1. Auto accident
2. You and the Insurance Company
3. Do I need a lawyer?
4. Contingent Fees
5. Liability, Causation, Damages
6. Will I have to sue?
7. How much is my case worth?
8. Coverage Issues
9. Don't Delay
10. Products Liability
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• exchange insurance information
• contact law enforcement • get medical attention • photograph the property damage • contact your insurance agent • keep followup medical appointments • give one recorded statement when requested, but not more than one • do not admit fault; if it was your fault, do not discuss fault • be honest and complete in your statements • get timely legal counsel if desired/needed • follow your doctor's advice about taking time off work • maintain and keep track of your medical bills • In an auto accident, you have your own insurance, and in a two-car collision, there is probably insurance covering the other vehicle. Most activities in modern life are insured, either through your own policy or someone else's. Insurance companies are answerable for losses, both to policyholders as well as to people making claims against their insurance customers.
• But insurance companies are also answerable to shareholders, and we take it as a given that claims are always minimized. Insurance companies measure out the cost of claims like [some] food manufacturers measure the quantity of product they put in a soup can or potato chip bag: the less soup in the can or chips in the bag, the more the manufacturer can keep for itself. • You should not be working alone to protect yourself. Lawyers and the legal system are your best way of getting fair treatment on your claim. Call us at (406) 728-4682. • Insurance companies strive to settle cases quickly. For you the claimant, a quick settlement can be bad in different ways. Medical problems may go unresolved, financial impacts underestimated, claims of Medicare and other third parties inadequately addressed, and future complications left to fester. Insurance companies negotiate best early on.
• To combat these challenges, you should have legal help. As your legal representative our office keeps you informed of issues and evidence. We start planning for a trial at the outset, and help you evaluate your case. • In some cases, insurance companies offer reasonable settlements to unrepresented injury victims; but the risk of undervaluing your case when you have no lawyer on your side is nearly always too high. For more information, call our office at (406) 728-4682. • Contingent legal fees consist of a fraction of what you get. We as your legal representative agree that if you receive nothing, you owe no legal fees.
• The contingent fee is a core element of American civil justice. Without the contingent fee, most people could not afford to hire a lawyer. By paying a lawyer a fraction of the monies received, you can stand up to an insurance company, a corporation, or a government agency and be heard. • Insurance companies sit on billions of dollars. They employ thousands of people, and they only pay claims after skilled evaluation. On any sizeable claim, you are at a huge disadvantage without legal help. The contingent fee is what makes that legal help available. • Our law office represents people in many situations where the contingent fee applies. For information, call us at 406 728-4682. • The first question in any injury case is, Who is at fault? Liability for injury can only be found when a person violates a duty and when that duty causes harm. Rules of the road, basic decency, civility, and the golden rule are basic concepts of civil justice. In Montana, a statute says: "[E]ach person is responsible ... for ... injury occasioned to another by the person's want of ordinary care ...."
• The second question is, did the violator cause your injury and trigger a loss? When arguing against causation, defendants and their insurers push such defenses as pre-existing condition, "act of God", and "intervening" cause, any of which can put your claim at serious risk. In these situations, the insurer and defendant are saying, "OK, maybe you are hurt, but someone else, possibly including you, must be responsible; we are not the ones who caused you the harm you are claiming". • Damages are the third element. The law is not concerned with wrongdoing unless there is harm, called "damage". If you are damaged by anyone, whether it be another individual, a corporation, or a government agency, or by any person working for a corporation or government agency, the violation of your rights is usually compensable in damages. But the law requires you to prove your damages in money. • Lawsuits are not always necessary to vindicate your rights and compensate your losses, but claims often do not settle at reasonable levels without court involvement. Insurers and the wrongdoers they insure rarely volunteer information or assistance to the person to whom they have caused a loss.
• Unless you have real experience as a professional claim investigator or have been a student of the law or of insurance, you will get no satisfaction by insisting on staying out of court. Call us at (406) 728-4682. • Medical costs, future medical, lost income (past and future), pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life are damages that you can recover when you are injured. In some circumstances, your family members can recover damages, as well. The value of a case is affected by the level of moral wrongdoing done to you, the extent to which your overall health is worsened by the injury in your case, by the extent of your own fault in the injury and many other factors.
• These are the issues that lawyers do battle about every day in courtrooms across the country. You may have a good common-sense understanding about the merits of your case; but if you are not working with counsel, the actual value of your case, for settlement purposes or for trial, will be hard to assess. • Under the law, liability insurers cover you, up to their contracted policy limits, for injuries caused by their insureds for injuries and damages for which their insured person may be liable. Liability insurers confront claims head-on, accusing the claimant of comparative fault, failure to mitigate losses, exaggeration, losses caused by others, and other defenses.
• If your claim is on your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, you may be entitled to receive benefits based upon the liability that the uninsured or underinsured driver has to you for your losses. Here the coverage is on your own policy, the insurer's liability to you is based on your insurance contract, and their responsibility to you, the insurance customer, is a high one. • But insurers can and do assert defenses in claims brought against them by their own customers. There can be as much dispute over benefits under your own auto insurance policy (i.e., for uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits) as there is in a case that you bring against the driver of another car who runs into you. • If you have a coverage question, call us at (406) 728-4682. • She who delays is lost. An injury to you by some negligent person or entity rapidly becomes stale. Evidence can be misplaced, witnesses disappear, and courts become hostile. Delay breeds suspicion and legal statutes of limitation rear their heads.
• We all have doubts at one time or another about whether to pursue our rights through the legal system. Without legal advice, those decisions can be plain wrong. Forgetfulness and mistaken ideas may destroy your chance to address your legitimate rights. • If you have a matter that fits this description or you want to know Montana law on a legal question, call us at (406) 728-4682. • Products liability cases are controversial across the nation. In our office we believe that businesses that produce defective and dangerous products should be responsible for injuries those products cause. The law in this area, "strict liability" for injuries caused by defective products, has improved all our lives. We now see product safety not as an unaffordable luxury but as an rightful expectation of quality in all the things we buy. America's leadership in this area can be largely attributed to the hard work lawyers have done to show the world that safety is both inexpensive and socially desirable.
• But American business, which dominates the world of employment and finance, still fights issues of corporate responsibility. "Tort reform," which creates barricades at the courthouse door and barriers to the judicial process, is on the rise. At this office, we will always be working on the side of consumers in the tradition of protecting Montanans from the excesses of government and big business. For more information, call us at (406) 728-4682. |
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