If you have suffered an injury in a car accident in Great Barrington MA or anywhere in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, you may be undecided as to whether you should talk to a car accident lawyer – a personal injury lawyer. You might think that your automobile accident injuries are not THAT severe – that you don’t really need a personal injury lawyer. There’s a big difference in the results you’ll get if you have an experienced personal injury attorney represent you against insurance companies.
Recently I had a couple come into my Great Barrington office. They told me about their car accident – a collision in Becket, Massachusetts – and their car accident insurance claim. The insurance company was only offering them a total package of $8,000 to settle the case. After finding out that the young woman driver who had struck them had dropped her cell phone and was reaching down to pick it up when she crossed the center line, we were able to go to arbitration and get $35,000 – over four times what the insurance company had originally offered.
Here’s how it works. There are two parts to every personal injury claim and that’s true of automobile accidents: 1. Liability and 2. Damages.
The first part is liability. In other words: whose fault is it? In order for you to recover for personal injury damages, it has to be somebody else’s negligence that caused your injuries.
Personal injury lawyers establish liability in several ways.
- You’re an expert driver: you’ve been driving all of your adult life! As a result you can testify as to what happened.
- There will also be the defendant who will be cross-examined.
- There might be witnesses and an investigating police officer who were at the scene.
- Circumstantial evidence will be supplied by the nature and extent of property damage, the weather, the condition of the roadway, all will come into play.
Our goal is to establish as much liability as possible against the defendant driver so his or her insurance company realizes the need to compensate you for your injuries. Remember … right now the insurance company is investigating to mitigate its insured’s responsibility. You need a lawyer to protect your interests as soon as possible.
The second part of every personal injury case is the damages aspect. You’re entitled to recover for all of the legal elements of damages under Massachusetts’ law. Those damages include past and future physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment, physical disfigurement, your medical expenses, and lost earnings and the capacity to earn in the future.
As soon as you are in a car accident, the defendant’s insurance company is out there doing their job: interviewing witnesses, investigating the collision, and trying to establish that it wasn’t the fault of their driver that this crash happened. They’re investigating YOU. They may have a camera on you – watching your everyday activities in your home, in your yard – to see if you’re still cutting the lawn or lifting grocery bags. They will watch your social media. You need to be protected!
If you are ever injured, I want you to be able to concentrate on recovering and getting back to your daily activities. I’ll concentrate on getting you compensated. Let’s talk about how I can help you and your family. Call me at (413) 429-6400 or email me to set up a totally free consultation.
