Personal Injury Attorneys: Bad Rap for Needed Service
A lot of folks in Des Moines have never made the distinction between a Des Moines personal lawyer and a Des Moines personal injury attorney, but it becomes obvious if someone gets hurt in an accident. Generally, after an accident, especially when there is injury severe enough to limit one’s day to day activities, the first thought is getting better. When the mending takes awhile or when the cost of treatment begins to impact one’s financial capabilities, then the victim may begin to notice the personal injury commercials or friends will advise them that they should get a lawyer.
Jane was driving down a side street where she stopped at a red light. There were two cars in front of her, a Volvo in front of a Mercedes which was in front of her. Suddenly she heard a loud screech from behind and was slammed into by a Toyota Prius. Her car, a Samurai Suzuki, was launched into the Mercedes and the Mercedes hit the Volvo in front of it. Jane hit the steering wheel and fell back into her seat as the airbag exploded. She immediately crawled out of her crushed vehicle and walked around in daze getting information from all the other drivers. A kind policeman called a towing service for her totaled vehicle and allowed her to sit in his car as her knees and elbows were scraped and bleeding and she had a big purple knot on her collarbone.
Jane decided her injuries were not that bad and did not go to the emergency room. She went home, took a few Tylenols and went to bed. The following day she called all the insurance people and started the ball rolling. Having never been in a serious accident and having only minimal coverage she was unaware that someone’s insurance could pay for a car rental until she could get her car fixed or buy a new one. She had to miss the next few days of work while she figured out what to do with transportation.
Several days later, Jane woke up with shooting pains in her neck and back. She was unable to turn her head or bend. A friend took her to the doctor, where they did x-rays. The x-rays revealed no fractures, so the doctors said she had whiplash, gave her a neck brace, pain-killers and anti-inflammatories released her. Jane was unable to work. Jane had no car. Physical Therapy and Chiropractic Care was suggested, but she she was working as a waitress and wasn’t able to pay for either of those as her minimal health coverage required a large deductible. A friend thought that she should hire an attorney.
After hearing her story, the lawyer friend was very happy to take her case, even though it wasn’t the kind of law he normally did. He said that it looked like she could get a big payout as the other cars had little damage with no injuries and hers was totaled. He told her to keep keep a record of what she spent for health care. The problem was she had no money to spend on health care and since this wasn’t the attorneys field of practice, he didn’t know that they based the amount of injury settlement on how much medical attention, as defined by dollars, had been gotten. Jane was let go from her job as she was unable to continue at the previous pace and her neck continued to bother her for the rest of her life.
One year later, a resolution was reached. Bt this time her lawyer had nearly forgotten about her case and often reminded her that he was just doing this as a favor to their friend. In the final judgment there were four plaintiffs. The Mercedes had a passenger who was suing as well as the driver of the car and the driver of the Volvo. While their cars had little damage, they had, as advised by their personal injury lawyer, received as much treatment as possible. This treatment included weekly massages and many other forms of therapy. None of the other plaintiffs missed any work. The judge based his personal injury settlement on the amount of treatment received. Though her car was declared totaled and she had obviously suffered the most loss the other plaintiffs received double what Jane received.
Jane discovered the hard way that while personal injury lawyers sometimes receive a bad rap, when you have an accident and it is not your fault, an expert can make the difference.
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