Personal Injury Attorneys in Fairhope
Personal injuries are unfortunately common in Fairhope, Alabama. With recreational areas like Fairhope Municipal Pier and Orange Street Pier Beach, both of which go out into the Mobile Bay, and several major roads and intersections in the area, Thomas Hospital is usually very busy. Therefore, if you are injured in Fairhope, Alabama, you’ll want to file a personal injury claim as soon as possible, to get your life back on track.
However, getting the compensation you deserve isn’t always as easy as you think. Insurance companies work hard to deny claims, and you can’t always expect the liable party to tell the truth. That’s why it’s important to hire a personal injury attorney in Fairhope, AL. Your attorney can advocate for you and fight for your best interests.
Learn more about personal injury claims in Fairhope, AL. When you’re ready for more personalized advice regarding your claim, call Turner, Onderdonk, Kimbrough, Howell, Huggins & Bradley at 251-847-2237 for a free consultation.
Types of Personal Injury Claims
Personal injury is a huge part of the legal industry, covering a wide range of cases. Generally, you’ll need a personal injury attorney if someone’s actions or negligence caused or contributed to injuries you sustained. Some of the most common types of personal injury claims include:
- Vehicle accidents. This includes accidents involving standard passenger vehicles, motorcycles, school buses, commercial trucks, and other motorized vehicles. It also encompasses pedestrian and bike accidents where victims are hit by drivers.
- Slip and fall injuries. Slip and fall injuries make up a significant portion of our personal injury claims. An individual might fall at someone’s home, while walking on a privately owned sidewalk, or while visiting a store or public place. Injuries vary but tend to be more severe for elderly victims.
- Premises liability. Premises liability refers to the idea that a property owner is responsible for injuries that happen on their property. This also covers slip and fall injuries. Other types of premises liability cases include dog bites, trampoline injuries, and swimming pool accidents.
- Medical malpractice. Medical malpractice is a highly specialized area of law. The most common type of medical malpractice case is missed diagnoses and misdiagnoses. Other types of medical malpractice claims include birth injuries, unnecessary surgeries, surgeries performed on the wrong part of the body, and medication errors.
- Defective products. Products go through a substantial amount of testing before they hit the market, and yet, thousands of defective products reach shelves every year. Products can be designed, manufactured, or marketed improperly. Injuries caused by a product usually fall on the designer, manufacturer, or marketing agency.
Proving Your Case
There are several components of a personal injury case, and you must be able to prove your case every step of the way to get compensation. This is one of the areas in which a Fairhope personal injury attorney can be extremely helpful. We can take over the investigation of an accident, analyze available evidence, learn more about your injuries, and figure out how much your claim is worth.
To start, you’ll need to prove liability. This involves demonstrating that the other party is directly responsible for your injuries. To do so, you must prove that:
- The other party had an obligation to you.
- The other party failed to meet that obligation.
- That failure led to an accident or incident.
- That accident or incident caused your injuries.
Plan on gathering every piece of evidence you can to prove your claim. This might include taking pictures or video footage at the scene of an accident, getting a police report, getting an incident report from someone on staff, and providing copies of your medical records.
Compensation for Your Injuries
Personal injury claims allow victims to claim several different types of compensation, due to the variety of losses a victim suffers in an accident. Any settlement or court award you receive may compensate you for:
- Medical bills, including future medical expenses if your injuries are likely to require further care.
- Lost wages and future income if your ability to work is permanently impacted.
- Property damage.
- Pain and suffering.
- Disability.
- Disfigurement.
- Mental anguish.
It’s important to discuss realistic numbers with your Fairhope, AL personal injury lawyer. While TV commercials may make bold claims of million-dollar settlements, huge settlements are typically reserved for catastrophic, life-changing injuries. Your attorney can give you a realistic breakdown of different parts of your claim and help you know how much you may get.
Why You Need a Personal Injury Attorney
Why do you need an attorney? You may be asking this question if, like many other victims, you’ve received a call from the other party’s insurance company in the hours or days after your accident. It seems like they’re willing to pay up and settle the claim, so what is the value in bringing in an attorney?
No matter how quickly the insurance company calls you, you can expect their initial offer to be far lower than what you actually deserve. The primary goal of an insurance adjuster is to protect their company from a lawsuit and limit their financial losses. They might tell you that your accident is relatively minor and can be settled with a check and a signature. In some situations, they may suggest that the accident was completely or partially your fault—putting further pressure on you to take the offer they’ve already given you.
This puts you at a significant disadvantage. You may not know exactly how much your claim is worth, but that doesn’t mean you should be at the mercy of the insurance company. That’s where our team of attorneys comes in. We have extensive experience with many types of personal injury cases and a wide range of insurance companies. We’re no stranger to the tricks that insurance companies use, and we’ll ensure that we present a strong case when negotiating for compensation.
You have enough to deal with in the aftermath of a personal injury, and you don’t need to add even more to your to-do list. Let us handle the legal side of your injury.
Choose Turner, Onderdonk, Kimbrough, Howell, Huggins & Bradley for Your Personal Injury Case
The sooner you hire a personal injury attorney, the sooner they can start fighting for the compensation you deserve. To get started, call our team at 251-847-2237 or get in touch online to set up a consultation.