You are in good hands with Ali Awad. He is a professional who knows what it takes to get the insurance company’s attention and maximize results for his clients. He is knowledgeable, an excellent communicator and truly cares about his clients. If anyone needs a personal injury attorney in the Atlanta metropolitan area, I would have no hesitation in recommending Ali Awad and his talented staff.
Kennesaw Personal Injury Lawyer
Serious injuries can occur in a number of ways, and some of these injuries stem from the negligence of external parties. The repercussions of your injuries include medical expenses, lost or reduced earnings, physical and emotional distress, and other damages.
You need help getting back on your feet, but the insurance claim process can be fraught with challenges, such as claim denials and lowball offers. At the same time, it may not be apparent who the liable parties are or which insurance policy should apply.
Should You Consult a Kennesaw Personal Injury Attorney for Help?
If you or a loved one have suffered a serious injury and you suspect another party is responsible – either an individual or an organization like a business – we recommend speaking with a personal injury lawyer to learn your options for seeking compensation. We can help you gain clarity about who the responsible party or parties are, find applicable insurance policies, and file a claim correctly to reduce the risk of a claim denial.
If the insurance company does try to fight your claim, we can assist you in demonstrating liability and negotiating with the insurance carrier for a fair settlement.
Was Your Injury the Result of Negligence or Simply an Accident?
Some people struggle with this question. Accidents do happen, but was yours preventable? Could your injury have been avoided if another party had taken reasonable care?
It’s essential to answer these questions to determine if your injury was caused by negligence.
When we review your case, we consider the following elements of a negligence claim:
- Did the defendant (the party you believe is negligent) have a duty of care? In a broad sense, we all have a duty to take reasonable care to avoid harming others. However, what this means specifically differs depending on the situation. A driver’s duty of care is to drive carefully and make a reasonable effort to avoid accidents; that could be interpreted to mean that you shouldn’t speed excessively, drive drunk, or text while driving. A business owner’s duty of care might include maintaining a safe environment for workers and customers alike; this could be interpreted to mean that the owner should fix hazards or warn visitors about them in a timely manner.
- Did the defendant fail in their duty of care? Examples might include a driver who was checking their texts behind the wheel, a business owner who ignored a hazardous condition in their store, a doctor who failed to treat a patient in accordance with the professional standards of their specialty, or a manufacturer who produced a dangerous product. In all of these cases, your lawyer will work to find evidence demonstrating exactly how the duty of care was broken.
- Did the failed duty of care cause your injuries? This is crucial to your case. Proving that someone failed in their duty of care will only matter if we can show exactly how this action led to your injuries. An example would be showing how a business owner’s failure to address a leaky roof led to you slipping on a puddle and hurting your back.
- Did you incur damages as a result of your injuries? We will use evidence like your medical bills, receipts for related expenses, pay stubs showing lost or reduced income, etc.
Who Is Liable for Your Injuries?
In some cases, a client might think they know who is responsible, but once we learn more about their injury, we find a different party is at fault. For example, you might believe that another driver caused your car accident.
There’s a good chance that you’re right – most car accidents are caused by the negligent actions of one or sometimes both drivers. But there are also situations where a defective car component or a mistake by a service worker caused the car to malfunction, which led to the accident.
In a few situations, there may also be additional liable parties. For this reason, it’s helpful to seek advice from a qualified personal injury attorney rather than assume you know who is to blame.
What if It’s My Fault?
As we discussed in the last section, many people are incorrect about who is at fault in an accident or injury, and that includes some people who think they were at fault. Please talk to a lawyer to be sure before you write off an accident as your own fault.
Also, depending on the situation, you may have insurance coverage even when you are at fault. MedPay and Collision coverage, for example, are two types of car insurance that pay for your medical bills and car repair costs, respectively, even if you caused the car accident. Your lawyer can help you determine if you have any insurance coverage that applies to the situation.
What if the Other Party Blames You?
This is a common defense in personal injury cases. If the responsible party doesn’t blame you, their insurance company may do it because they want to avoid paying your claim.
In some situations, it can be challenging to prove what happened if there isn’t much evidence. For this reason, we suggest calling a personal injury lawyer as quickly as possible so we can begin investigating the accident or injury.
Our investigative team will search for the following types of evidence:
- Video. With the proliferation of smartphones and cameras, we’re finding video evidence more often these days. If we can locate a video from a doorbell or security camera, sometimes it provides all the evidence we need to show the client wasn’t at fault. But this is one of those situations where we need to act quickly because video files are often erased to make room on a hard drive.
- Other electronic evidence. Depending on the situation, we may seek access to phone or other online records. In cases involving a vehicle, like a car or a boat, we could also request data from the vehicle’s event data recorder, or EDR, which provides many data points related to an accident or event.
- Witnesses. We will visit the area where your accident or injury occurred and talk to residents or workers there. Sometimes, we discover a witness who can testify to what happened.
- Documentation. In some situations involving companies, internal documents or other evidence may shed some light on when company management knew about a problem or hazard.
What About Shared Fault?
Georgia uses modified comparative negligence statutes in personal injury cases or torts. This system provides a framework for handling the many cases in which both parties may have some degree of fault.
While it’s easy to think of fault as an all-or-nothing proposition, the reality is that there are often situations where both the plaintiff (the person filing a lawsuit) and the defendant (the person or entity being sued) had some responsibility.
For instance, maybe you were driving a little fast, but the other driver failed to use a turning signal. Or, maybe your neighbor failed to warn you about the large hole in their backyard, but you were staring at your phone instead of watching where you were going.
Under Georgia’s modified comparative negligence laws, a party that is at least 50 percent at fault can’t collect damages from the other party. If you were less than 50 percent responsible, you could collect damages from the other party, but any percentage of fault you have will be deducted from your award.
This is one reason why insurance companies may be eager to blame you – they don’t have to prove your injuries were wholly your fault to save money. If they can make a strong argument that you were even 10 or 20 percent to blame, they can still reduce their expenses.
Your attorney will gather evidence and work to show that you had little or no fault in your injuries so you can get the largest settlement possible.
Will You Have to Go to Court?
We can’t say for sure without knowing more about your case, but it’s highly unlikely. Most personal injury cases are settled outside of court in negotiations with the insurance company.
However, the insurance adjuster’s perception of whether or not they could win at trial will affect their willingness to negotiate for a fair deal. For this reason, we always prepare as if we are going to court so we can negotiate from a strong position.
What Are Some of the Most Common Types of Personal Injury Cases?
While this is not an all-inclusive list, we frequently help clients with the following types of cases:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Rideshare accidents
- Boating accidents
- Plane crashes
- Pedestrian or bicycle accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Defective product cases (including pharmaceuticals or medical devices)
- Golf cart, ATV, or other low-speed vehicle accidents
- Dog bites
- Worker’s Compensation (most injuries on the job)
- Slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall cases
- Premises liability (injuries on another party’s property)
- Wrongful death
However, the most important aspect of a case is negligence. If you believe another party caused your injuries through negligence, even if your accident doesn’t seem to fit into one of the above categories, please consult an attorney to learn more.
