What Are Injury Lawyers?

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If you were injured in a recent accident, it is helpful to know that an attorney will be on your side. The goal of a lawyer is to recover maximum compensation to make a client whole again. However, you may be unsure of what to expect from a personal injury lawyer and how they can help you.

As part of our commitment to provide excellent client service at AutoAccident.com, we encourage you to contact our legal team today for assistance. Before scheduling a free consultation, we invite you to learn more about what personal injury attorneys do and how they can help with your civil case.

Frequently Asked Questions About Personal Injury Lawyers

This article focuses on FAQs regarding:

What is a Personal Injury Attorney and What Do They Do?

A personal injury lawyer is a common term for an attorney who practices personal injury law exclusively. What makes these attorneys different is that they only handle lawsuits dealing with personal injury law. Be aware of lawyers that practice in different areas of law, such as family law, estate planning law, and criminal law. You will find that they do not truly qualify as attorneys well-versed in personal injury cases.

What Types of Cases Do Personal Injury Lawyers Handle?

When you have been involved in a recent accident, you need the right type of lawyer to handle your case. In most situations, that means turning to an attorney with experience in personal injury law. You may wonder what types of cases are handled by a personal injury lawyer. In general, these attorneys deal with cases that involve the negligence of a party or entity that caused injury to another person.

 
When someone gets hurt in an accident, a personal injury attorney is usually one of the first people to call. Whether it involves a car, truck, motorcycle, or wrongful death, they can handle it. For a complete list of the types of cases that our personal injury law firm handles, visit our Practice Areas page or contact us to schedule a free consultation.

Reasons Why People Become Personal Injury Attorneys

One of the traits of a top-rated personal injury lawyer is curiosity. These attorneys usually have a keen interest in their clients and the incident that changed their life. A good personal injury lawyer is also interested in psychology, economics, medicine, and occupational therapy. An attorney will work with experts in these fields to identify all current losses in a bodily injury claim and those that will likely incur in the future.

 
While some people may enjoy studying only one topic, personal injury lawyers find satisfaction in challenging their intellect. These attorneys have a good understanding of many different areas associated with physical injury and an accompaniment of psychological damage. This is necessary for lawyers to succeed in civil cases on behalf of their clients.

What is Required to Become a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Like other attorneys, personal injury lawyers must pass the bar exam in their practice area. This comes after completing a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school. This means a law school is approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) for its compliance with standards set out by the ABA. However, passing the bar is only the start of an attorney’s training.

 
Lawyers that practice personal injury law exclusively are well-grounded and often take advanced medicine, anatomy, and physiology courses. Having background in these fields will help them become experts in biomechanics. Knowledge in biomechanics will help these attorneys make the connection between an accident and an injury. 

Personal injury attorneys must also stay on top of current rules of practice and procedure. This requires constant training in these fields, a drive to acquire knowledge, and how to apply valuable skills. These lawyers must be well-grounded in the “hard knocks” school and make genuine connections with their clients to better understand their cases. 

What Does a Personal Injury Attorney Provide to Clients?

Client interaction. A lawyer often deals with people who have suffered devastating physical and emotional losses. Clients have constantly been stressed out, and a cycle of pain, anxiety and depression result in not being at their best. A lawyer must be a steady presence and successfully guide their client through the legal process. They should be empathetic and understanding. The injury attorney needs to take the time to know the client and the client's friends and family. Without knowledge of the client and their personality and long-term losses, there is no way the lawyer can successfully hope to resolve a personal injury lawsuit.

Liability. An injury attorney must be aware of accident reconstruction and have access to re-constructionist and traffic experts when legal responsibility is contested. You will most likely meet with a re-constructionist if it is a motor vehicle accident. An injury attorney should visit every accident scene, interview witnesses, and ensure the police report has correct facts (they often do not!)

Here's a quick video describing how event reconstruction is achieved:

Causation. In addition to interviewing clients and witnesses, the injury attorney must possess good common sense as they have the burden to prove that a client's injuries were caused by the accident. In a legal sense, causation means "more probable than not." Often, medical personnel thinks of causation, as they were taught in medical school, as "scientific certainty." This is not the legal standard, and the auto accident injury lawyer must communicate the difference adequately to the medical personnel.

Damages. If the client's injury case goes before a jury, the attorney will ask the panel to "fix what can be fixed, help what can be helped, and make up for what cannot be fixed or helped." The treating doctors will testify about what caused the client's injuries with the accident injury lawyer's prompting. They will also attest to the reasonableness of the medical bills. If future medical bills are likely, he will hire a Life Care Planner (a nurse with advanced training in medical economics) to explain the expected value of those future bills. An excellent personal injury lawyer will also hire an economist to reduce future bills to present value.

Curious about what our life care planners can do? Check out this video:

What Else Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Do for You?

If the client has lost wages or will lose earnings in the future, the injury attorney will retain a specialist to discuss how the client's earning capacity has been affected.

Finally, accident injury lawyers will ask the jury to do what they can to make the client whole. To compensate for the client's pain and suffering and likely suffering in the future.

Even if you decide not to work with our accident injury law firm at this time, please take a moment to watch this helpful YouTube video on how to choose a top-rated attorney to handle your case.

Contact a Personal Injury Law Firm to Discuss Your Case Today

If you have been injured in an accident because of someone else's negligence, you need an injury attorney willing to work hard for you and your case. Look for a personal injury attorney who offers free consultations, works on a contingency fee basis, and has the experience, skills, and resources your case needs. Schedule a free case evaluation with one of our accident injury attorneys today at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400. Our firm's founder and attorney, Ed Smith, has worked exclusively in California personal injury law since 1982.

We are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.

Before hiring a personal injury lawyer, it is best to look at their client reviews and a list of past case results. See our client ratings on AvvoGoogleYelp, and past cases on our Verdicts and Settlements page.

Editor's Note: This page has been updated for accuracy and relevancy [cha 9.14.22]

Photo by: Pixabay | "claimaccident " [cs 1389]

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Client Reviews
★★★★★
"Me and my wife; had a car accident. We were amazed how easy, professional, friendly attorney Ed Smith is along with his staff. Everybody is amazing. Thank you so much, we are very impressed!" Alex & Dinah M.
★★★★★
"Ed Smith and his office team took on a difficult personal injury case on my behalf and for the passenger in my car. Ed is a top- notch attorney. His staff couldn't have been more helpful and kind. No need to look elsewhere. I give Ed Smith my highest recommendation." Beverly
★★★★★
"Ed and Robert have been taking great care of my husband and I for the past 5+ years. They are always there when you have a problem and a quick resolution! Even when the issues have nothing to do with them. They are willing to help ease the pain off your shoulders. They are as good as it gets! Thank you again for everything." Annie T.
★★★★★
"Very professional. Great team, staff and service all around. Mr Smith was very honest, straight forward with his advice. He gives the word "attorney" an honest reputation. I will seek his council anytime, and would recommend him at the drop of a dime." Jeremy M.
★★★★★
"I would highly recommend Ed Smith to any friends or family in need of a personal injury attorney. Ed, and his staff, are very caring on top of being very experienced in this field. The staff always keeps you informed of the status of your case and they are always easy to reach by phone." Shannon D.
★★★★★
"Edward Smith law offices provide competent, thorough, and personable help for victims of personal injury. When you first meet the staff you know you contacted the right office. This law office treats clients like people. I recommend this office to anyone seeking representation regarding personal injury." David M.