Accidents can be traumatic, so it’s nice to know who has your back and will fight for justice. The Atlanta personal injury lawyers at John Foy & Associates are here for you. We will demand fair compensation after an injury or wrongful death that happened due to negligence.
As you focus your efforts on healing from your injuries, we will explain your case and any relevant laws and develop a legal strategy. From negotiating with insurers to calling in expert witnesses, we do it all for you so you can make your health the first priority.
Never Pay for Your Damages Out of Pocket
When you suffer an accident that leads to injury, not only do you have to worry about your health, but you now have to face a drowning amount of financial obligations. On top of that, if your injuries prevent you from working, you’ll find yourself dealing with crippling debt fast. Unfortunately, bills don’t stop coming just because you got into an accident.
If a negligent party caused your accident, you shouldn’t have to pay for any of your damages. The law in Georgia allows you to file a claim against the party responsible and will enable you to recover a settlement. Before you resign yourself to economic hardship, explore all of your legal options first with one of our Atlanta personal injury lawyers.
Types of Cases Our Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers Represent
Our personal injury lawyers have years of experience helping individuals in the Atlanta area get compensation for their accident that resulted from another party’s negligence. The most common practice areas we work with include:
- Car accidents
- Drunk driving accidents
- Rear-end collisions
- Uninsured motorist accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bus accidents
- Truck accidents
- Birth injuries
- Product liability
- Dog bites
- Slip and falls
- Social Security Disability
- Workers compensation
Your attorney will help determine if your case constitutes a personal injury and will therefore get filed through the civil court system.
Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me 404-400-4000
Steps for Filing a Personal Injury Claim
It’s essential to have a general idea of each step of the legal process. These steps can be altered, depending on the specifics of your case. Your personal injury lawyer can address any concerns you may have along the way.
Consultation
When you contact one of our compassionate personal injury lawyers in Atlanta, we can help you decide whether or not to go forward with legal action. During this case evaluation, your attorney will look at the details of your accident and begin to determine negligence.
File Your Personal Injury Claim
Once it gets established that you have a valid case, your attorney will begin by drafting and filing your personal injury claim to submit to the Georgia civil court system.
Discovery
You, the plaintiff, and your personal injury lawyer will exchange information about the events of the case with the defendant and their insurance company. This helps us see what information the other side has.
Investigation
Our personal injury lawyers will hire and consult with accident reconstructionists and medical experts to evaluate the facts of your case and possibly identify liable parties.
Settlement Negotiations
Mediation, also known as settlement negotiations, in personal injury cases is when both parties and their respective insurance companies meet outside of court to reach an agreement. It’s ideal and cost-effective if the case settles out of court in mediation.
Go to Trial
If an agreement doesn’t get met through settlement negotiations, your case will go to trial. Your personal injury lawyer will present your case to a judge or a jury in a civil court and call experts and witnesses to testify.
Damages You Can Recover from a Personal Injury
Your Atlanta personal injury attorney will try to prove negligence as well as recover compensation for your damages from the responsible party. Depending on the details of the case, your damages may include:
- Medical costs from your injuries
- The estimated future costs of all medical care
- Property damage, such as car repair or replacement costs
- Lost wages for the time you were not at work and recovering
- Reduced earning capacity due to disability or injury that prevents you from returning to work fully
- Pain and suffering
It is also possible to receive compensation for funeral expenses, medical bills, and lost wages if you are a family member of an individual who passed away due to an injury. In this situation, you will need to file a wrongful death claim with a personal injury lawyer.
For a free legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer serving Atlanta, call 404-400-4000
Punitive Damages
Under Georgia law, you can also receive an additional reward for punitive damages. Punitive damages aren’t compensatory. They act more as a punishment for the at-fault party for their behavior and to ensure it doesn’t get repeated. To get an award for punitive damages, your personal injury case needs to fit specific criteria:
- The at-fault party intentionally tried to harm you
- The at-fault party was egregiously negligent in their behavior
- The at-fault party was committing a crime when they hurt you
An example of a case that can potentially receive punitive damages is a drunk driving accident. Since drunk driving is egregiously negligent behavior, there is a chance that you can get rewarded by the negligent party. All cases are different, so it’s best to consult with your lawyer about your chances of getting punitive damage rewards.
How Much Will My Settlement Be?
This is a question that doesn’t have one concrete answer. How much your settlement will depend on the type of personal injury case you’re filing a claim for. For example, a moderate car accident case will recover around $30,000. Still, a severe car accident that leads to permanent disability or disfigurement can lead to a settlement worth several million dollars.
Again, this all depends on a few key factors:
- How severe your accident was
- How many damages you sustained
- How severe your damages are and how much they’ve negatively impacted your life
- Whether or not you can work after your accident
There’s so much that goes into the value of your settlement that it’s impossible to tell how much it’s worth without first consulting with one of our personal injury attorneys.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer in Georgia Can Help
There are many reasons it’s worth getting a personal injury attorney in Atlanta after an accident. Here are just a few of the things we will do for you to make winning a settlement easier.
Gathering Evidence Related to Your Claim
Even though the law supports you with the right to file a claim, that doesn’t mean you automatically receive financial compensation. You still have to prove fault and negligence with solid evidence. While you rest and recover from your injuries, our lawyers will be hard at work looking for evidence and other critical information to support your claim.
Representing Your Best Interests
You don’t have to negotiate on your own or go to court. We will represent your best interests at all times and ensure that your voice gets heard. We won’t let the insurance company dominate the floor and make you look bad. Our goal is to win you the best settlement possible for your claim, and we will fight hard for you.
Consulting with Professionals
Even with strong evidence, sometimes you’ll need extra support to ensure that the insurance company can’t weasel their way out of paying you a fair settlement. We can consult with medical professionals, accident reconstruction experts, and forensic experts to support your case. This way, there is no doubt or uncertainty that the negligent party was at fault for what happened to you.
Calculating Your Damages Accurately
Calculating your damages accurately can be confusing. There’s a lot more that goes into it than just adding up bills and receipts. We can also calculate future medical expenses and your non-economic damages that don’t have a fixed monetary value. So we won’t leave a single penny off of your final settlement total.
Costs for a Personal Injury Lawyer
Our Atlanta personal injury lawyers work on a contingency-fee basis. You do not owe any money upfront, and you will not be required to pay unless we win you compensation. We cover the costs upfront because we believe you should be able to seek justice, even if you’re out of work. After all, you’re injured.
After receiving a sum of money for your accident and injuries, contingency legal fees typically range between 30% to 40% of your winnings. Specifics on legal fees will be outlined in our retainer agreement. We can also address your concerns in a free consultation.
What If You Are Partly at Fault?
According to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) §51-12-33, Georgia follows a modified comparative negligence rule. Therefore, if you, the plaintiff, are found guilty by the courts to be more than 50% at fault for the accident, you will lose the right to any recovery. However, you are still eligible for compensation if you are less than 49% responsible.
The judge will reduce the amount you are awarded damages in proportion to the percentage of fault. For example, a plaintiff the courts find 10% responsible for the accident would receive $90,000 of a $100,000 award or 90% of the total award amount.
Build a Strong Case Before You File
While we don’t recommend that you take too long to file your claim, that doesn’t mean that the opposite should happen. Never blindly rush into filing your claim. If you file and settle before you calculate all of your damages or finish your treatment, you will end up with a lot less than what you could have won.
It’s always best to do all of the prep work and be sure of your case’s value before you file. We know that you want to get things over with fast, but it’s worth the extra week or two to look over your evidence and ensure that everything is as tight as it can be.
Fight Back Against the Insurance Companies
Insurance companies are always trying to protect their bottom line, even if this means at your expense. Don’t have faith that they’ll always do the right thing because, more often than not, they don’t. They often cheat personal injury victims out of a fair settlement so that they can save money.
Our Atlanta personal injury lawyers won’t let them do that to you. While you can fight for your settlement on your own, it’s a known fact that just hiring a lawyer is more than enough to get the insurance company to be more open during negotiations. So don’t underestimate just how important it is to have solid legal representation by your side.
Georgia’s Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Cases
According to OCGA §9-3-33, you have two years from the date of your injuries or your family member’s death to file your personal injury claim. These statutes of limitations are relevant for civil cases such as car accidents, wrongful death, and other personal injury claims.
This is a strict deadline. If you fail to report it by this time, your case will get dismissed by the judge. However, there are certain exceptions, so it’s always worth speaking to us in a free consultation, no matter how much time has passed.
You Can Trust Us to Fight Hard for You
For over 20 years, John Foy & Associates has helped personal injury victims in Atlanta get the settlement they need to make a full recovery from their accident. With millions recovered in verdicts and settlements, you can trust in our experience and dedication. We always put the needs of our clients first before anything else.
Get Help from Our Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyers
If you, or a loved one, are facing injuries and financial difficulties as a result of your accident, you are not alone. An Atlanta personal injury lawyer from John Foy & Associates may be able to help you recover from your damages and get justice. When you contact us for a free consultation with a team member, we can discuss how we can help you strengthen your case. We are available 24/7 to assist.
Call or text 404-400-4000 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
