New Bern Personal Injury Lawyer
North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyers
Being injured is never pleasant, especially when a person needs to fight with an insurance company to cover the costs of medical treatment and compensation for pain and suffering. Personal injury lawyers work to protect clients from overly aggressive insurance companies and present a strong case in court. A New Bern personal injury lawyer is committed to helping clients throughout New Bern who have been injured and are in need of a local personal injury lawyer to help them through this difficult time.
What are the Personal Injury Laws in North Carolina?
Most personal injury claims arise out of the legal concept of negligence. Negligence is defined by the Supreme Court of North Carolina as, “the failure to exercise proper care in the performance of a legal duty which the defendant owed the plaintiff under the circumstances surrounding them.” Common examples can include the failure of a landlord to fix a broken step in a person’s apartment or if a store does not properly clean up after a spill. In both of these instances, a plaintiff and a New Bern personal injury lawyer will need to demonstrate that the defendant did not exercise the proper care to prevent injury.
However, merely proving that the defendant was negligent is not sufficient in North Carolina. North Carolina still retains the concept of contributory negligence in personal injury cases. If a plaintiff is found by a jury to be even one percent at fault for an accident, the plaintiff is barred from recovery. Considering the above examples, if a person falls down a broken stair but did not have proper shoes on, or if a store places warning signs around an obvious spill, the plaintiff might be found to be contributorily negligent.
What are the Consequences of Suffering a Personal Injury?
Physical injuries can quickly incur thousands of dollars in medical bills, and not to mention lost income for the victim. Lost income can make paying for necessary medical treatment, medication and everyday living expenses next to impossible for the accident victim, especially in those cases where they do not have their own medical insurance to cover the costs of medical care. A compassionate New Bern personal injury lawyer can help you navigate the process of seeking the appropriate amount of damages.
In most personal injury cases, the dependents and spouses of the accident victim are personally affected by the accident as well. Without the accident victim being able to care for his or her children and spouse, the victim’s family can suffer the devastating effects of losing the income their injured family member used to provide. This hardship is in addition to the emotional turmoil the family experiences from losing their loved one.
Role of the Client
There are three steps that a potential plaintiff can do to help document their case.
- Obtain consistent medical treatment. For any injury, a doctor’s, therapist’s, or chiropractor’s full notes concerning treatment are key to documenting the extent of a person’s injuries. If those notes can directly attribute the injuries to the accident, this is even better.
- Obtain a police report for any accident that happens on the road. The police are required to file an official report for all accidents. This is a key piece of evidence for attorneys in dealing with insurance companies and as an exhibit in a trial.
- Keep all correspondence. Using the example of a broken step, if the plaintiff had exchanged e-mails or text messages with a landlord explaining that the step needed to be fixed, but nothing was done, this can be evidence of negligence.
Contacting a Personal Injury Attorney Today
Most personal injury cases never see a courtroom. When insurance companies see that a plaintiff is represented by a New Bern personal injury attorney with strong evidence, medical records, police reports, and correspondence, they can be quick to settle. Local attorneys fight for maximum compensation for not only medical expenses, but lost wages, and pain and suffering. If the case does need to go to trial, experienced litigators will prepare exhibits, question witnesses, and prepare you to testify.
