Accidents can and do happen. One thing that most people agree on, though, is that injuries can be avoided if each individual is more careful. Sadly, though, people make mistakes. In cases where accidents can be prevented but aren’t, there’s a consistent theme of negligence and carelessness at the root. This leads to a huge number of personal injuries occurring in Connecticut every year.
Unfortunately, accidents can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of how careful you are. It could be at work, at home, while you’re taking an evening stroll, driving, or just going about your normal, daily activities. Everyone is at risk somehow. If you have suffered any personal injury in Middletown, CT, you need competent legal representation from an experienced personal injury lawyer who can help you get fast results.
Top-rated Connecticut personal injury law firm Gould Injury Law is run by a highly skilled personal injury lawyer, Robert Gould. Robert has extensive experience handling personal injury legal cases. He has had success with clients who found themselves in the same shoes you find yourself in now. That’s how we know we can help you secure the best possible settlement in your case.
Contact Gould Injury Law today at 888-WIN-FAST to schedule a free consultation and speak to an attorney about your case.
How You Know When You Have a Personal Injury Case
If you were hurt by someone’s negligence or carelessness, you may be able to receive compensation to cover your damages. You just need to prove that he or she is liable for your injuries and the extent to which you’ve been hurt. To do this, you must file a personal injury claim in Middletown, CT, with the help of a personal injury attorney.
Hiring a personal injury attorney is easier than trying to file your compensation claim by yourself. Plus, the process will go faster with Gould Injury Law helping you. There’s a lot to get done. First of all, your claim must prove that the defendant was directly or indirectly responsible for the injuries and damages sustained. You’ll also need to show the severity of your injuries.
Once these two conditions are met, you’ll be able to file a personal injury claim. Your outcome, though, depends on the percentage to which you and the other party are at fault. Connecticut has a “Modified Comparative Negligence” rule. This means that, unlike some other states, Connecticut checks for the extent to which each party is at fault.
This way, if the incident was partly your fault, your compensation may be reduced in amount. For example, let’s say you were going at 5 miles above the speed limit when someone ran the red light and T-Boned your car.
The defendant may claim that if you weren’t going at such a speed, they would have missed you and only been fined for running a red light. If the court or insurance company finds that you’re partly responsible, this will result in less compensation for you.
As a rule, though, the defendant must be more than 50 percent responsible before you can get any compensation. Thus, if you are largely liable for the accident, you may lose the right to seek compensation from the other party. Yet, you may still be able to get compensation from your own insurance company.
As you can see, this is tedious and stressful. Thus, you need the skilled personal injury lawyers from Gould Injury Law serving Middletown, CT, to provide legal counsel and handle the process. Our law firm will help you negotiate the settlement, investigate your claims, and–basically–take care of everything for you.
Contact Gould Injury Law at 888-WIN-FAST to schedule a free consultation and discuss your case with an attorney.
What is Negligence in a Connecticut Personal Injury Case?
Proving negligence is a crucial part of the compensation claims process. Whether intentional or unintentional, negligence is the failure to use appropriate or reasonable care, thus causing accidents or personal harm to another party. Examples of these include car accidents caused by distracted driving, or slip-and-falls when cleaners forget to put up a “wet floors” sign.
In order to recover your losses or claim damages, you must prove that the other party’s negligence caused you to get hurt. The personal injury attorneys at Gould Injury Law can do this by proving all 4 components of negligence:
- Duty of care–All individuals and organizations are expected to act reasonably and not cause other people any harm. For example, law-abiding citizens stop at red lights and provide a safe space for property visitors.
- Breach of duty of care–When people and organizations fail to uphold their responsibility to keep others safe, this is called a breach of duty of care. For example, running a red light when you should have stopped at one is such a breach.
- Causation–The breach of duty of care directly resulted in injury. For example, running a red light can easily lead to a car accident.
- Damages–Any type of personal injury, commonly car accidents, can cause considerable injuries which lead to medical bills, loss of income, severe injuries, and property damages.
At Gould Injury Law, proving all four of the above components is vital and will help us win your personal injury law case. And the faster we can prove your case, the better your chances of a timely, positive outcome.
This is why we’re emphatic about moving fast on your case. Have you sustained personal injuries because of someone’s carelessness? Chances are that you need all the cash you can get for medical treatment, loss of income, damages, and much more–and sooner, the better.
You need a personal injury attorney who moves fast and can get you your compensation very quickly. That’s what we can do for you at Gould Injury Law. Call us at 888-WIN-FAST to discuss your case with a fast-working attorney.
Major Causes of Personal Injury in Middletown, CT
There are many causes of personal injury in Middletown, CT, and each could result in mild or severe injuries or even wrongful death. These include:
- Car accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Trip/slip and fall–Usually caused by wet floors, ice, rain, and other liquids
- Accidents on construction sites
- Medical malpractice–Misdiagnosis or wrong diagnosis, surgical errors, wrong drug prescriptions, and administration
- Workplace accidents
- Dog bites
- Wrongful death
- Nursing Home Abuse – Neglect
These are some of the more common causes of personal injuries. The effects can be anywhere from mild to very serious. In extreme cases, the victim may die. In the case of a relative passing away, you may be able to have a wrongful death claim filed in your family’s behalf.
What Should You Do Right After a Personal Injury Incident?
All accidents should be treated seriously. Just because you’re feeling alright now doesn’t mean you haven’t been hurt. In fact, symptoms like whiplash and some internal injuries don’t show up until hours or even days later. It’s just your body delaying or masking the reactions with adrenaline and shock.
Start by getting medical help. Even if you just slipped and fell without any obvious injuries, make sure you get a physical at the very least. This will help clear any doubts about your injuries. Then assess the scene where it happened.
If you have your phone with you, use it to gather as much evidence as possible. Sometimes, the success of a personal injury claim depends on how fast you move to secure the evidence. So document the scene. The more evidence you collect, the better.
If you were in a car accident, you should swap insurance details and/or personal information. Then get treatment and contact an attorney with considerable personal injury experience like Gould Injury Law. This way, your attorney can quickly file your claim.
Once this is done, you can be sure that your attorney will follow up on the claims until you come to the rightful conclusion. As a rule, don’t talk to any insurance agent or adjuster after filing your claim. Why? Because it’s his or her job to pay you the least amount possible, as fast as possible, before you have a chance to think.
This is what we advise all our clients. As custodians of the law, the lawyers of Gould Injury Law know how to get an insurance company to pay you the maximum amount possible for your pain, suffering, and damages.
Should You File a Personal Injury Claim Yourself?
While you may be able to file a personal injury claim yourself, it’s not smart to do this. Why? Because it’s a very stressful and convoluted process. It’s always best to have a experienced personal injury attorney like Gould Injury Law handle this on your behalf.
This is even more important if the claim is sizable. Insurance adjusters are trained to get you as little money as possible, so they will often make you an offer in a bid to minimize their expenses. Don’t take their initial offer without consulting with an experienced Middletown personal injury attorney.
We’ve had a lot of experience handling similar cases for clients in Middletown, CT. And if there’s one thing we’re absolutely sure of, it’s that our clients’ payouts are often significantly higher than the insurance firm’s initial offer.
Schedule your free initial consultation with a lawyer at Gould Injury Law by calling 888-WIN-FAST today.
Factors Influencing Personal Injury Compensation Claims and Payouts
“What’s a fractured hip worth to you?” While that might seem like a difficult question, this is the type of question that any experienced injury attorney grapples with on behalf of his or her clients.
It’s our job to ask hard questions like this so that we can get you the compensation that’s duly yours. The reality is there’s no exact formula for determining how much compensation you will receive. But there are factors that can influence how much you get from your claims and how quickly you get paid.
Some of these factors include:
- The severity of clients’ injuries–More serious injuries tend to attract higher settlement amounts because of the pain and suffering clients go through.
- Impact on daily life–Accidents causing significant disruption in the client’s daily life will most likely result in a higher settlement.
- Medical costs–Medical treatment and post-treatment costs almost always influence settlements.
- Recovery period–Severe injuries tend to take longer to heal; as a result, your lawyer will have to push for a higher settlement amount to take care of the bills and lost income.
- Client’s liability–Connecticut applies the modified comparative fault rule to personal injury cases. This means insurance companies and/or the courts will see if you were partly responsible for the accident. If you were, this might affect how much you get as compensation.
- Psychological trauma–While psychological trauma is usually hard to prove, it can significantly increase your settlement.
- Possibility of bad press–Is the case newsworthy and capable of attracting the wrong attention from the public? We may be able to use that to get more money for you. Companies typically shy away from having their reputations soiled, and will often prefer to settle faster and pay you a higher amount.
As you can see, there are quite a few factors that can affect your case. Of course, there are many more, but the above are the most common. To get the outcome you desire, you need legal help from a highly experienced lawyer. That’s what we offer at our reputable personal injury law firm, Gould Injury Law.
As highly skilled attorneys, we understand the importance of speed in getting clients in Middletown the results they want. This is why we emphasize moving very quickly in every case. However, our ability to move fast doesn’t negatively impact your ability to get maximum compensation in Middletown. If anything, our speed is one of the reasons we get solid outcomes.
How Can Gould Injury Law Help?
As a Connecticut law firm serving Middletown, we offer legal advice, guidance, and representation on personal injury cases to our friends and neighbors. Our fast and thorough approach to these legal issues has helped many across the State of Connecticut.
We’re the law firm you call when you need fast, satisfactory results in your lawsuit. We have decades of experience in personal injury cases and are highly rated for delivering excellent outcomes to our clients.
If you have sustained significant injuries due to other people’s carelessness or negligence, come talk to us today. Contact Gould Injury Law at 888-WIN-FAST to schedule a free consultation and discuss your case with an attorney.
