A personal injury can happen in numerous ways. While many of us are more likely to experience car accidents, product liability, or a slip and fall, a personal injury refers to any physical, mental, or emotional damage sustained as the result of someone else’s negligence or recklessness.
If you were injured through no fault of your own, the law is on your side. You have a right to recover the full costs of medical bills and other expenses associated with your accident. Our Augusta personal injury attorneys can help you, no matter what kind of personal injury you have sustained.
Two Steps to Start Settlement For a Personal Injury Case in Augusta, GA
Being injured isn’t just painful. It’s also stressful. You may be worried about money, your job, and your long-term recovery. The prospect of seeking compensation can seem difficult and frustrating. But it doesn’t have to be.
To get started toward your settlement, there are only two steps you have to take:
Step 1 – Contact a Reputable Augusta Personal Injury Law Firm
The insurance company you’re dealing with may be your own or they may represent another party. Either way, they are not on your side. The insurance company has one goal: to pay you as little as possible, even if it means you can’t afford proper care.
They have experience and their own lawyers to make it happen. By hiring a lawyer for yourself, you can counter their tactics and possibly get much more compensation than your initial offer from the insurer.
Step 2 – Don’t Sign Anything From the Insurance Company Until You Speak to a Lawyer
The first thing an insurance company will do is offer you easy money. It’s tempting to take this money, especially if your doctor bills, rent, or other expenses are piling up. But this initial amount is often just a fraction of what you really deserve—and to get it, you must sign away your rights.
What if your injury requires further treatment? What if you miss weeks or even months of work while you recover? A personal injury attorney in Augusta, GA, can help you get the full amount you’re owed—but only if you don’t sign anything first.
How Do I Know if I Have a Personal Injury Case?
The only way to know for certain is to talk to a professional. Many people are quick to blame themselves for accidents, but those accidents could have been prevented if someone else had acted more carefully. This is the textbook definition of “negligence” by the other party, and it means you have a strong claim.
Any accident can be grounds for a personal injury case if it was caused by someone else’s negligence. Even if you contributed to your injury, as long as you contributed less than half of the negligence, you can still seek compensation.
These claims sometimes lead to six-figure or even seven-figure settlements, and sometimes you need that much to cover ongoing expenses and medical care. Don’t let your opportunity for compensation slip away by sweeping what happened under the rug.
Augusta Personal Injury Lawyer Near Me 706-400-4000
What Is Negligence?
Negligence is a crucial concept in personal injury law. It starts with the idea of a “reasonable person.” Take a car driver. They wear their seat belts, stay sober, and stick to the road rules. They want to protect themselves and the other drivers around them.
When someone does something that causes an injury, the courts examine if the at-fault party was acting reasonably or not. If they were not, then that is negligence. Reckless driving shows a disregard for others on the road, and for their own safety. A reasonable person would not drive that way.
What Are Georgia’s Fault Laws?
Georgia operates under a modified comparative negligence standard. In this state, this means that as long as you are under 50% responsible for your injury then you can still receive compensation for it.
Naturally, your compensation will be reduced if your actions contributed to your accident, but Georgia will not forbid your claim outright. The exact percentage is something your lawyer will argue on your behalf.
What you think contributed more might not be what the law thinks. If you didn’t wear your seat belt, but the other driver was DUI and didn’t stay at the scene, the amount of negligence for the DUI and hit-and-run is far more.
For a free legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer serving Augusta, call 706-400-4000
The Four Things to Prove
In general, there are four things that must be proven to win any settlement claim or personal injury case. Apart from proving you were not at fault, our job as your personal injury lawyers in Augusta is to prove these things:
- First, who was involved?
- Second, were they negligent somehow?
- Third, were you injured, and if so, how?
- Fourth, and most important, was someone’s negligence the cause of your injury?
The evidence, expert testimony, and depositions your lawyer will gather are all meant to prove these things. If the evidence is strong, an insurance company will be far more likely to settle for more money.
Do I Have to Go to Court for an Augusta Personal Injury Case?
In many cases, no, you don’t have to go to court for your personal injury case. Our lawyers routinely see cases that get resolved either by directly negotiating with the insurance company, or by filing a lawsuit but then settling out of court. In most cases, the insurance company does not want to go to court any more than you do.
In some cases it may be worth it to pursue a case in court. This is when the total verdict amount could be far more than what the insurer offers. In these cases a good lawyer will not push you to settle. They will advise you to go through the local courts in Augusta, and they will be at your side every step of the way.
How Much Time Do I Have to File an Injury Case in Augusta?
You need to move quickly. The deadlines for filing a claim in Augusta are determined by Ga. Code § 9-3-33. In many cases, you will have up to two years to file a lawsuit. But there are situations where this is not true. In particular, any case involving a government entity is going to have a much shorter deadline.
In all cases, the sooner you speak to a lawyer the better. Once an insurer learns that you might have a claim, they will get to work to minimize or reject your claim. The more time they have, the better their case. You should have the same advantage.
Augusta Personal Injury Practice Areas
Every personal injury lawyer will have certain practice areas. Some fields of personal injury law, like medical malpractice, are far more complicated than others. Choosing a personal injury lawyer in Augusta always starts with finding one that has experience in your kind of case. Some of the case types we take include:
- Bicycle accidents
- Bus accidents
- Car accidents
- Construction accidents
- Dog bites
- Drunk driving accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Rear-end collisions
- Slip and falls
- Social Security disability
- Swimming pool accidents and drownings
- Taxicab accidents
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Truck accidents
- Uninsured motorist accidents
- Unsafe premises and property negligences
- Workers’ compensation
- Wrongful death
This is not an exhaustive list, but a quick call to one of our team members can determine if our law firm can take on your case. Our decades of experience means we can take on nearly any personal injury case that comes our way.
How Much Does It Cost Me to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Augusta?
It should cost you nothing until and unless your lawyer gets you a financial recovery. In other words – if they don’t get you money, you don’t pay a cent.
When you work with us, we only take our fee at the end. And it comes out of the settlement or verdict we win for you. Our payment structure is simple:
- You pay nothing for the initial consultation or additional consultations
- You pay nothing out of pocket, ever
- You pay nothing unless we win you a recovery
We design our fees this way so that hiring a personal injury attorney in Augusta is a zero risk choice for you.
What Makes John Foy & Associates Different From Other Lawyers?
John Foy started his law firm over 20 years ago and built it up to one of the most respected and successful law firms in the state. Today, John Foy & Associates stands out from other firms because we are one of the largest and most experienced, with more resources available to help you in your case.
Many personal injury lawyers are running a feast-or-famine business where they need to pressure you to settle as quickly as possible. At John Foy, there is no pressure. We do what’s right for our client at all times, with one goal: getting you back to the optimum possible health after your injury.
Talk to an Augusta Personal Injury Lawyer for Free
If you’ve been injured, you cannot afford to leave your recovery to chance. Get a professional personal injury attorney in Augusta to assess your case and help you get the money – and the treatment – that you deserve.
We’ve been representing personal injury cases in the Augusta area for over 20 years. And we are so effective in winning cases that we have been nicknamed the “Strong Arm” of Georgia.
John Foy & Associates believes in working on behalf of accident victims, never large corporations. We offer a free consultation with some of the most experienced injury lawyers in the state. Call us or fill out the online contact form and get your FREE consultation today.
Call or text 706-400-4000 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form