Check out this article about 4 car accident facts in Florida. Then call Paul Boone Law for a free legal consultation and case evaluation.
1) Choosing the Right Car Accident Attorney
People often ask how to go about picking a personal injury lawyer when they’ve been hurt in a car accident. If you have someone who has referred you to a lawyer, great. Go to that lawyer. More to the point, however, you want a lawyer who’s done this before. Our practice is almost exclusively engaged in personal injury work. It’s been that way since day one, since 1982. You want someone who knows their way around the personal injury law. It has become complex. It has become controlled by the legislature in Tallahassee with the passage of many laws and statures. If you are not in it on a regular basis, you may not know what’s going on.
When shopping around for a lawyer, sit down with them and ask, “What’s your experience? How long have you been in practice? What percentage of your work is personal injury work? What percentage of your personal injury work is the kind of case I have?” Now, automobile accidents are, in the grand scheme of personal injury work, fairly common, particularly here in Nassau County. We have an east-west road, state road 200, which stretches from I95 into Amelia Island where we have two paper mills. We have hundreds of logging trucks that go in and out. It’s very dangerous. The road has been under construction for several years and will likely be under construction for several years after that. We have a whole host of automobile accidents on a daily basis. You need to know that your lawyer has the experience to handle those cases. If you’ve been hurt on state road 200 in Nassau County or any other roadways in Nassau County or Duval County, give us a call. We’d be happy to help you with your case and see where it goes.
2) Car Accident Case Value
Even though many clients ask this in their first conference with us, we typically don’t answer it then because a lot of things go into determining the value of your case. The nature and extent of your injury, the amount of your medical bills and, if you have been working outside the home, the amount of lost wages. We don’t know a lot of these factors on day one of your case. There is a lot of what goes into valuing your case. We always advise clients to let us get the things done that we need to do. You get back to getting back on your feet as best you can. We’ll come to a time later on in your case where we get to value your case after all of these things have occurred and developed. If you’ve been hurt in Nassau County or in the Duval County area, give us a call. We’ll sit down and talk about your case and figure out how best to approach it.
3) Lost Wage Reimbursement in a Car Accident Case
Clients who come to see us typically have not been involved in automobile accidents before. They don’t know how it works. They’ve had automobile insurance for years and years, have never had to use it. They get hurt. They can’t work. They want to know what to do about that. In Florida, if you drive on the streets of Nassau County and Duval County, you know you have to have what is called PIP insurance. It’s Personal Injury Protection insurance. It’s also called no fault insurance. It will pay 60% of your lost wages.
When you get hurt, one of the early things you should do is call your insurance company. They, either online or through the US mail, will send you a bunch of paperwork. Several of those documents have to do with documenting your lost wages. You or they will send a form to your employer. They will fill out a lost wage verification form where they’re able to go back 13 weeks prior to your accident. They will take an average of that and pay you 60% of your wages. Now, additionally, if you work for a company that provides different kinds of insurance, some of the insurance might be short-term disability or wage continuation plans. You should contact your HR department or the representative for your health insurance, your short-term disability, and they will do the same thing. There will be a coordination so that your wages are protected as much as they can be. At a minimum if you have insurance, it will pay 60% of your wages.
If you’ve been hurt in Nassau County, Duval County, or anywhere in northeast Florida, give us a call and we can help you walk through those issues that are mysteries to you. They’re not mysteries to us. We can help you through these issues, as well as other aspects of your case.
4) Car Accident Case Timeline
One of the first questions clients ask is how long a case will last. That answer varies. A good rule of thumb is 9 to 14 months. It could go longer, however, if your case gets into litigation and it gets complex. If we can resolve your case without filing the lawsuit, then it would be at the front end of that timeframe, maybe a little less, maybe a little bit more. It depends on several factors. One thing is certain. It will not be over in a couple of weeks. It’s not a matter of calling up an insurance company and asking them to pay us your money. It doesn’t work that way.
First of all, there’s analysis of your medical records, both pre-accident and after your accident, so that we have a good fix of your injuries. Collection of medical records and medical bills takes time. That stretches out the duration of your case a lot of times. Know that you have to be prepared to be in it for a while. When you come to a lawyer with the legal problem, leave the legal problem here. Let us do the work we excel at. You get back on your feet and do what you do in terms of getting back to as much of a normal lifestyle as you can. If you have those questions or any other questions, call us. If you’ve been hurt in Nassau County, Duval County, the Amelia Island area, or western Nassau, call us. We’ll sit down with your case and figure out what’s best for you.
Were you or a loved one injured in a crash and have questions about our 4 car accident facts? Contact experienced Florida car accident lawyer at Paul Boone Law today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
Like Us on Facebook