Motorcycle accidents can lead to severe injuries and devastating financial difficulties. After a motorcycle accident, you may wonder how a motorcycle accident lawyer can help you deal with this challenging situation.
When you have suffered an injury in a motorcycle accident, you are likely dealing with significant physical and financial effects. The bills begin to pile up immediately, as you need medical care and may be unable to work.
You can recover financial compensation, but this right only comes into play when you can show that the other driver caused the accident. Meanwhile, you may be dealing with a stubborn and challenging insurance company that wants to do everything but pay you the total amount of money you deserve.
The best way to establish and protect your legal right to financial compensation is to hire a motorcycle accident lawyer as soon as possible after the accident.
To understand why you need a motorcycle accident lawyer, you must contemplate what may happen if you try to proceed without one. Simply stated, the insurance company will try to take advantage of you during the legal process, perhaps even denying you compensation entirely.
A motorcycle accident lawyer is there to advocate for you. They understand the motor vehicle laws and will fight to ensure you receive fair compensation for your injuries, medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering. They will investigate the accident, gather evidence, and build a strong case on your behalf.
Contact a motorcycle accident lawyer today to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your case.
The only financial commitment you need to make when you hire a motorcycle accident attorney is agreeing to pay them a portion of your settlement after the insurance company agrees to pay you for your injuries. With a motorcycle accident lawyer fighting for you, it is more likely that you will receive a favorable result from the legal process.
Your Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Explains Your Legal Rights
When you have suffered an injury in a motorcycle accident, you may not even know the full extent of your legal rights. You may trust what insurance companies tell you, even if they are more concerned about their financial interests first.
The legal formula in a motorcycle accident case is simple: When you prove someone else was to blame for your injuries, you have a legal entitlement to total compensation.
A motorcycle accident lawyer will speak to you during a free initial consultation and take the time to listen to you and learn the facts of your motorcycle accident. They will responsively answer your questions when you have them.
When you hire a motorcycle accident lawyer, you will have far more information about what you deserve and what you can expect as part of the legal process.
A Motorcycle Accident Attorney Gathers Proof of What Happened
Proving negligence is a prerequisite for receiving money in a motorcycle accident settlement. You must have evidence showing the other driver did something unreasonable under the circumstances. It is on you to come up with this proof. Otherwise, you will come away empty-handed in the claims or lawsuit process.
However, you will likely find it difficult to perform your accident investigation on your own. You are tending to your health and injuries, and likely cannot do anything on your own behalf in the legal process.
When you hire a motorcycle accident attorney, they can immediately begin investigating what happened to gather the evidence you need to win your case. You must get legal help quickly because you can lose valuable proof.
If you hire a motorcycle accident lawyer several months later, you can end up in a precarious legal position, needing more evidence to qualify for financial compensation.
Your Motorcycle Accident Attorney Quantifies Your Damages
Since you may have suffered a severe injury in a motorcycle accident, you may recover a significant amount of financial compensation. Before you can even approach the insurance company, you need to know how much money to seek and prepare to prove the full extent of your damages.
Every dollar in your motorcycle accident settlement is crucial. Your compensation represents what you have lost because of your motorcycle accident injuries. If you do not receive everything you deserve in a settlement check, you leave money on the table.
Though you deserve certain compensation under the law, you can lose out if you do not hold the insurance company accountable in negotiations.
In a motorcycle accident case, the operative legal principle is that you have the right to full compensation for your injuries from the responsible party. They have insurance coverage to pay for your injuries up to the amount of the policy limit, and you can even seize the driver’s assets in a judgment (should they have any).
Your motorcycle accident lawyer works to estimate and prove your damages. Generally, your motorcycle accident damages will compensate you for:
- Medical expenses
- Lost earnings
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Emotional distress
If your loved one died in a motorcycle accident, your motorcycle accident lawyer will estimate your family’s wrongful death damages.
The insurance company will challenge every single subjective element of your motorcycle accident damages. Hiring a motorcycle accident attorney can place you on firmer legal footing to prove your intangible damages.
A Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Deals with the Insurance Company For You
The last thing you want and need when you have suffered severe injuries is to have to deal with the insurance company. The insurance adjuster is a trained professional whose job is to protect their bosses and minimize the amount they must pay you in a claim. You should never deal with the insurance company alone because you will almost always end up with the short end of the stick.
When you hire a motorcycle accident attorney, they will handle all communications with the insurance company, ensuring the adjuster does not surprise or catch you unaware of your legal rights.
If, for some reason, the insurance adjuster tries to speak with you when you have already hired a motorcycle accident attorney, all you need to do is tell them to talk with your lawyer.
Not having to speak with the insurance company takes a tremendous burden off your shoulders and removes many possible threats to your claim.
For example, the insurance company may try to contact you to discuss the accident. Refrain from having this conversation because you may say something that can imperil your claim. You will not have this worry when a motorcycle accident attorney communicates with the insurance company.
Your Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Negotiates Compensation
Insurance companies may accept liability in your case and indicate a willingness to settle your claim, and they may even make you a settlement offer.
However, a settlement offer is usually far from the end of your case. Instead, it is only the beginning of what may be a lengthy and arduous process. You will likely need to reject the insurance company’s initial settlement offer and possibly several others.
The motorcycle accident claims process is a negotiation between you and insurance companies. They want to settle your case and remove the possibility of a lawsuit, but the insurance company wants things on their terms.
Your motorcycle accident attorney will review any settlement offers you receive and advise whether you should accept them. After discussing any offer with you, a motorcycle accident lawyer may informally present a counteroffer to the insurance company or through a demand letter.
A lawyer can handle an ongoing negotiation with the insurance company. The unspoken (or spoken) threat is that your motorcycle accident attorney can file a lawsuit in court, which the insurance company never wants to see when the facts and law are on your side.
Insurance companies may take your motorcycle accident attorney seriously. They know you have little leverage against them if you deal with the adjuster alone and may say no or stick with a paltry settlement offer.
Your Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Can Take Your Case to Court
The hope is that you can reach a settlement agreement with the insurance company through the claims process, should you choose to begin your claim there. Usually, this is the quickest way to get your motorcycle accident compensation, even though the claims process may take some time.
However, you may have to go to court sometime during the legal process. Your motorcycle accident attorney may advise you that it is in your best interests to begin in court, or you may have to file a lawsuit when the insurance company denies your claim or will not fairly compensate you for your injuries.
The motorcycle accident lawsuit process can be detailed and complex. You will need to make legal filings with the court. At the same time, the insurance company has hired its own defense attorney, and you must deal with them throughout the legal process. A skilled attorney will continue to build your case using the discovery process.
As an individual plaintiff, you should not represent yourself in court. Although theoretically possible, you do not know the ins and outs of the lawsuit process to handle your case effectively.
An experienced motorcycle accident attorney knows the inside of the courtroom. They have extensive experience in dealing with lawsuits and defense attorneys on behalf of their clients.
Your motorcycle accident lawyer can fight for you in court if the insurance company does not agree to a reasonable settlement of your case, no matter how long it takes.
Your Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Tells and Proves Your Side of the Story
Unless the facts in your motorcycle accident case are obvious and incontestable, you can expect insurance companies to try to blame you for the accident, or they will at least argue that your actions contributed to what happened.
You must take these allegations seriously because the outcome may determine whether your motorcycle accident compensation gets reduced or eliminated. Insurance companies know juries tend to think motorcyclists are very risky, and they try to use this fact to their advantage during settlement negotiations.
Your legal case is as much about defending yourself as it is about proving the driver was negligent. Your motorcycle accident lawyer may need to present evidence about what you were doing to rebut any incorrect allegations about your behavior.
As unfair as it seems to have to defend yourself when the driver was to blame for your injuries, it is what you have to do if you want to receive full compensation for the accident. Your motorcycle accident attorney’s job is every bit as much about defending you when the insurance company accuses you of wrongdoing.
How Much Does a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Cost Me?
Prospective clients often ask this question when hiring a motorcycle accident lawyer. The answer to this question is, nothing upfront and never anything out of your own pocket.
You only have to sign a representation agreement promising to pay your motorcycle accident lawyer if and when you win your case. In the meantime, you never have to pay any retainer, and you will not get any hourly bills while your case is making its way through the legal process.
If you receive a settlement or jury award, your motorcycle accident lawyer gets a percentage of the proceeds directly from your check.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer is crucial if you have been in a motorcycle accident. Whether pursuing a personal injury lawsuit or seeking compensation through a settlement, they will guide you through the legal process from start to finish.
Your motorcycle attorney will fight for your rights, handle insurance negotiations, explain your legal options, and provide emotional support. With their help, you can focus on your recovery while knowing you have a dedicated advocate by your side.
Steve Fields
Founder | CEO | Principal | Attorney
Steve Fields founded Fields Law in 2001 and quickly established a reputation with his Personal Injury clients for being a lawyer who truly cares. After more than 20 years, those clients continue to refer their friends and family whenever they have been injured or become disabled.
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