How does an Experienced Injury Attorney decide if I have a good case?
The three things that an experienced injury attorney looks at in deciding whether a potential client has a good case:
Experienced Injury Attorney Triad Element #1: Fault.
The first thing an experienced Injury Attorney looks at (in Louisville, Kentucky and everywhere else), is fault. Fault means that someone else is legally responsible for the event that causes the potential client’s injury. In a car accident, an Injury Attorney wants to determine whether someone other than the potential client is at fault. In a slip-and-fall, an Injury Attorney wants to determine whether the person or business responsible for the premises may be legally at fault.
No one has a case unless someone else is legally responsible. This is the basis of the American tort system. If someone is at fault for an accident that causes someone else’s injury, then the party at fault is responsible to compensate the injured person’s damages. Which leads to …
Experienced Injury Attorney Triad Element #2: Damages.
As an experienced Injury Attorney in Louisville, Kentucky, I have tried many cases in front of juries. Probably the most common personal injury case is when one car rear-ends another car. But just because a person is at fault for an accident does not mean he or she is liable for damages. A jury will want to know if the impact was significant enough that it could have caused an injury. They will want to see how much property damage there was to the vehicles involved. They will want to know how soon the injured person went for treatment. They will want to know what sort of treatment that the injured person received and for how long. They will want to know how much the injured person has incurred in medical bills. They will want to know if the injured person had to miss work. They will want to know if the injured person’s injuries are permanent and may require future treatment.
All of these things go into determining the extent of an injured person’s damages. Just as there is no liability if there is no fault, there is no liability if there are no damages.
If an Injury Attorney determines that both fault and damages are present, then that leads to …
Experienced Injury Attorney Attorney Triad Element #3: Coverage.
Any experienced Injury Attorney knows that fault and damages alone aren’t enough. There must be someone who is legally responsible to pay for those damages. That usually means the liability insurance of the responsible party. In car accident cases, however, the responsible party may be uninsured. In that case, the injured person’s uninsured motorists coverage under his own automobile policy becomes responsible for his or her damages. Or, if the responsible party’s insurance coverage is not enough to cover the full amount of the injured person’s damages, the injured person’s underinsured motorists coverage may apply (if this coverage was purchased under the policy).
Insurance coverage is very important in deciding whether an injured person has a good case. Otherwise, any Judgment may be uncollectible. It is the third corner of the “Holy Triad” that every experienced Injury Attorney looks for in deciding whether a potential client has a good personal injury case.
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