. In some cases, plaintiffs may require expert witness testimony to support their claims for pain and suffering compensation
California state law does not limit the pain and suffering compensation except in medical malpractice lawsuits. California limits noneconomic damages in medical malpractice claims to $250,000. However, when it comes to other types of personal injury claims, your Sacramento personal injury attorney will help you determine a fair amount based on the severity of your injuries, the time your medical treatment team anticipates you will require for a complete recovery, and the likelihood of you developing permanent disabilities from the incident.
There are many ways an attorney can calculate pain and suffering compensation for their client. For example, suppose the victim is likely to make a full recovery within a few months. In that case, their attorney may seek “per diem” pain and suffering compensation that awards a set amount for each day the victim spends in recovery until they reach maximum medical improvement. However, if the plaintiff developed a permanent disability or medical condition from their personal injury, their attorney is more likely to seek a lump sum instead. They will likely calculate the plaintiff’s claimed medical expenses and multiply this figure by a factor of two to five or even more to reflect the severity of the plaintiff’s long-term complications from their personal injury.
In Sacramento, all personal injury plaintiffs must bear California’s pure comparative negligence law in mind when pursuing compensation for personal injury damages. This law states that a plaintiff still may recover damages if they are partly responsible for causing their personal injury. However, the court must assign a fault percentage based on the plaintiff’s degree of liability for causing their damages. California has a pure comparative negligence law that allows plaintiffs to receive damages even when they hold more than 50% of the fault for causing those damages. However, if the plaintiff’s fault is greater than the defendant’s, this would leave the plaintiff vulnerable to a counterclaim from the defendant.
If you are concerned about bearing partial fault for your claimed damages, your Sacramento personal injury attorney can provide invaluable guidance to help you limit your fault percentage. Whatever fault percentage the judge assigns to you is the percentage of your case award that you will lose to reflect your comparative negligence. For example, if you claim $300,000 in damages and the court finds you 10% at fault, you will lose 10% or your case award or $30,000, receiving a net case award of $270,000 instead.
Your personal injury was likely a traumatic and damaging experience, and you have the right to pursue compensation for your losses to the fullest extent allowable under California state law. Navigating the personal injury claim process will be much easier when you have an experienced Sacramento personal injury attorney on your side, and you can rely on your legal team to perform several critical legal services on your behalf.
First, your attorney will handle all the procedural requirements of your case. This includes court filing deadlines and making sure you attend all required hearings and court appearances. Your legal team will also handle pretrial motions and respond to motions filed by the defense. Second, your legal team will help you explore the full scope of your claimable damages to ensure you maximize your recovery.
The vast majority of personal injury claims filed in the United States settle outside of the courtroom, and you can rely on the Ewing Law Group, PC to provide the compassionate and meticulous legal representation you need during settlement negotiations. However, if a settlement is not possible, or if the defendant refuses to accept liability for your damages, we are not afraid of taking your case to court if necessary to secure the compensation you deserve. We’ll help you navigate the most complex issues your case entails, whether you require testimony from expert witnesses, extensive research, and discovery to prove liability for your damages or guidance through complex litigation.
