How do Rhode Island personal injury lawyers charge for personal injury/automobile accident cases? Should I deal with the insurance adjuster myself without the help of an attorney in order to settle a personal injury or automobile accident case? If I hire a attorney, how does the process work?
Question: How do Rhode Island personal injury lawyers charge for personal injury / automobile accident cases?
Answer: Most Rhode Island Attorneys take personal injury, premises liability, dog bite cases, slip and fall and auto / car accidents on a contingent fee basis. I never collect any fees unless successful in settling your personal injury case or winning a verdict at trial. The lawyer typically will take the personal injury case costs from the settlement or verdict at the end of the case. Most attorneys advance case costs for personal injury cases.
Question: Should I deal with the insurance adjuster myself without the help of an attorney in order to settle a Rhode Island p
ersonal injury or automobile accident case?
Answers: Representing yourself and negotiating with an insurance adjuster for a a personal injury case is usually not a good idea! Because you are not an attorney and have not handled personal injury matters before, you are often not aware of the full value of your case. The insurance adjuster may take advantage of your inexperience. Insurance adjusters typically will offer a lot less money to a person representing themselves than they would to an attorney representing a client.
Furthermore, when you are representing yourself in a Rhode Island personal injury or car accident case, the insurance company knows that you do not know how to litigate a law suit. Therefore you don’t have as much leverage with the insurance adjuster.
Question: If I hire a Rhode Island Personal Injury attorney, how does the process work?
Answer: You should retain a Rhode Island attorney as soon as possible after the accident. At the first meeting, the attorney typically will get all the important information concerning the accident including, but not limited to, the names of the witnesses, all injuries and the treating physician and doctors.
The attorney may want to visit the actual scene of the accident so that he can get further prospective on how the accident occurred. If you have any pictures of the accident scene, your damaged automobile, or of the resulting injuries, it is usually a good idea to show those to the lawyer.
If your lawyer is interested in taking the personal injury case, he or she will typically enter into a contingent fee agreement with you. You will need to provide a list of the names and addresses of all witnesses. Your lawyer will also ask you for the names and addresses of all treating physicians and the names and addresses of all hospitals and treating facilities. The lawyer will ask you to sign medical releases pursuant to federal law which will allow your lawyer to collect your medical bills and medical records from your health care provider concerning your injury.
The attorney will be very interested in knowing whether or not you have health insurance and the extent of your health insurance coverage. If your health insurance plan is covering your medical bills, they typically have a lien against any settlement proceeds you receive . It is necessary for your lawyer on your behalf to repay your health insurance company from the proceeds of any personal injury settlement or verdict. These liens typically can be negotiated with the health insurance company. Some insurance companies will typically lower their personal injury lien 25% to 33% to account for the work that your attorney has done on the case.
Sometimes, if liability or damage are in dispute, you can get a further reduction of the lien. Typically your lawyer will not be able to disburse any monies to you until he has paid the insurance company for the lien amount.
After the initial consultation and after you have retained the lawyer, the lawyer will typically do an investigation, if necessary, by calling witnesses, reviewing police reports, or doing anything else that is necessary to further your case. The attorney will collect your medical records and billing records. Obtaining your billing records for the accident from the medical providers is extremely important because the amount of medical bills that you have is a very important factor in determining the ultimate value of your personal injury case for settlement or trial purposes.
Your attorney typically will wait until he/she believes that you have reached a certain point in your treatment before he makes an offer to the insurance company to settle your case. Attorneys are typically concerned that they will settle the case prior to knowing the full extent of a person’s injuries. After a case is settled and the release is signed, there is no way to get paid any further damages even if your injuries become substantially more severe. Therefore, it is usually not a good idea to settle the personal injury case prior to having some idea as to the extent of your injuries in the future. Your back,neck, arm,head, shoulder or leg injury could get worse as time goes bye.
After the lawyer meets with you, he will typically send a letter of representation to all the insurance companies involved giving them general information about the case. The insurance company will open up a case file and respond to the attorney. Insurance companies are required by law to investigate the facts and look into the potential cause of action. When the attorney is comfortable that the right time has arrived, he or she will typically send a Personal Injury settlement package to the insurance company. This settlement letter usually includes an evaluation of the permanency of the injury, if any, and describes the pain and suffering of the client as well as any lost wages and medical bills incurred. The attorney typically includes in the settlement package an initial demand for settlement of the case.
The insurance company will reply to the letter with either an offer to settle the case or a denial of liability. If the insurance company is denying liability in the case and refusing to pay anything, then the attorney will have no choice but to file a lawsuit to seek damages. In the event that a personal injury settlement offer is made to the attorney, there usually will be a period of negotiation to see if the parties can agree to a settlement amount.
If the parties cannot agree to a settlement amount, it may be necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit in either Rhode Island District Court or Rhode Island Superior Court. In Rhode Island, most personal injury cases are handled in Superior Court because matters over $10,000.00 in Rhode Island must be heard in Superior Court.
Question: My Rhode Island attorney is unable to settle the case with the insurance adjuster, then what happens next?
Answer: If the attorney is unable to settle the case with the insurance adjuster, then it is necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit in court. The process of a civil lawsuit can take up to several years to resolve. Your lawyer will file a complaint in Rhode Island court alleging negligence or other causes of action asking the court to award you damages. After the complaint is filed, the insurance company will typically hire an attorney to represent their insured. The insurance company’s lawyer will file an answer to the case.
After the complaint and answer are filed, there is usually a discovery period. The parties can send interrogatories to each other which are written questions that the other party must answer. The parties can also take depositions of witnesses which is when the other lawyer asks you questions about the case in front of a stenographer. After the discovery period, there may be a motion to dismiss or motions for summary judgment that are filed by either of the parties.
If the case is not dismissed or summarily decided, then the case will proceed to trial. The average amount of time for a lawsuit in Rhode Island is about two years, although the amount of time for the law suit could vary depending on how complex the case is, availability of witnesses, and the amount of cases on the docket.
Question: How do I obtain evidence of my personal injury?
Answer: Please take photographs of all injuries including , but not limited to, cuts, bruises and broken bones. Do not wait too long after the accident. Please do the best that you can to obtain the witness names, addresses, phone numbers, and other information to give to your Rhode Island personal injury attorney. Please keep records of your out-of-pocket expenses for your medical bills, lost wages and other expenses incurred such as medication and medical accessories. You need to keep accurate records because you will need to provide them to the insurance company. If your injury was caused by a whiplash injury caused by a rear end accident you may need to hire an expert to testify on your behalf as to the seriousness of upper and lower back injuries caused by whiplash. If the Rhode Island personal injury case concerns a car crash please show the pictures of all damaged automobiles to your lawyer.
Question: Will my lawyer keep what I tell him confidential?
Answer: In Rhode Island, There is an attorney-client privilege in which your attorney is precluded from disclosing confidential information that you do not want him to disclose to others. There is certain limited exceptions to the attorney-client privilege which usually do not apply.
Question: What type of costs are typically incurred in Rhode Island personal injury cases?
Answer: Out-of-pocket costs, are expenses that are incurred by your lawyer to properly settle or litigate your personal injury or slip and fall case. In Rhode Island, the out of pocket expenses are usually advanced by the lawyer. Medical providers in RI usually charge a nominal fee to copy your medical records. Most doctors also charge a fee to write a comprehensive medical report detailing your course of treatment, injury prognosis and whether or not your injuries are permanent. If it is necessary to have a doctor testify at the trial of your case, then the doctor may charge a substantial fee for his attendance.
Another example of out-of-pocket expenses that you may incur is a filing fee to file the complaint in Providence/ Kent/ Newport or Washington County Superior Court. There is also a fee for service of process of the personal injury complaint by a constable.
The amount of costs incurred in your case varies from case to case and depends on how complex your case is. The more serious your injuries are the more out of pocket expenses that may be incurred. Most attorneys will get prior approval before incurring a substantial cost on your behalf.
