Accident victims never wished for the motor vehicle accidents they survived. This is because automobile crashes often leave them with severe injuries and medical expenses. So, speaking to car crash attorneys may not be a priority at such a difficult time. Some accident victims don’t even think they need a Boston car crash lawyer.
However, bodily injuries and vehicle damage drain financial resources. Therefore, getting an excellent Boston auto accident lawyer is crucial. Injury victims can get fair compensation for their medical costs. The fault party can also pay additional compensation for non-economic damages, and sometimes punitive damages.
Massachusetts is a no-fault state. Consequently, the fault driver wouldn’t immediately bear the consequences of your loss. Instead, you’ll first turn to your personal injury protection insurance. You’ll have to deal with insurance laws, insurance adjusters, or the courts. So, read on to find out whether you need an auto accident attorney for this process.
Do I Need a Boston Car Crash Lawyer After an Accident?
Imagine that you’ve been in a Boston automobile crash. Your car is damaged, and you’ve lost an expensive wristwatch. Furthermore, you just saw significant scratches and bruises on your body. Then a passerby helps you get medical attention, and a medical professional treats your wounds? The chances are high that all these events must have cost large amounts of money.
So, you may want to seek compensation for your initial and additional losses. However, the issue is whether or not you can achieve this without a lawyer. The first thing to note is that you mustn’t hire an experienced Boston car crash lawyer. No Massachusetts law mandates that you work with an attorney.
Therefore, suppose you choose to get legal representation. Then, this must be a personal decision informed by its benefits. As car crash attorneys with decades of experience handling auto accident claims, we can say that hiring a lawyer is an excellent decision.
Indeed Massachusetts is a no-fault insurance state. So, you may not have to prove fault to get compensation. However, getting an accident victim lawyer significantly improves your chances of recovering damages. We’ll thus explain some of the advantages of an experienced car accident injury attorney below.
Focusing on Recovery
Medical treatment is the most vital step after an accident. So, pursuing a legal claim from the hospital is challenging and unadvisable. Fortunately, hiring a lawyer eases your burden. All you need to do is brief your attorney on the case. Then, they can initiate the legal process while you recover fully.
Lawyers can take steps such as:
- Investigation of the accident scene
- Gathering and storage of evidence, such as accident reports, medical records, etc.
- Talking to witnesses
- Preparation and filing of official documents
An experienced car accident lawyer will have taken the necessary steps to protect your claim by the time you recover.
Proving Liability for the Accident
Massachusetts operates a no-fault car accident system. So, you don’t have to establish liability to get money from your Personal Injury Protection insurance policy. However, in some rare cases, you may have the right to sue a fault party. Proving the negligence of such a driver thus becomes necessary.
You’ll have to link such a party’s carelessness to your injury. However, this is a pretty challenging task. But it isn’t as difficult for lawyers, though. A personal injury attorney spends years in training for these scenarios. They can, thus, quickly identify a negligent party. Furthermore, they can prove such a driver’s liability and get your compensation.
Protecting You From Insurance Companies
Insurance companies are never on your side! Insurers don’t like paying out claims. Any insurance coverage they default on increases their profit, and they use several tricks to achieve this goal.
Some of such tricks include:
- Wrongfully denying claims
- Arguing that the insurance coverage does not extend to your injuries
- Offering low settlements
- Blaming you for the collision
Fortunately, an experienced lawyer is acquainted with these insurance company tactics. So, they’ll counter them and get you the compensation you deserve. It’ll thus be best not to speak to an insurance company employee. This way, you wouldn’t say anything that could harm your case.
When Should I Hire a Car Accident Lawyer?
Since no law says that you must hire an experienced car accident attorney, there’s no definite time to make this decision. However, although there’s no compulsory time for getting legal representation, there’s an ideal time frame. It’ll be best to brief an attorney immediately after the crash.
At this point, the events are still fresh in your memory. In addition, the sources of evidence are still new too. Therefore, getting a lawyer at this stage means that they’ll have an edge when defending you. Notably, you don’t have to visit a personal injury law firm physically. After the crash, you may not even be able to do so.
So most top-tier law firms like ours have email addresses with which you can contact an attorney. Text messaging and phone calls are also possible. So, you can exploit these means of communication.
What if I Can’t Pay My Boston Car Accident Lawyer?
Many people genuinely want to hire experienced car crash attorneys. However, the negligent driver already caused them significant damage. For example, treating a permanent injury or catastrophic injuries is expensive. So, many crash survivors cannot afford the additional cost of a lawyer.
Fortunately, you can postpone this additional cost. You don’t have to abandon your personal injury claim for lack of funds. Instead, a law firm can take your case on a contingency fee basis. You only pay the auto accident lawyer if they win your case. If the lawyer loses the case, you wouldn’t have to pay them.
A win under a contingency fee arrangement mustn’t be through an accident lawsuit. Instead, you could get adequate compensation from an insurance claim.
Benefits of a Contingency Fee Agreement
Fighting the insurance industry is pretty costly. But with a contingency fee arrangement, you don’t have to pay upfront fees when going against an insurance company. Instead, your attorney works hard against insurance tricks. Then, you only pay them from your insurance settlements or court judgment.
Furthermore, working on a contingency basis motivates the accident injury attorney to give your case the best effort because they get nothing if they lose. Finally, a contingency fee agreement can prove that you have a good case. The willingness to work for free means that there’s a significant chance that your case will succeed.
Does My Lawyer Bear All the Costs?
No, your auto accident lawyer wouldn’t bear all the costs of the compensation process. Instead, you’ll foot some of the bills. These are the other expenses you incur while pursuing a settlement. Some of them include:
- Costs of filing documents in court
- Investigation fees
- Cost of service of processes
- Cost of obtaining evidence, like a police report
- Bills of medical experts
How Much Will My Lawyer Take in a Contingency Fee Agreement?
Now, your attorney has won your personal injury lawsuit or the auto insurance company has paid a fair settlement. So, you’re bothered about how much your lawyer gets. Generally, legal practitioners working on a contingency basis take percentages of your win. This percentage ranges from 30 to 40 percent.
There’s no fixed figure. Instead, several factors determine how much you’re left with. For example, the difficulty level of the case is vital. So, the more complex the claim, the more your lawyer charges.
The length of the dispute resolution period is also essential. Therefore, imagine when insurance companies admit liability and pay quickly. In such instances, the lawyer didn’t expend much of their resources. So they wouldn’t charge heavy legal fees.
Do I Need a Boston Car Crash Attorney After a Minor Accident?
A minor car accident can also shake your resolve to hire an attorney because it leaves insignificant damage. For example, injuries from such a collision usually aren’t severe. In addition, you may never have to file a property damage claim.
This is often because your car didn’t sustain significant damage. A fender-bender is a typical example of a minor accident. After this kind of crash, your vehicle can continue functioning properly. So, it’s understandable to see why people hesitate to hire lawyers for minor collisions.
However, you need a car crash attorney for minor accidents. Below, we’ll explain why.
Minor Injuries Can Worsen
Firstly, your injuries may not be as insignificant as you think. Therefore, it’s best to see a doctor after a minor collision. Accidents often leave the victims with hidden injuries too. These wounds don’t show up for some time. So, you may need a medical test to discover them.
Also, adrenaline suppresses some of the effects of your injuries. So, a minor crash can leave you with head or neck injuries. So it’ll be best to hire a car accident attorney in such cases.
Responsibility Isn’t Clear
The driver responsible for a crash isn’t always apparent. Instead, you may need to conduct investigations to apportion liability. Liable parties and their insurance companies often intentionally dispute their fault. When this happens, hiring a car crash attorney in Boston is crucial to establishing liability. Only an experienced Boston car crash lawyer can help you out of such bad faith scenarios.
Going to Court
Settlement negotiations don’t always work. Insurance companies don’t like paying claims. So when they do, they usually offer less than you deserve. If you’re getting such lowball settlement offers, filing a personal injury claim may be best.
Indeed, you can represent yourself in court. However, the entire process is usually complex and overwhelming. Lawyers spend years in training for these cases and have extensive field experience, too.
What Should I Look Out for in a Boston Car Crash Attorney?
Now you’ve decided to hire a car accident attorney. First, however, the selection process is vital. Suppose you haven’t worked with a lawyer before. Then, you may not know the qualities of an excellent attorney. If you don’t know what to look out for in a car crash attorney, you may make a terrible decision.
Below are qualities to note.
Clear Communication
Communication is essential in lawyer-client relationships. It’s only by talking that you can narrate the details of the crash to your lawyer. However, you also need an attorney that communicates quickly with you. Boston lawyers have a duty to speak with their clients, informing them of improvements in the case.
In addition, a Boston car crash lawyer should tell you whether or not you have a good claim. Whatever steps the attorney will take on your behalf should also be discussed. As circumstances change in the case, an excellent lawyer will update you on such changes. Cases where lawyers and their clients communicate frequently have a high chance of success.
Trial Experience
Insurance negotiation experience is necessary for attorneys in Boston. This is because of Massachusetts’ no-fault insurance laws. However, hiring a lawyer that isn’t afraid of going to court when necessary is vital. This is because, at some point, filing a lawsuit may be your last option. So, you must first check if your lawyer has won several car accident cases in court.
Personal Attention and Devotion
The legal profession is a business. Car crash attorneys help clients to get paid. However, this doesn’t mean that an attorney shouldn’t be interested and personally invested in a client’s case. Finding a lawyer who understands what you’ve suffered in the accident is crucial. This ability to relate to your condition can inspire them to fight to get you the maximum compensation.
Reputation
Law firms operate in communities. So, people living around these communities must have had interactions with the lawyers. Therefore, checking out a law firm’s reputation is vital when picking an attorney.
Things to consider include:
- How they handle client’s money
- Their track record of success
- The number of lawyers in the firm
- The firm’s relationship with its clients, the court, and the community
- What schools the law firm employs from
- The quality of lawyers the firm hires
These factors can help you guess how they’ll handle your case.
How Long Do I Have to File a Boston Car Accident Lawsuit?
We’ve stated that you mustn’t go to court for adequate compensation. Instead, many accident victims accept a quick settlement. However, Personal Injury Protection insurance isn’t always enough. Victims may thus have the right to head to the courts. In such cases, it’s best to know how long you have to file a lawsuit.
In fact, it’s best to understand this timeline immediately you decide to pursue compensation. It will determine how long you sit through unproductive negotiations. Statutes of Limitations dictate the time limits for civil actions. Most US states have these laws. They restrict how long a plaintiff has to initiate the claims process.
The idea is that it’s best to file lawsuits early. This way, the defendant wouldn’t lose the resources they need for their defense. For example, witnesses would still be alive. Their memories also wouldn’t have failed them.
Statutory Period for Car Accident Claims
So, the Massachusetts Statute of Limitations determines how soon an injured party must institute a car accident claim. This law gives litigants three years to file a claim for physical injuries and vehicle damage. The clock starts ticking from the accident date.
Suppose the crash resulted in wrongful death. Then, you also have three years to institute a wrongful death claim. However, the time starts counting from the death date, and it may be different from the day the accident occurred. Such a scenario often occurs when the victim didn’t die at the accident scene.
Exceptions to the Car Accident Statute of Limitations
If you ignore this period of time, you’ll lose your rights to compensation. The fault party just has to inform the court of your default. Then, the court will strike out your case. Consequently, you wouldn’t recover your costs of medical treatment and other bills.
Fortunately, there are exceptions to this strict rule. In some cases, the courts can extend the statutory period. For example, suppose the plaintiff was a minor when the crash occurred. The court will allow the child to file a lawsuit whenever they attain majority. Similarly, the law can pause the statutory clock where the defendant was outside the state.
Beat the Insurance Companies and Get the Maximum Compensation
Have you or your loved one survived a Boston car accident? Are your accident injuries affecting your financial resources? If so, it may be best to consider filing an accident claim. Depending on the severity of the crash, you could get thousands of dollars. This money can pay for your medical treatment and other bills.
First, however, you need experienced car crash attorneys in Boston. At Michael Kelly, we have decades of combined experience and an excellent track record. Our attorneys aren’t afraid to go up against tough insurance providers. So, reach out to our Boston personal injury attorneys today to discuss your case.
