Question: Should I negotiate with the insurance adjuster myself without the help of an attorney to settle a Rhode Island personal injury, slip, and fall, or automobile/auto/car accident case?
Answers: No. Representing yourself and negotiating with an insurance adjuster is usually not a good idea! Because you are not an attorney and have not handled personal injury matters before, you are often not aware of your case’s full value. The insurance adjuster may take advantage of your inexperience. Insurance adjusters typically will offer a lot less money to a person representing themselves than they would to an attorney representing a client. (Article by David Slepkow 401-437-1100)
Furthermore, when you represent yourself in a Rhode Island personal injury or slip and fall case, the insurance company knows that you do not know how to litigate a lawsuit. Therefore you don’t have as much leverage with the insurance adjuster.
Question: How do Rhode Island personal injury lawyers charge for personal injury /automobile/ car accident and slip and fall cases?
Answer: Most lawyers In Rhode Island take personal injury, premises liability, dog bite cases, slip and fall, and auto/car accidents on a contingent fee basis. Article by David slepton (401-437-1100) This means that the lawyers do not collect any fees unless they are successful in settling your personal injury case or winning a verdict at trial. The lawyer typically will take the case costs from the settlement or verdict at the end of the case. Most attorneys advance case costs.
Question: If I hire a Rhode Island, personal injury attorney, how does the process work?
Answer: You should retain a RI personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after the automobile or other accident. At the first meeting, the attorney typically will get all the important information concerning the accident, including, but not limited to, the names of the witnesses, all injuries, and the treating physician and doctors.
The attorney may want to visit the actual scene of the accident or slip and fall so that he can get further perspective on how the accident occurred. If the case is a slip and fall case, the lawyer should visit the accident scene if possible and interview potential witnesses. If you have any pictures of the accident scene, your damaged automobile, or the resulting injuries, it is usually a good idea to show those to the lawyer.
If your lawyer is interested in taking the case, he or she will typically enter into a contingent fee personal injury fee agreement with you. You will need to provide a list of the names and addresses of all witnesses. Your lawyer will also ask you for all treating physicians’ names and addresses and the names and addresses of all hospitals and treating facilities. The lawyer will ask you to sign medical releases under federal law, which will allow your lawyer to collect your medical bills and medical records from your health care provider concerning your injury.
The attorney will be very interested in knowing whether or not you have health insurance and the extent of your health insurance coverage. If your health insurance plan covers your medical bills, they typically have a lien against any settlement proceeds you receive. Your lawyer on your behalf must repay your health insurance company from the proceeds of any settlement or verdict that you receive. These liens typically can be negotiated with the health insurance company. Some insurance companies will naturally lower their lien by 25% to 33% to account for your attorney’s work on the case.
Sometimes, if liability or damage is in dispute, you can further reduce the lien. Typically your lawyer will not be able to disburse any monies to you until he has paid the insurance company for the lien amount. After the initial consultation and after you have retained the personal injury lawyer, the lawyer will typically do an investigation, if necessary, by calling witnesses, reviewing police reports, or doing anything else that is necessary to further your case. The attorney may need to read relevant Rhode Island negligence case law to evaluate your personal injury case’s merits. The attorney will collect your medical records and billing records. Obtaining your billing records for the medical providers’ accident is extremely important because the amount of medical bills you have is a critical factor in determining your case’s ultimate value for settlement or trial purposes.
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Your attorney typically will wait until he/she believes that you have reached a certain point in your medical treatment before he makes an offer to the insurance company to settle your personal injury case. Attorneys are typically concerned that they will pay the case before knowing the full extent of a person’s injuries. After an automobile accident case is fixed and the release is signed, there is no way to get paid any further damages, even if your injuries become substantially more severe. Therefore, it is usually not a good idea to settle the personal injury case before having some idea about the extent of your injuries in the future. Your back, neck, shoulder, or leg injury could get worse as time goes by.
After the lawyer meets with you, he will typically send a letter of representation to all the insurance companies involved giving them general information about the case. The insurance company will open up a personal injury case file and respond to your attorney. Insurance companies are required by law to investigate the facts and look into the potential personal injury cause of action. When the attorney is comfortable that the right time has arrived, they will typically send a settlement package to the insurance company. This settlement letter usually includes an evaluation of the permanency of the injury, if any, and describes the pain and suffering of the client and any lost wages and medical bills incurred. The attorney typically includes in the settlement package an initial demand for settlement of the case.
The insurance company will usually reply to the letter with either an offer to settle the case or a denial of liability. If the insurance company is denying liability in the personal injury case and refusing to pay anything, the attorney will have no choice but to file a lawsuit to seek damages. If a settlement offer is made to the attorney, there will usually be a negotiation period to see if the parties can agree to a settlement amount.
If the parties cannot agree to a settlement amount, it may be necessary to file a personal injury/ negligence lawsuit in either of the Rhode Island District Courts of Rhode Island Superior Court. In Rhode Island (RI), most personal injury, automobile accident, premises liability, and slip and fall cases are handled in Rhode Island Superior Court because matters over $10,000.00 in Rhode Island must be heard in Superior Court.
Question: My Rhode Island personal injury attorney cannot settle my car accident case with the insurance adjuster, then what happens next?
Answer: If the attorney cannot settle the case with the insurance adjuster, then it is necessary to file a lawsuit in court. The process of a Rhode Island personal injury civil lawsuit can take up to a few years to resolve. Your lawyer will file a complaint in court alleging negligence or other causes of action, asking the court to award you damages. After the complaint is filed, the insurance company will typically hire an attorney to represent their insured. The insurance company’s lawyer will file an answer to the case.
After the complaint and answer are filed, there is usually a discovery period. The parties can send interrogatories to each other, which are written questions that the other party must answer. The parties can also take depositions of witnesses when the other lawyer asks you questions about the case in front of a stenographer. After the discovery period, there may be a motion to dismiss or motions for summary judgment that are filed by either of the parties. If the case is not dismissed or summarily decided, then the case will proceed to trial. The average amount of time for a lawsuit in Rhode Island is about two years. However, the amount of time for the suit could vary depending on how complicated the case is, the availability of witnesses, and the number of points on the docket.
Question: How do I obtain evidence of my personal injury in Rhode Island?
Answer: Please take photographs of all injuries, including, but not limited to, cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Do not wait too long after the accident. Please do the best that you can to obtain the witness names, addresses, phone numbers, and other information to give to your Rhode Island, personal injury attorney. Please keep records of your out-of-pocket expenses for your medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses incurred, such as medication and medical accessories. You need to keep accurate records because you will need to provide them to the insurance company. If your injury was caused by a whiplash injury caused by a rear-end accident, you might need to hire an expert to testify on your behalf about the seriousness of upper and lower back damages caused by whiplash.
Question: Will my Rhode Island, personal injury lawyer keep what I tell him confidential?
Answer: In Rhode Island, there is an attorney-client privilege. Your attorney is precluded from disclosing confidential information that you do not want him to admit to others. There are certain limited exceptions to the attorney-client privilege, which usually do not apply.
Question: What type of costs are typically incurred in Rhode Island (RI) personal injury cases?
Answer: Your lawyer incurs Out-of-pocket costs to settle or litigate your case properly. The out of pocket expenses are usually advanced by the lawyer. Medical providers usually charge a nominal fee to copy your medical records. Most doctors also charge a fee to write a comprehensive medical report detailing your course of treatment, injury prognosis, and whether or not your injuries are permanent. If it is necessary to have a doctor testify at the trial of your case, the doctor may charge a substantial fee for his attendance.
Another example of out-of-pocket expenses that you may incur is a filing fee for filing the complaint in Providence / kent / Newport or Washington County Superior Court and the price for service of process of the personal injury complaint. The number of costs incurred in your case varies from case to point and depends on how complicated your personal injury case is. The more serious your injuries are, the more out of pocket expenses that may be incurred. Most attorneys will get prior approval before incurring a substantial cost on your behalf.
