time to file a lawsuit

Filing a Lawsuit for your Personal Injury Claim

If you have been involved in a car accident, the question ultimately is raised, “should I hire a car accident attorney”. The answer to this question is a resounding “Yes.” The very basic premise behind this answer involves protecting your legal rights and the legal rights of your loved ones when you or someone you love has been involved in a car accident. This article will briefly address why it is imperative to hire a St. Petersburg Car Accident Attorney immediately after a car accident to help you fully develop your case and prepare it as if your case will have to go to trial.

From the outset, not every car accident claim results in a lawsuit being filed. Far fewer claims in which a lawsuit is filed actually go to trial. According to multiple sources, about 95% of lawsuits are settled before a trial. Despite this statistic, we prepare every car accident claim as if the case will one day have to be tried before a jury. This preparation gives our car accident clients the upper hand during the claims process, negotiations, and if needed, trial.

How Does A Claim Lead to a Lawsuit?

Many car accident victims have never been involved in a car accident claim, let alone a lawsuit. A lawsuit is filed if the case is unable to be resolved during the claims process. There are many reasons why cases don’t settle during the claims process. For example, if the insurance company believes there is a liability issue, in other words, there is a question as to who was at fault for the accident, this may cause a case not be settled pre-suit. This is because the insurance company will not value the case high enough if they think that someone else is at fault. In this scenario, we begin building your claim from day one to fortify our position and prove that our client is not at fault for the accident. If the insurance company continues to is dispute liability during the claims process, we are prepared to file a lawsuit and have gathered and preserved the evidence necessary to establish who was at fault.

Another example of an issue that can cause an insurance carrier to not properly value a case pre-suit is causation. There has to be a causal connection between the car accident and your injuries – in other words, the car accident has to have caused the injuries you are seeking damages for. Insurance companies oftentimes take issue with causation when there is a low-speed collision or there are pre-existing injuries to the same area of the body that have been injured in the car accident. Hiring an experienced and knowledgeable car accident attorney will help you develop your claim in light of these challenges to causation. Again, we begin developing your case from the beginning to support our position on causation knowing that there may be a challenge to this critical component of your case.

Unfortunately, many law firms only handle car accident claims during the claims process. When insurance companies play hardball with these other law firms, they won’t, or can’t file a lawsuit for their clients. St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas stand out from their peers because not only do we build their client’s car accident case from the ground up, they are prepared to stand up to the insurance companies and file lawsuit’s and take cases to trial if necessary, to protect the rights of their car accident clients.

Talk to an Experienced Car Accident Attorney Today

Let us put our knowledge, experience, and reputation to work for you in your car accident injury claim. After a car accident, you will need to focus on your physical recovery. Hiring a St. Petersburg Car Accident Attorney to help you optimize your claim for damages is critical. If filing a lawsuit is necessary, St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas will be ready to move the case into suit with the backing of a firm that has been serving St. Petersburg and the surrounding areas for over 60 years. If you, or anyone you know has been involved in a car accident, do not wait – contact the St. Petersburg Personal Injury Attorneys McQuaid & Douglas for a free consultation.