Car Accident Lawyer Cleveland Ohio
A car accident lawyer Cleveland, OH residents trust has represented hundreds and hundreds of personal injury victims throughout the State of Ohio. Since we limit our caseload to catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, we will handle motor vehicle accidents resulting in death or serious injuries, such as loss of a limb (amputation), quadriplegia, paraplegia, paralysis, traumatic brain injury, fractures, severe neck and back injuries, and other disabling injuries.
You May Require a Lawyer
One of the first questions that a car crash victim should ask is: do I need a lawyer? In many instances, we advise potential clients that they do not need a lawyer. If your injuries are not severe and you make a rapid and full recovery within several weeks after the accident, there is usually no need to involve a lawyer. In those instances, you can negotiate the claim directly with the insurance company to resolve property damage, outstanding medical expenses and compensation for pain and suffering.
A lawyer may also not be necessary if there are serious injuries, but minimal insurance proceeds available. In this situation, the insurance company may readily release all available insurance proceeds without a lawyer’s involvement. In both these instances, you may wind up better off without incurring lawyer fees by handling the matter yourself. However, in most serious injury and wrongful death cases, a lawyer’s assistance will be necessary.
How Long You Have to File a Lawsuit
In Ohio, when a motor vehicle or motorcycle accident results in injury or death, you have two years from the date of the accident in which to file a lawsuit. If you fail to file a lawsuit within this timeframe, you will be forever barred for seeking compensation for injuries caused in the automobile accident. This rule may vary in other States.
How a Car Accident Lawyer Can Help You
Unfortunately, the process of resolving a serious injury case is fraught with legal hassles that require the services of an attorney lawyer to resolve. Not only are you faced with the property damage claim and your own medical treatment, but injury victims may have to file a lawsuit, litigate who was at fault, document and prove injuries through qualified medical experts, evaluate available insurance coverage limits and/or address subrogation liens. Generally, you need a lawyer to handle all of these issues. Let’s address each one.
How Liability in a Car Accident is Concluded
Typically, liability in motor vehicle accidents is established by the findings of the investigating police officer. The police report will include an interview of all parties involved in the accident, as well as eyewitness accounts, when available. The report will detail the direction of travel, weather conditions, time of day, traffic conditions, the extent of vehicle damage, and whether any occupants were injured. In serious crashes, the police will often take photographs and prepare an accident reconstruction drawing using measurements from the accident scene.
The investigating officer will issue a citation to the party causing the motor vehicle collision. However, in some cases, liability is disputed. A car crash attorney can perform his/her own investigation and hire experts in accident reconstruction and biomechanics, as needed, to prove who was at fault. Sometimes, surveillance video is available. Likewise, many vehicles and semi-tractor trailers contain “black boxes” that can identify pre-crash actions. In other cases, satellite data may be available, particularly where a commercial truck or ride-sharing service, such as Uber or Lyft, is involved.
The lawyer’s other function is to produce proof of injury and damages. This might include obtaining a medical report from a qualified expert detailing the nature and extent of injuries, residual disability, employability, and permanency of any disability. Other experts, such as an economist, a life care planner and/or a vocational rehabilitation expert, may be necessary to capture future economic losses associated with loss of employment or earning capacity, future medical expenses, accommodations needed for disability, and the like.
We Can Help with Investigation
As your Ohio car accident lawyer in Cleveland, I would also undertake an investigation into all available insurance proceeds. Typically, we look first to the negligent driver’s personal automobile policy to establish the policy limits. However, it must be determined whether the individual has umbrella coverage, or was acting in the course and scope of employment, such that his/her employer’s insurance coverage applies. When the policy limits are inadequate, we look to injured parties’ own automobile policies to determine whether they have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and, if so, what are the limits. Sometimes, the terms of insurance policies are ambiguous such that their applicability are also the subject of litigation.
Finally, we will assist you with any subrogation interests. “Subrogation” is a right that a health insurer has to recover funds from a settlement or jury verdict that are earmarked for past medical expenses. If these past medical expenses have been paid by private health insurance, Workers Compensation, the VA, Medicare or Medicaid, those entities typically seek recovery of the amounts they have paid. Each of these entities have different rules and procedures for resolving these subrogation liens. Again, a fair resolution of a subrogation lien may result in further litigation. In addition, when a personal injury victim is receiving need-based benefits, such as Medicaid, legal planning may be necessary to preserve the right to these benefits after compensation is recovered through settlement or verdict.
I can tell you that like with many things in modern life, car crash litigation has gotten progressively more complicated. We have the experience and resources to guide you through this process and obtain full and fair compensation for you. Please contact Mishkind Kulwicki Law Firm if you have any questions or need assistance.
What kinds of damages may I be entitled to receive?
There are three kinds of damages that you may be entitled to receive after being the victim in a car accident. After we evaluate your situation, we can let you know whether these apply to your case:
- Non-Economic Damages: pain and suffering, loss of companionship, and mental anguish.
- Economic Damages: financial loss, medical bills, lost income, and other monetary hardships that were endured due to the car accident.
- Punitive Damages: punishment for conduct that is particularly reckless or malicious (such as the offending driver being drunk behind the wheel).
Can you tell me more about punitive damages?
All too often car accident victims are not aware of punitive damages, that is, until way after the fact and then too much time has gone by to the eligible for this type of compensation. Juries may award damages to victims in car accidents if reckless or malicious conduct was an element of the incident. Punitive damages serve to punish the driver at-fault and discourage thoughtless behavior from others.
What are examples of medical expenses I could get compensation for?
For most people who were victims in car accidents, they had to go to the emergency room or at least visit their doctor to get treatment for injuries. Every person is different, and the more serious the injuries, the more it is likely to cost them. Examples of medical expenses you could receive compensation for include the following:
- Prescription medication
- Hospitalization
- X-rays, MRIs, CT-Scans, etc.
- Surgery
- Emergency care
- Treatment
- Shots
- Rehabilitation
- Intensive treatments
- Management of chronic pain
- Physical therapy
- Chiropractic care
It is strongly advised that you get medical attention shortly after the accident. It is not uncommon for victims to feel a bit off the day of, and then wake up the next morning in a significant amount of pain and discomfort. The sooner you get the medical treatment you need, the sooner you can recover. Furthermore, if you do pursue a case against the offending driver, it will support your claims better if you sought medical care immediately (versus waiting days or weeks).
I suffered a brain injury in a car accident, should I contact a lawyer?
If you suffered a brain injury, you may not know where to turn and what you should do. You may have been told various things, like car accident cases are complicated, or insurance companies are hard to beat. In a sense, there is truth to statements like these; however, with the help of a lawyer, challenges can be overcome, and a settlement may be recovered. While we are not medical professionals, you have any of these symptoms after a car accident, please get yourself to a medical facility or call 911 for help, as you may have a brain injury:
- Loss of consciousness
- Feeling dazed, disoriented, or confused
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- A headache that won’t go away
- Speech problems
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Sleeping more than normal
- Fatigue or drowsiness
- Changes in personality
- Angry outbursts or irritability
What about future medical costs?
If you have been diagnosed with an irreversible TBI, chances are you will have ongoing medical expenses. It’s possible you will be offered a quick settlement that includes compensation for your current medical bills, but you need to be thinking about the future. You might have therapy, surgery, medical check ups, and a whole variety of medical expenses, and you should receive compensation to cover them all.
Is there compensation for long-term care?
It’s possible your future won’t include employment or independence. You might have to rely on someone to help you do the daily tasks you were once able to do yourself. Because your condition is irreversible, this sort of assistance could last for the rest of your life. You’ll need the funds available to pay for your long-term care, which is why you need a lawyer to fight for you.
You should also take into consideration your lost wages. If you were the sole provider of income for your family, there are more people than just yourself who rely on your wages. Being unable to work in the future will require compensation that covers those lost wages. Your lawyer can discuss the amount of lost wages that may be available during your consultation.
Collecting Proper Evidence
Having an irreversible TBI isn’t a hopeless cause. Don’t ever quit fighting and don’t feel like you have to do it on your own. Your lawyer can help you collect evidence in order to turn your lawsuit to your favor as best as possible. Your lawyer can show in court that someone owed you a certain level of care, and that person violated their duty of care. Your lawyer can pull together a compelling case so you don’t have to spend the time or energy trying to come up with it on your own.
Contacting a Car Accident Lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio
During such a stressful time, a lawyer is someone you can count on. If you received a TBI or other serious injury after a car accident, hiring a lawyer is beneficial whether your injury is permanent and irreversible, or you have the chance of recovery. Contact a Cleveland car accident lawyer in OH today to get started with your case.
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