If you were hurt in an accident through no fault of your own, you may have a legal right to recover money. Don’t take on the cost of medical treatment, property damage, and lost time from work by yourself. Talk to a personal injury attorney in Duluth, GA, as soon as possible.
Our personal injury law firm was created to help people deal with their injuries. We began more than 20 years ago with a small local law office and have built one of Georgia’s largest and most successful legal practices. Call our legal team today to discuss your case.
Personal Injury Cases We Handle
At our personal injury law firm, we handle a wide range of cases. We understand the physical, emotional, and financial toll an accident can have on your life.
Some of the most common types of personal injury claims in Duluth include:
When you choose our firm, you can expect personalized attention throughout the legal process. We believe in open communication with our clients, keeping you informed about the progress of your case and providing you with sound legal advice.
Get the strong arm
What Should I Do After an Accident?
Always see a doctor if you are hurt, even if you don’t have to be rushed to the emergency room. Being careful when dealing with insurance companies or making statements about your injury is also important. Here are two important things to remember:
Do Not Sign Insurance Company Paperwork
Often, an insurance company will step in and offer money immediately. It’s a tempting offer, especially if you are worried about paying your bills. However, you must understand that insurance agents offer you this money because they hope to resolve your claim quickly and cheaply, earning a bigger profit.
Accepting the money means signing away your right to recover much more later after you understand what your injuries will cost. Always talk to a lawyer before taking money or signing anything from insurance adjusters.
Do Meet With a Personal Injury Attorney
A good personal injury lawyer in Duluth, GA, has years of experience with cases like yours and dealing with insurance companies. An attorney levels the playing field between you and the insurance company, working to get you the full amount of money you are owed.
A legal professional will tell you if you have a strong case and send you to the right doctors to get a full diagnosis and estimate of what your recovery will cost. Meeting with a lawyer in Gwinnett County is the best thing you can do to protect yourself after an accident.
How Can I Tell If I Have a Valid Personal Injury Claim?
You probably have a claim if you were hurt, and it was not your fault. After an accident, it’s natural to look for explanations, blaming yourself or chalking it up to a freak accident. However, the law sees things differently.
Legally, everyone has a duty to be careful in their actions, whether that means following traffic laws, paying attention, keeping the property safe for visitors, or controlling pets. Most of the time, accidents happen because someone wasn’t as careful as they should have been. In legal terms, they were “negligent.” A negligent party is liable for your injuries.
A woman with a head injury after an auto accident. If you sustained injuries due to someone else’s negligent behavior, a Duluth personal injury attorney can help you pursue compensation.
What If I’m Partially to Blame for the Accident?
Insurance companies may try to scare you by saying that such-and-such action made you partially at fault. Until you can talk with a lawyer, you can’t be sure. Also, even if you did contribute to your accident, you may still be able to recover substantial compensation.
Georgia uses a comparative fault system for dividing compensation between parties. In brief, you can recover compensation if you are less than half responsible for your injuries. The percentage of your responsibility will lower that compensation.
However, there are many cases where the other party is 100% responsible for the accident. Part of the job of your personal injury lawyer in Duluth, GA, will be to convince the insurer and, if necessary, the court that you had as little responsibility for your accident as possible.
Recoverable Compensation After a Duluth Accident
If the negligence of another party harmed you, you have a right to financial recovery. As your personal injury attorneys, we will help you calculate all your current and future expenses.
In most cases, you can receive compensatory damages, which aim to reimburse you for accident-related losses. Two main categories, economic and non-economic damages, that target different types of losses. However, depending on the details of your case, you could qualify for additional damages.
Economic Damages
These refer to tangible losses, such as medical bills and lost wages. Your attorney can easily prove economic damages with the help of bills and receipts. Therefore, it is important to have a paper trail documenting your financial losses after the accident.
Economic damages in a Duluth personal injury case include:
- Medical expenses and the cost of future medical care
- Loss of income and lost future wages
- Property damage
- Out-of-pocket expenses, such as the cost of transportation to the doctors
Non-Economic Damages
Surviving an accident can be a traumatic experience that casts a shadow over your future. Non-economic damages allow you to recover intangible losses, such as the loss of quality of life. Since these are more difficult to prove, your lawyer will likely use a wide range of evidence, from medical records to witness statements.
You could receive the following non-economic damages:
- Mental anguish
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of consortium
Will I Have to Sue Somebody to Win My Personal Injury Claim in Duluth?
Probably not. Occasionally we run into a stubborn insurance company that refuses to negotiate a fair amount. Sometimes they have too much confidence in their evidence and think they can undermine your witness testimony at trial.
Regardless of the reason, if the insurance company doesn’t bend in your case, our lawyers will explain your options and give you our opinion on the strength of your case. If you decide to file in the local courts, we will be with you the whole way.
More often, however, we use our “Strong Arm” negotiating tactics to convince the insurance company to offer you a reasonable financial recovery. Our Duluth personal injury attorneys can do this because we are always prepared.
We investigate every claim, drawing on police reports, expert medical evidence, witness testimony, and more to build the strongest case possible. When the insurance company sees our evidence, it offers significantly more money.
What Must I Prove to Win Compensation?
Your personal injury lawyer in Duluth, GA, will help you build an evidence-based case against the negligent party. They will rely on the available evidence to construct a comprehensive narrative that supports your claim.
In general, any personal injury case needs to do four things for the plaintiff (the injured party) to win compensation:
- Establish that the at-fault party had a duty of care toward you.
- Prove they acted negligently.
- Prove that their negligence caused your injuries.
- Show how the injury has damaged you to justify our claim amount.
The insurance company lawyers will do their best to disprove these things. Much of the work of a personal injury lawyer happens while they’re gathering evidence and building a case. With our investigative team, our “Strong Arm” lawyers will build a case difficult for an insurer to disprove.
What Will a Personal Injury Lawyer in Duluth, GA, Cost Me?
Our Duluth, GA, personal injury lawyers don’t think charging you out of pocket for legal help after an accident is fair.
That’s why we have a different payment structure:
- You pay nothing for your consultation
- You pay nothing up-front, ever
- You pay nothing at all if we don’t win you money
If we do get you money, you’ll pay us a percentage at the end. This is called a contingency fee in the legal world. Your requirement to pay us is contingent on victory in court. This system gives you the legal help you need, and we take the financial risk.
Is There a Time Limit for Filing an Injury Claim in Duluth?
Duluth follows state and federal laws that set strict deadlines for injury claims. These deadlines vary depending on your situation, so some victims have more time than others.
Many people have up to two years to file a claim (per Ga. Code § 9-3-33), but some have significantly less time. Meet with an injury lawyer to avoid missing a deadline and giving up your rights.
Speak to a Duluth Personal Injury Lawyer for Free
At John Foy & Associates, we help injured people. It’s all we do. Let us show you how our experienced legal team in Gwinnett County can get you the money you need to recover.
Our personal injury lawyers in Duluth, GA, will give you a free consultation to discuss your case and explain your options. Call us or fill out the form to your right and get your FREE consultation today.
(404) 400-4000 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
