Helping Injury Victims Seek Compensation with Compassionate Legal Representation
Have you suffered serious injuries in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence? It should be unthinkable that an injured person should be responsible for medical bills and other expenses arising from the incident that injured them. However, that might just be the case for accident victims who do not take legal action to recover compensation for their injuries.
In order to secure the financial recovery that could help pay off expensive bills relevant to your personal injury accident, you must file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault party. But filing your personal injury case and winning it are two different matters entirely. For a better chance of successfully winning fair compensation for your injuries and other losses, it is highly recommended that injury victims retain professional legal counsel from experienced North Carolina attorneys.
What Types of Personal Injury Cases Does Our Law Firm Represent?
Kreider Attorneys at Law proudly serves the Greensboro and Guilford County area of North Carolina. Personal injury victims come to us with a myriad of issues, and it is our honor to lend legal guidance to them in pursuit of justice and financial recovery.
Personal injury cases we represent include, but are not exclusive to, the following:
- Motorcycle accidents.
- Commercial trucking accidents and fatalities.
- Pedestrian accident injuries.
- Slip and fall accidents.
- Traumatic brain injuries and other severe injuries to the head.
- Motor vehicle accidents.
- Construction zone accidents.
- Workplace accidents.
- Medical malpractice.
- Industrial accidents.
- Product liability and defective product injuries.
- Bicycle accidents.
- Premises liability claims.
- Workers’ compensation claims.
- Dog bites and animal attack injuries.
- Hospital negligence injuries.
- Catastrophic injuries.
- Spinal cord injuries.
- Childcare negligence injuries.
- Nursing home abuse and neglect.
- Dangerous drugs.
- Wrongful death claims.
Whatever your type of injury, be it something minor or a more serious injury, you deserve the right to have your voice heard. At our law firm, we will treat every case with the respect it deserves. There is no personal injury claim too big or too small for us to handle. Whether you suffered whiplash in a minor fender-bender or were left disabled after a commercial truck accident, we want to be there for you.
To discuss your personal injury case in more detail and determine the right course of action going forward, please contact our Greensboro law offices to schedule your initial consultation today.
What Does an NC Personal Injury Lawyer Have to Prove to Win a Personal Injury Claim?
North Carolina personal injury law is all about determining fault, establishing negligence, and the recovery of damages to make an injury victim ‘whole’ again. In order to win your personal injury case, you and your attorneys must prove that negligence rests on the shoulders of a liable party. If it cannot be proven that another’s negligence was the direct cause of your injuries, it may be difficult to recover compensation for your personal injury accident claim.
To begin, your personal injury attorneys must show that you were owed a certain duty of care by the defendant. For example, motorists owe a duty of care not to endanger others they share the roads with. Next, your personal injury lawyers must show that the defendant breached their duty of care, and as a direct result of this breach, you suffered injuries. It must also be shown that you suffered damages as a direct result of these injuries.
If your personal injury attorney is able to show the cause and effect of the breach of duty of care, the injuries, and the damages, it may be possible to establish negligence. With negligence established, you stand a strong chance of recovering compensation from the at-fault party’s insurance company. If the negligent party’s insurance policy does not meet the full demands of your personal injury lawsuit, your lawyers will pursue maximum compensation by other means, including filing a lawsuit against the individual themselves.
What is Contributory Negligence?
The majority of states operate under a personal injury law doctrine known as comparative fault. But not North Carolina. The Tar Heel State is a contributory negligence state. We are only one of a small handful of states that are contributory negligence (also known as contributory fault) states.
In contributory states such as ours, if the injured party is partially responsible for causing the accident, they cannot hope to recover any compensation by filing a personal injury lawsuit. Many believe this North Carolina law to be unsympathetic and out of touch. But until something changes, this is the law we’re working with.
Because of the state’s contributory negligence laws, it is all the more essential for accident victims to retain legal representation when seeking justice and compensation. It is vitally important that you present your case in a way that supports your claim without sharing any of the blame. If you are even 1% negligent during the accident, you will not recover a favorable settlement.
How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Claims in North Carolina?
There is a strict statute of limitations for filing personal injury claims in the state of North Carolina. In general, you have three years from the date of the accident to file your claim. It is important to note, however, that filing your accident claim with insurance companies is not the same thing as filing a personal injury court case. If you do not file your personal injury case with the appropriate court within the allotted time, you will be barred from recovery of financial compensation. Do not delay in contacting professional legal representation for your personal injury case.
There are certain exceptions to the three-year statute of limitations. For example, if the accident victim is a minor, the three-year window does not start until the injured person turns 18 years old. Also, if you have a wrongful death case, the statute of limitations is actually shorter. If someone dies as a result of another person’s negligence, the representatives of the deceased have two years from the date of death to file their wrongful death claim.
What Sort of Financial Compensation Could You Recover in Your Personal Injury Lawsuit?
With a successful personal injury case, it is possible to recover financial compensation. While no financial recovery can ever hope to undo the injuries sustained or the loss of life suffered, the hope is to make the victim whole again, at least financially. Your settlement will be provided in what is called damages. You may receive both economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages can help compensate you for the following:
- Past medical bills and future medical expenses.
- Lost wages and lost income earning capacity.
- Physical therapy and rehabilitation expenses.
- Property damage and motor vehicle repairs.
- Funeral, burial, and memorial expenses in the event of a fatal accident.
Non-economic damages may include the following:
- Disability, disfigurement, or dismemberment.
- Emotional trauma and distress.
- Mental anguish.
- Lost companionship or consortium.
- Lost quality of life or enjoyment of life.
- Physical pain and suffering.
- Wrongful death.
In certain cases, it may also be possible to pursue punitive damages.
As your legal representatives, our North Carolina personal injury lawyers will do everything within our power to help you recover full compensation for your injuries and other losses.
What Are the Benefits of Hiring North Carolina Personal Injury Attorneys?
If you’ve suffered an injury in an accident, the first thing you should do is seek immediate medical attention. Not only could professional medical treatment help save your life and limit the extent of your injuries, but it could also save your personal injury case. While awaiting medical treatment, attempt to document the accident scene and the injuries suffered. This evidence, as well as the accident report, medical records, eyewitness testimonies, police reports, and testimony of accident reconstructionists, could prove useful to your personal injury lawyers when they bring the case to trial.
It is not uncommon for insurance adjusters to arrive at accident scenes. While they may present themselves as sympathetic to your plight, keep in mind that they’re not on your side. An insurance adjuster is there to limit the exposure to financial compensation for their employers. Instead of speaking with the insurance adjusters, direct them to speak with your personal injury attorney instead.
Navigating the legal process of a personal injury claim while you are injured is too much to ask. As your legal representation, our Greensboro personal injury lawyers will help lift the weight off your shoulders and handle the complexities of your legal case for you. We will negotiate with insurance companies, contend with the legal representatives of the defendant, seek to recover the maximum compensation for your injuries, and compile evidence to support your case. All the while, you will be allowed time to rest and recover from your injuries and losses.
Contact Us to Schedule a Consultation with an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney Today
Kreider Attorneys at Law is a law firm with a wide scope of experience and practice areas that we represent. Led by former District Court judge Jonathan G. Kreider, our law offices bring a unique perspective to legal issues surrounding complicated cases. We pride ourselves on providing legal services with compassion, communication, and candor. When you retain our legal representation for your personal injury suit, you can feel rest assured that your case is in good hands.
To discuss your personal injury matters in more detail, we encourage all prospective new injured clients to get in touch with us to schedule their initial case evaluation. In your in-depth consultation, we will review the facts of your personal injury case and help you determine the surest way forward in the pursuit of justice and compensation. Contact our Greensboro, NC, law office today.
Get in touch with us by calling 336-770-2017.