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Suffering a serious injury due to the negligence of another can create significant problems for you and your loved ones. However, you may be able to secure compensation in the form of a personal injury claim. Hiring a Scottsdale personal injury lawyer can help you hold someone accountable and take over insurance claim negotiations on your behalf. If you or a loved one has been injured due to the careless actions of another, please contact accident attorney Shapiro Law Team, PLLC immediately to discuss your case. Scottsdale Personal Injury Lawyers can help you seek the compensation you need for your damages. Call (480) 300-5405 to request a free consultation.
The truth is that most personal injury victims do not have the resources or legal expertise necessary to obtain maximum compensation in the aftermath of a personal injury accident. However, a skilled personal injury lawyer in Arizona can use their resources to:
An attorney is going to be an incredible asset for your case. If you involve a personal injury lawyer early enough in your case, you will not have to worry about anything other than recovering from your injuries and spending time with your family. Let your attorney handle the rest.
One of the first steps toward obtaining compensation is filing an insurance claim. An insurance claim seeks benefits from the insurance provider of the at-fault party, in most cases. Unfortunately, insurance companies do not always handle claims in good faith. The insurer involved in your case may try to take advantage of you as a claimant. Protect yourself from saying or doing the wrong thing during an insurance claim in Scottsdale with five basic tips:
The first offer from an insurer is often much lower than the actual value of the claim. Rather than settling for a lowball amount, hire an attorney for legal advice and to help you negotiate aggressively for a better outcome. An insurance carrier will take you more seriously when you hire a lawyer to do your negotiating for you. A lawyer will provide confidence and peace of mind regarding your case so you can focus on recovering.
At Shapiro Law Team, PLLC, our Scottsdale personal injury lawyers have decades of experience. Our commitment to helping victims has cultivated a law firm equipped to handle dozens of different case types. We are not afraid to go up against the largest and most powerful defendants on behalf of our clients – including insurance corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and government entities. Call (480) 300-5405 today to find out if we can accept your case.
Broken bones, spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, lacerations, scarring, disfigurement, muscle strains, whiplash, and internal injuries are examples of injuries our lawyers in Scottsdale can handle. We are adept at navigating catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims. We know what it takes to obtain the best results for serious losses. Use our offer of a free case review 24/7 to discuss whether we are the right law firm for your specific case.
Your right to bring a cause of action against someone in Arizona after an injury often depends on whether you or your attorney can prove negligence. Negligence is the center of most civil claims. It is someone’s failure to meet the duties of care expected for a situation, such as a physician meeting the appropriate standards of patient care. Failing to live up to these expectations, resulting in an accident or injury, is negligence. You will need four main elements to bring a case based on negligence in Arizona.
You may not need all four elements, however, if you are not using the negligence doctrine to hold someone accountable. In a case involving strict liability, you will not need to prove a defendant’s negligence. A dog bite claim, for example, only asks that you show the defendant was the pet’s owner or controller and that your injuries arose from the dog attack. You will not need to prove negligence to receive compensation in this case. Our personal injury attorneys at Shapiro Law Team, PLLC can help you understand the burden of proof in your claim.
You may have a few different reasons for wanting to file a claim against someone in Scottsdale. Many victims and their families seek justice for acts of wrongdoing or misconduct, such as drunk driving. Holding a negligent or reckless party accountable can provide justice and closure after a serious personal injury accident. Others file lawsuits to improve the safety of their communities on an institutional level, such as shedding light on a negligent daycare center. Our injury lawyers understand the need to obtain justice after a life-changing accident. We also understand the importance of seeking financial compensation to make up for losses.
The value of a personal injury claim in Arizona depends on several key factors. The first is the severity of the victim’s injuries. In general, if you or a loved one has serious to catastrophic personal injuries, you will receive greater compensation for your damages than for minor injuries. Other factors involved in the calculation of damages include age, income, the circumstances of the case, and the actions of the defendant. If you are curious about how much your Scottsdale personal injury case could be worth, request a free case evaluation.
Many injury victims are hesitant to even speak to an attorney because they are afraid they will not be able to afford one for their case. The reality is that most skilled and experienced Scottsdale personal injury lawyers take these cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that an attorney will not charge the injury victim any upfront or out-of-pocket costs for their case. The injury victim will pay no legal fees until after their attorney recovers the compensation they are entitled to. When working on a contingency fee basis, the client will not pay any legal fees if their attorney does not win the case. This type of fee arrangement is beneficial for injury victims because it allows even those with limited resources to hold negligent parties accountable for their actions.
There are various laws you need to be aware of in the event you have to file a personal injury claim in Arizona. First, Arizona places a limitation on the amount of time you have to file a personal injury case in court. The Arizona personal injury statute of limitations is two years from the date the injury occurred. This means that injury victims have a two-year window with which to file a lawsuit against the alleged negligent party. If an injury victim fails to file a lawsuit within this time frame, they will lose the ability to recover any compensation for their losses. However, the time frame to file an injury claim against a state, city, or county government in Arizona is shorter. For these cases, a formal claim must be filed within 180 days after the injury occurs. A lawsuit must be filed within one year from the day the injury occurred. We want to point out that these statutory deadlines have nothing to do with any requirements set forth by insurance carriers. Generally, if an insurance carrier is involved, they will have separate reporting deadlines that fall very soon after an injury occurs. Most injured carriers require that the injury be reported within days after the incident occurs, or the carrier could delay or deny a claim. Some of the more case-specific injury laws in Arizona are as follows:
One factor that can affect the total amount of compensation a person receives after they have been injured is whether or not they were responsible for their injuries in any way. Contrary to popular belief, an injury victim can still receive compensation even if they are partially at fault for the accident that caused them harm. Arizona operates under what is called a “pure comparative negligence” system. This allows injury victims to recover compensation even if they are up to 99% at fault for their own injuries. This is vastly different than the way comparative negligence laws in other states operate. Typically, an injury victim can only recover compensation in other places if they are 50% or less responsible for the incident. However, injury victims in Arizona will receive reduced compensation based on their percentage of fault for the incident. For example, suppose George is struck by another driver and sustains $100,000 worth of injury and damage expenses. However, if a jury determines that George was 20% at fault for the incident because he had malfunctioning brake lights, then he will receive a reduced compensation amount. In this case, George would receive $80,000 instead of the full $100,000.
In some states throughout the country, there are limitations on the amount of compensation that can be awarded in a personal injury claim. These limitations are called “caps.” In Arizona, there are no caps on personal injury cases. In fact, damage caps are prohibited by Article 2, Section 31 of the state constitution.
If you or a loved one have been injured due to the careless or negligent actions of another individual, company, or entity, you should not try to decide whether or not you have a lawsuit on your own. One of your first calls should be to a skilled personal injury lawyer who can help you make a determination as to whether or not you have a viable claim. There are various elements that need to be evaluated when determining whether you should move forward with a personal injury lawsuit. We will cover some of these when looking at the elements of negligence below. However, we want you to ask yourself the following questions:
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you very likely have a personal injury case. When you speak with an attorney, they will conduct a preliminary review of your case and work with you to determine the best steps forward. The most important thing to remember is that you do not have to make this decision by yourself. An attorney almost always offers a free consultation to help you make this decision.
Do not allow time to remove your right to file. You have a strict filing deadline you must obey in Arizona. Bring your personal injury lawsuit within at least two years of the date of your accident. In most cases, if you wait longer than two years from the accident or date of injury discovery, the courts will not permit you to bring a claim. Don’t wait. Call Shapiro Law Team 24/7 at (480) 300-5405 to schedule a free confidential consultation. We also respond quickly to messages submitted online.
Client Review: “I could not recommend a better personal injury attorney than David Shapiro and his team. They handled everything from start to finish, got me an amazing settlement that was over 5 times what the insurance company initially offered me.” -Kenneth