Personal injury lawsuits consist of a variety of stages. A Las Vegas, personal injury claim can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to resolve.
However, most personal injury lawsuits are resolved by settlements before a trial.
Pre-litigation Stage
In personal injury cases, most lawsuits take time to file. The pre-litigation stage often involves gathering information about the accident and injuries, calculating the value of the case, and preparation of legal arguments about why the victim (the plaintiff) is eligible for compensation.
Victims may enlist the services of a lawyer to guide and assist them in investigating the accident and collecting relevant documents and facts to support their case.
Initial Consultations with A Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer
The prospective lawyer will ask you questions and try to get to know you and your case better. During this meeting, you get to determine if the lawyer can handle your case.
After discussing the details of your case, the lawyer will determine if you have a valid and legitimate personal injury claim.
Filing A Claim With The Insurance Company
The first step is to file a claim with the insurance company that covers the defendant. You may also notify your insurers of the accident, or your personal injury lawyer can handle these tasks.
An insurance claims adjuster will be assigned to your claim to investigate. The adjuster’s job is to resolve the claim and approve as little money as possible for your claim. The insurance adjuster may try to resolve your claim through a settlement to avoid the high court costs.
Investigation
An experienced Las Vegas personal injury attorney will conduct an in-depth investigation to determine whether the facts and circumstances genuinely support a claim for damages.
Documenting And Calculating Damages
One of the first things an attorney seeks from clients is copies of their medical history and records. After reviewing and studying these records and documents, an attorney can determine the extent of the physical, emotional, and psychological injuries suffered due to the accident. All such damages are taken into consideration when the lawyer values your claim.
Your potential compensation may include the following:
- Economic damages for medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, property damage, out-of-pocket expenditure, and estimated future medical expenses.
- Non-economic damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of companionship, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.
- Punitive damages can be sought too. For a case to qualify for punitive damages, your attorney must prove that the at-fault party’s conduct was malicious, willful, and reckless.
Consultations With Experts
Consultations with experts from different fields are essential to develop and build a solid and unassailable case. Experts can testify during trial and help tilt a lawsuit’s fortunes in your favor. Over the years, Pacific West Injury Law has built a network of astute experts in Nevada that includes life-care planners, accident reconstruction experts, detectives, ex-defense attorneys, mechanics and engineers, experts from various areas of medicine, and toxicology experts.
The Lawyer Sends A Demand Letter To The Insurance Company
Your lawyer will send a demand letter to the insurance company to notify them of the victim’s claims. A demand letter is drafted professionally and precisely by the lawyer and is supported by necessary documents which contain the following:
- A summarized list of all the facts and information regarding the victim’s claim
- The victim’s rationale explains the liability of the at-fault party
- A detailed description of the victim’s medical treatment and the expenses incurred
- A detailed description of all income lost
- A detailed description of all types of damages and losses sustained
- A demand for a compensation amount to resolve the claim
Negotiations
After intensely scrutinizing the claim made by the victim in the demand letter, the insurance company may accept the demand. In such a scenario, the insurance company agrees to the compensation the demand letter claims. Such a thing rarely happens as insurance companies always indulge in aggressive negotiations to bring down the value of the claim made by the victim.
In a second scenario, the insurance company may deny the claim outright and refuse to pay or offer the victim an amount less than what they had claimed in the demand letter. After consulting his lawyer, the victim may accept such an offer, continue negotiations, or file a lawsuit.
Settlement
If a settlement agreement is reached, you must relinquish all potential claims against the defendant arising from the underlying accident. You do this by signing a complete liability release. Once you have signed the release, you cannot demand more money or pursue a claim against any party, even if you discover additional injuries or damages.
After you have settled your injury claim, your attorney will receive the settlement check from the insurance company in the mail.
The attorney will deposit the check into the client’s trust account and transfer the money accordingly.
Retaining The Services of A Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Get A Larger Settlement
Insurance companies know you are most vulnerable after an accident. They also know that most injury victims aren’t well-versed in Nevada tort law, and they will use that against you.
Experienced personal injury lawyers know how to employ specialized skills to negotiate with insurance claims adjusters of insurance companies. They often have to persuade or compel them into respecting victims’ rights and making a fair settlement offer.
If you have been injured in an accident, fall, or animal attack in Las Vegas, Henderson, or North Las Vegas, understanding the steps in the legal process can be difficult but very important for you to understand. At Pacific West Injury Law, our expert team of personal injury lawyers can offer expert legal insight on the various stages of a personal injury claim.
Call an experienced personal injury lawyer at our firm for a free case evaluation right away to know how you can unravel the true value of your Las Vegas personal injury claim.
