Following a serious injury, your first priority should be to seek the best treatment you can to get better. However, in the event that you suspect that your injuries were caused by the carelessness of someone else, you should also begin the process of investigating whether or not you have a valid claim for monetary damages.
You see, each state has certain legal time limits, that provide a limited time period during which you must file a personal injury lawsuit. For example, in some states injury victims may have as little as one year to file a lawsuit from an automobile accident. If you miss the statutory deadline for filing a case, your case is thrown out of court.
The laws governing these time periods are commonly referred to as “statutes of limitations.”
Unfortunately, too many people way to investigate their possible personal injury lawsuit until after it’s too late. With few exceptions, once the applicable time period has expired, the injury victim’s right to pursue compensation is lost forever. This is yet another reason why contacting an attorney as soon as possible is so important.
Properly investigating a potential personal injury lawsuit can take time. Furthermore, important evidence can be lost over time. Finally, there are important steps that can be taken to protect an injury victim’s rights and maximize the potential recovery. These are all reasons why contacting an injury attorney early on in the injury-legal situation is so critical.
Should I File Without a Lawyer?
As the old adage goes, only a fool has himself for a lawyer. Usually, filing a lawsuit on your own, without the assistance of an experienced attorney is a recipe for disaster. Filing a lawsuit on your own is likely to result in mistakes that will reduce your ability to maximize the likelihood of a successful outcome. Non-lawyers, and even inexperienced attorneys, may not know the nuances of navigating the civil justice system. This may result in missing filing deadlines, failing to meet procedural requirements or simply agreeing to an offer of settlement that is far-below the true value of the injury lawsuit. Put simply, you should avoid trying to representative yourself on your own. Even experienced attorneys hire other attorneys to represent them. If an experienced injury attorney wouldn’t represent herself, neither should you.