Westminster Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injuries come out of nowhere. You do not expect to be rear-ended in traffic or slip and fall at a store. Suddenly, you’re facing extensive rehabilitation, painful injuries, and an uncertain financial future. At Daniels & Scriven, P.C., our Westminster personal injury lawyers help the injured reclaim their lives by pursuing justice and financial accountability from the negligent parties who injured them.
Contact us today at (720) 863-6006 for a free, no-obligation consultation.
Why Should I Choose Daniels & Scriven, PC for My Personal Injury Law Firm?
Daniels & Scriven Injury and Accident Lawyers is a highly esteemed personal injury law firm with over 40 years of combined legal experience. We can handle a wide variety of cases, from car accidents to wrongful death claims. We are committed to our clients and deliver legal services wherever needed, whether in the courtroom, at the negotiating table, in hospitals, or at your home.
You work directly with an experienced personal injury lawyer, not an assistant or paralegal, when you hire us. We have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our clients and are ready to work just as hard to secure compensation for you.
Why Should I Hire a Westminster Personal Injury Attorney?
You might be thinking that you can handle your claim yourself and that you don’t want to deal with another unexpected expense. However, you are already dealing with a lot – coordinating your medical treatment and return to work, fielding calls from insurance companies, keeping track of all of your medical appointments, and trying to take care of your regular responsibilities, possibly with a disability. It can be stressful and frustrating to deal with an insurance adjuster whose only interest is in saving money for the insurance company.
Insurance adjusters are trained to deny and minimize the value of personal injury claims to protect the insurance company’s wealth.
They may use various tactics to accomplish these means, including:
- Offering a fast settlement before you have the opportunity to discuss your case with a personal injury attorney who can advise you of the actual value of your claim
- Asking for a recorded statement to get you to say something they can use against you later to deny or devalue your claim
- Requesting a medical authorization to request medical records to find some previous incident to blame your current injuries on
- Claiming your doctor’s recommended treatment isn’t necessary to avoid paying for it
- Assigning you an undue amount of fault for the accident so that Colorado’s modified comparative negligence system precludes you from recovering any compensation or so that your claim’s value is reduced by a higher degree of fault
Don’t let the insurance company prey on you in a vulnerable state. Instead, hire a lawyer who is experienced at handling them, can anticipate their tactics, and take steps to protect your legal rights.
What Is a Personal Injury Case?
A personal injury case arises from a civil claim that an injured accident victim brings against the party responsible for their injuries or that party’s insurer. These cases seek financial compensation to make the victim whole again. Most personal injury cases are based on the legal concept of negligence, meaning the defendant had a legal duty to the victim, breached that duty, and in doing so injured them.
What Determines If You Have a Personal Injury Case in Westminster?
Most personal injury cases are based on the legal concept of negligence, which generally means that someone failed to act as a reasonably prudent person would have acted under similar circumstances, injuring someone as a result. To prove a negligence claim, you must establish the following legal elements:
- The defendant owed you a duty of care. For example, all drivers must obey traffic laws and avoid collisions.
- The defendant breached the duty of care. For example, the driver was speeding.
- The defendant’s breach caused the accident. If the driver hadn’t been speeding, the accident wouldn’t have occurred.
- You suffered damages as a result. Damages are losses you suffer because of the accident, such as medical bills, lost income, or pain and suffering.
The burden of proof in personal injury cases is by the preponderance of the evidence, which means that it is more likely than not that the four elements described above existed. Your lawyer can help identify and gather evidence to help prove your claim.
Most Common Types of Personal Injury Claims
Various situations can give rise to a personal injury claim, but Daniels & Scriven Injury and Accident Lawyers routinely handles cases involving:
- Amazon delivery accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Car accidents
- Dog bites
- Insurance bad faith
- Lyft accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Truck accidents
- Work injuries
- Wrongful death claims
If you would like to know whether you have legal grounds to file a personal injury case, contact our law firm today for a free consultation. Of these, the most common type of personal injury claim is from a car crash — reach out to one of our Westminster car accident attorneys to pursue due compensation for your injuries.
Common Injuries That Give Rise to Personal Injury Claims
When a person’s injury is due to someone else’s negligence, they can potentially seek compensation for their accident-related losses. Personal injury claims often arise when victims have suffered serious injuries that require expensive medical treatment and lost income. Some of the most common personal injuries include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Neck and back injuries
- Nerve damage
- Spinal cord injuries
- Amputations
- Burns
- Broken bones
- Internal injuries
- Sprains and torn ligaments
- Psychological injuries, including PTSD
- Injuries that cause permanent disability, disfigurement, or scarring
These injuries can have a devastating financial impact on victims, but victims can seek compensation through a personal injury claim. Being a typical cause of injury, our slip and fall lawyers in Westminster can fight for your compensation regarding any of the severe injuries listed above.
What Damages Can I Recover After an Accident?
If your personal injury claim is successful, you can recover compensation for damages stemming from your personal injury case. The damages you can recover depend on the circumstances surrounding your case. Commonly awarded financial compensation in personal injury cases includes:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Lost future earning capacity
- Property damage repairs
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress/PTSD
In a wrongful death claim, the following damages can be awarded:
- Funeral expenses
- Burial costs
- Lost income and benefits for the number of years the decedent would have likely continued working
Due to the vulnerability of the vehicle, motorcycle accidents often result in serious injury or death. Learn about the damages you may be able to seek when you speak with an experienced Westminster motorcycle accident lawyer from our firm.
What Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
Every personal injury case is different, so there’s no average value. Factors that can influence your case’s value could include:
- The type and severity of your injuries
- The cost of your medical bills
- How much time you had to take off work because of the injuries
- Your age and income level before the accident
- The parties responsible for your injuries
- The insurance coverage available
- Whether you are found partially at fault
Only after a thorough investigation can an experienced personal injury attorney give you a better estimate of the potential value of your claim.
Tactics Insurance Companies Use to Undervalue, Deny, or Delay Claims
One of the most important reasons to hire a personal injury attorney is to have someone who can protect you from the unscrupulous tactics of insurance companies. Insurance companies want to protect their wealth and do so by denying, delaying, and undervaluing claims as much as possible. They frustrate the process, hoping to deter claimants from asserting their rights.
Some of the tactics insurance companies are known for using to advance these purposes include the following:
- Asking for a recorded statement to record something to use against you, such as an innocent statement that you are “fine” in response to “how are you,” that the insurance company tries to use to say that you were not seriously injured, or information that you guess about that winds up not being accurate, to question your credibility
- Requesting an authorization for your medical records “to help” when they are actually trying to find old medical records to find a previous accident or injury to blame your current injuries on
- Stating that your doctor’s proposed medical treatment plan is not necessary
- Offering a fast, lowball settlement offer before you know the full extent of your damages
- Blaming you for the accident or for an unfair portion of fault to minimize the value of your claim
Experienced personal injury lawyers can anticipate these tactics and help you avoid them.
Steps To Take After Suffering a Personal Injury
Whether you’re injured in a car accident, slip and fall, or other personal injury, take these steps to protect your legal claim:
- Report your accident to the police, authorities, or property owner.
- Obtain information from the at-fault party, including their name, contact information, and insurance information.
- Document the scene by taking pictures of anything that may have contributed to the accident and your injuries.
- Ask witnesses to write down their names and contact information.
- Seek medical attention immediately.
- Consult an experienced personal injury attorney.
What Is the Deadline to File a Personal Injury Case in Colorado?
Colorado personal injury law generally gives accident victims two years to file a personal injury lawsuit (three in motor vehicle accident cases). If you don’t file your case within this deadline, you can forfeit your right to recover compensation for your injuries.
Contact Our Westminster Personal Injury Attorneys for a Free Consultation
If you were injured due to someone else’s negligence, the Westminster personal injury lawyers at Daniels & Scriven, P.C. can help protect your rights, pursue justice, and hold the at-fault parties accountable for your injuries. We can guide you through every step of the claims process.
Contact us today online or call (720) 863-6006 for a free case review.