Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer Douglas Whalen is ready to help you fight for the compensation that you deserve for your injuries!
Tip 1: It may be possible that you do not need a lawyer for your accident. For example, if you have been in a car accident and have only suffered property damage, you don't need a lawyer unless the insurance company won't pay to fix or replace your car.
Tip 2: Your injury may not be serious enough to warrant hiring a lawyer. Personal injury cases are very expensive to litigate and the lawyer usually pays for the cost of litigation up-front. You will not have to pay for anything at all. I will pay for your court fees, expert witnesses, exhibits, evidence collection and other rather expensive litigation costs. Your injury has to be significant enough to cover the costs of litigation or I will lose money, time and effort in taking your case. If you stubbed your big toe on the sidewalk in front of your local convenience store you do not need a lawyer. If you broke your foot then you will most likely need a personal injury lawyer. A little common sense should be able to tell you whether or not your injuries are significant enough to warrant hiring a lawyer. The facts of every case are unique and if you are unsure as to whether or not your injury is serious enough to warrant hiring a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer like myself, please call me at 610-696-4366 to discuss your case.
Tip 3: Think about who may be responsible for your accident and ask yourself, "If I sue this person will I be able to collect on a judgment?" For example, if a teenager causes your automobile accident and has no insurance you may be out of luck. You will still be in good shape if you were fortunate enough to purchase uninsured or underinsured motorist protection through your own automobile insurance company. If not, you will be out of luck in an instance like this. Many people don't understand why this is. Many people think, "If that kid hit me he owes me." That may be true, but the saying "You can't get blood out of a stone" comes into play. Technically you could bring a case against the young adult because he or she is liable for your injury and other damages. If you wanted to pay me an hourly rate to pursue this case, I would be happy to, but you may be left with nothing at the end of the day except my bill. You will have a jury award against a young adult who most likely has few assets, if any, at all. You end up paying thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands of dollars litigating with no way to recoup your loses. No lawyer will take a case like this on contingency because they will not be able to recoup the costs of litigation. Despite what I am telling you here, always call a lawyer to discuss your case. There may be some circumstances where someone with deep pockets (someone with money) can be held liable even though they were not the direct cause of your injuries. For example, perhaps that young adult was running an errand for his father. In that case he may be considered to have been conducting the business of his father, making his father liable. I will be able to evaluate your case to determine if anyone else may be held liable.
Tip 4: Determine what kind of insurance you own (in the context of automobile accidents). Before calling my law office please have a copy of your automobile insurance policy declarations page in front of you. You will need to look for several things. First, is this the policy that was in force on the date of the accident? The declarations pages should list an effective date range. If your accident took place within that date range then you have the correct policy. Second, look to see if you have selected uninsured/underinsured motorist protection. This protection allows you to sue your own insurance company for your injury and damages in the event that someone with little or no insurance caused your accident. Your own insurance company becomes liable for any amount awarded to you in excess of the liable party's insurance policy limits up to the limits that you selected for the protection. For example, you have one hundred thousand dollars in damages and the person who is liable for your accident only has insurance for twenty-five thousand. You have an uninsured/underinsured policy up to two hundred thousand dollars. You will collect twenty-five thousand from the other party's insurance company and seventy-five thousand from your own. Under the same facts, if you only purchased fifty thousand dollars worth of underinsured/uninsured motorist protection, then your insurance company will only pay out to the policy limits leaving you with a total of seventy-five thousand dollars, twenty-five thousand less then your damages. Third, look to see if your policy is limited tort or full tort. Please don't confuse this with full coverage. When I ask the question, "Do you have limited tort or full tort?" many people think I am talking about full coverage. Full tort does not mean full coverage. You can have a full coverage policy, which means you are covered for accidents that you cause, but still have limited tort. Limited tort basically means that you cannot sue for your injuries unless they are serious. Limited tort severely limits your right to sue. If you have limited tort you may only be able to recover for your economic damages, such as property damage and loss wages. Many lawyers will not take your case if you have selected a limited tort policy because your ability to recover becomes restricted to economic damages only making your case less attractive. I don't care if you only have a limited tort policy; please call me regardless of whether or not you have full or limited tort. There are ways to pierce the limited tort rules and you may qualify for one of the exceptions. For example, you can pierce limited tort if the person who caused your accident was intoxicated, or if they were driving a commercial vehicle, or if your injury is life impacting and serious enough under your unique circumstances to qualify as a piercing injury. There are others ways to defeat the limited tort option and I will be able to quickly tell you if you qualify for any of them.
Tip 5: Let me deal with the insurance companies. Do not sign anything giving the insurance adjuster access to your medical and other records. Insurance adjusters have one goal in mind and that is to pay you the least amount of money possible. Let the insurance companies know that you mean business by hiring a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer to negotiate with them.
Tip 6: Take pictures of your automobile immediately after the accident. Take pictures of your injuries immediately after the accident and a few days after the accident. Pictures of a fresh injury is very persuasive evidence at the negotiating table and in front of the jury.
Immediately After the Accident:
Tip 7: Never admit to fault. Even if you think that you are clearly responsible, never apologize for the accident. I know that it’s human nature to feel sorry and wanting to portray empathy, but doing so could be very damaging to your case. Especially those who tend to apologize for things even when they are not the cause of a problem. The scene is chaotic immediately after an accident and it might not be evident who was at fault or who was more at fault in causing the accident. Sometimes people think that they are at fault for an accident only to find out later that the other driver contributed to the accident by driving recklessly or by speeding. When you admit to fault or apologize the testimony will get to the jury if the case goes to trial and the simple fact that you were apologizing may sway them into thinking that you were the likely cause of the accident. Try to keep your apologies in check, at least until after all the details of the accident are sorted out.
Tip 8: Call me now to discuss your case 610-696-4366. The phone call is free, the advice is free, no fee unless you win!
About Me: I am experienced in dealing with personal injury cases and have a network of doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors and experts that I work closely with when handling your case. I am a graduate from the Villanova University School of Law where I served as Managing Editor of Student works for the Villanova Law Review. My practice centers on Personal Injury, Commercial Litigation and Family Law. Before starting my own practice I worked for the law firm Nelson Levine de Luca & Horst in their Complex Litigation Department and before that I worked for the complex commercial litigation law firm of Elliott Greenleaf and Siedikowski. Please call 610-696-4366 to discuss your case.
Why the simple Webpage? This website is designed to get straight to the point, if you need a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer I am here to fight for you. If you want to see my highly developed and professionally serviced webpage feel free to visit www.dougwhalen.com
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