Personal Injury FAQs



I've been injured -- what should I do first?

See a doctor! If you feel that you've suffered an injury, your first and foremost concern should be your health. Whether you ever pursue a claim or not against someone you believe caused the injury is of much less importance than seeking the medical care which may be necessary to protect you against further, long-term health problems. Get the medical care you need and get it promptly!

See our Accident Checklist for further things to do immediately after an accident injury.

If your injury occurred in the state of California, contact the Law Offices of Edward A. Smith for a free, confidential, no-obligation review of the facts of your case by using our Personal Injury Questionnaire.

If you have other questions regarding a personal injury claim, please feel free to contact us.

Why do I need to contact an attorney?

Well, honestly, an attorney may not be needed to handle all types of claims -- for some small, uncomplicated claims, an attorney simply won't be of economic benefit to you, and a good attorney will tell you this. However, since contacting the Law Offices of Edward A. Smith for a free evaluation of your California personal injury claim costs you nothing, you have nothing to lose and much to gain by speaking with us first -- even if we're unable to represent you in your claim, we may be able to provide you with valuable tips and advice for proceeding further on your own. Most attorneys in other states will also provide an initial consultation to you free of charge for personal injury claims, but you should of course verify this in advance.

A personal injury attorney should basically be providing two services to you: 1) the attorney's skill, experience, and knowledge should add to the value of your claim, and 2) the attorney should handle all the insurance and legal meetings, paperwork, telephone calls, negotiating, court appearances, etc., necessary to resolve your case. If you have a claim so simple that the attorney is unlikely to be able to add significantly to its value, and the required paperwork and negotiating is minimal and straightforward, then an attorney should advise you that you are likely to end up putting more money in your pocket by handling your claim yourself than by hiring an attorney to do so.

On the other hand, have you performed an appendectomy on yourself lately? If performing a moderately complicated medical procedure on yourself doesn't sound appealing, then handling a moderately complicated personal injury claim shouldn't either. Handling your legal claim yourself won't cost you your life -- it may only cost you thousands of dollars. By analogy, if a simple personal injury is a "hangnail" claim that the average person is easily capable of "clipping," then more complicated personal injury claims may be equivalent to more complicated medical procedures. Do you feel capable of performing surgery on yourself? Setting your own broken bones? An experienced attorney will be able to handle all the insurance and legal requirements necessary to resolve your claim while avoiding the numerous stumbling blocks that will be thrown up to slow the process.

A plaintiff's personal injury attorney can also maximize the value of your claim by presenting every relevant medical and legal fact to an opposing insurance company or insurance defense attorney. The driver who struck your car was found to be drunk and to have a history of drunk driving convictions -- should this increase the value of your claim? Your doctor tells you that the collision caused only a relatively minor strain injury to your neck, but you feel that it has caused a flare-up in the arthritis you've been experiencing for years -- can you be compensated for this? A good personal injury attorney will track down every one of these legal and medical facts and present them in a way that will maximize the value of your claim.

Why should I consider having the Law Offices of Edward A. Smith represent me?

Experience.Edward A. Smith has practiced California personal injury law since 1983 and has personally handled injury claims of all sizes up through multi-million-dollar cases, including motor vehicle accidents, slip-and-fall claims, burn injuries and animal attack cases. He has successfully resolved claims against all types of defendants from individuals to cities and counties to the largest corporations. If you are seeking any type of attorney, no factor is more important than the attorney's experience in his/her field of specialty.

Thoroughness. Many people with personal injury claims will shortchange themselves when they or their inexperienced attorneys assume that they have a "run-of-the-mill" whiplash case, or a simple knee strain case, or an "uncomplicated" broken bone. We believe that there is no such thing as a run-of-the-mill case, and that the most effective way in which an attorney can add to the value of a client's claim is to discover those facts which make the claim unusual, out of the ordinary, and different from the rest of the pack. We will search for and pursue every fact that is likely to add to the value of your claim. Insurance claims adjustors and insurance defense attorneys are hard-working people who have hundreds of injury claims pass across their desks every year, so it is important to make a claim stand out from the rest of the stack if we expect these people to pay full value for its resolution. We recognize that our clients are unique individuals, and will make use of these differences in any way possible to increase their claim's value.

Commitment to Technology. Legal battles are essentially information battles, and the attorney who can best sort out and present the facts of a client's case is the one who is most likely to achieve top results. And in today's world, information battles require computer expertise. At the Law Offices of Edward A. Smith we have already substituted CD-ROM libraries for many portions of the traditional lawyer's library so that our fully networked staff can more rapidly and effectively search for the past legal decisions, medical diagnostic information, and engineering and scientific details that are vital to successfully resolving out clients' cases. We make extensive use of on-line medical databases to search out the latest research results on the causes, effects and treatment of injuries. And we gladly make use of every on-line legal and governmental resource that we can find that might give us an edge in handling claims for our clients.

Caring. We really do care what happens to our clients, and we want them to feel involved and informed at every stage of their cases. Since personalizing a claim is so important to maximizing its value, we will want to know every way in which your accident injury has had a negative effect upon your life. We also try to make sure you are satisfied with the medical care you are receiving. Your peace of mind regarding your recovery is paramount.

How do I know if I have a claim worth pursuing?

Generally speaking, when a person is injured as a result of the negligence of another person or persons, the injured party may pursue a claim against the people/corporations/government entities that caused his/her injuries. In addition to the injured person, his/her spouse may also have a valid loss of consortium claim against the negligent party, and all of the injured person's legal heirs may have valid claims in the case of a wrongful death.

The person(s) making a claim for compensation will need to show acceptable proof of their injuries and losses (also known as damages) as well as proof of the negligent party's responsibility. The laws and rules that govern personal injury cases in California are many and varied, and may generally be found in the California Codes, Rules of Court, and California case law (court decisions interpreting established law).

The simplest way to find out if the facts of your situation constitute a valid claim is to consult with an experienced personal injury attorney. Don't be discouraged if the first attorney you talk with declines to represent you in your claim -- since every attorney will have different levels of experience and areas of expertise, one attorney may see a claim worth pursuing while another may not. If you would like a free, confidential evaluation of the facts of your California personal injury claim, please complete our Personal Injury Questionnaire. For any questions you may have about a personal injury case, contact us.

What kind of factors may affect the value of a claim?

Determining the value of a personal injury claim is part science, part art, and a large part persuasive skills. All three areas must be fully developed in order to maximize the settlement value of a claim.

The primary factor in determining the value of a claim is the specific nature of the injuries and economic losses sustained (also known as damages). This is the science part of the equation, and it involves:

  • A thorough examination of the injured person's medical records and medical history.
  • Medical research about the injuries that have been diagnosed, the treatments that have been used, and their probable outcomes. At the Law Offices of Edward A. Smith, we concentrate particular attention upon the latest research articles available through the on-line medical databases to which we subscribe.
  • Where necessary, interviews with the treating physicians and/or requests for formal medical reports from the physicians. These services can cost a significant amount of money and should only be used where needed, however a personal injury attorney will usually advance to his/her client the costs for these reports, which can substantially increase the value of the claim and the likelihood of its settlement.

Next comes the art portion in evaluating a claim -- this is when every fact of the case must be examined in detail. Vitally important facts may be overlooked by the layman who is completely unfamiliar with personal injury claims, or by an inexperienced attorney who may not notice certain subtleties that are only evident to the practiced eye. This portion of claim evaluation allows the attorney to:

  • Maximize the value of facts which increase the value of the claim; and
  • Minimize the impact of facts which deter from the value of the claim.

Finally, all this information must be put forward in a persuasive argument to an insurance claims adjustor, to an insurance defense attorney, to an arbitrator, or perhaps even to a jury at trial. The personal injury attorney who has handled a great many claims will have also developed professional working relationships with many insurance adjustors and defense attorneys, and this can often smooth the road to settlement of a client's claim.