If you got injured during some accidental occurrence, you may wonder whether or not you can initiate a personal injury lawsuit. Here are some questions and answers that you should find helpful.
Did the accident take place in a situation that matches with those in which an injured victim has the right to seek compensation?
If you became harmed during the course of a false arrest, a slip and fall incident, an industrial of construction accident or at the time that a dog bit you, then you can seek such compensation. In addition, you have the right to demand compensation from anyone that has abused you or anyone that has made it necessary for you to live with a long term disability. Finally, if you have lost a loved one due to a wrongful death, then you should be compensated.
Who should be the target of your lawsuit?
Can you identify the person or organization that was a bit careless and neglectful, and thus caused the accident? That is the person or organization that should be the target of your lawsuit. If you have been injured by a defective product, then you might have a basis for suing the company that made the same product. By the same token, you might be better off suing those that helped with the product’s distribution.
You will need an attorney; how can you afford to pay that same lawyer?
Typically, a personal injury lawyer in St. Albert works on a contingency basis. That means that he or she agrees to take a percentage of what gets awarded to you, in terms of compensation. Hence, the costs to you will be minimal.
How long will you have to wait, before you can expect to receive any money, in the form of compensation for your injuries?
If your case follows the route taken by most cases, your lawyer will negotiate with the insurance company that is will be asked to cover the costs of your injury. That will be the insurance company of the person or organization that has been made the target of your lawsuit. Such negotiations do last more than 3 to 4 months, at the most. At the end of the negotiations the two sides agree on a settlement figure.
If no such agreement has been reached, then your case will go to court. When that becomes the course of events, you should plan to wait a year or more, before the delivery of what you have been awarded by the court. Fortunately, the target of any given lawsuit seldom wants to deal with the consequences of a jury’s decision. Consequently, most cases get decided through negotiations or through mediation.