At the moment of an accident, you’re going to think, “How bad am I hurt?” As you are taken care of by an EMT at the scene and later by doctors in the ER, you’ll get a sense of how serious your injuries are and what the road to recovery is going to look like. After that, the worry about paying the growing amount of bills will start.
If someone else’s negligence caused your accident, you’ll also experience anger. You shouldn’t have to pay for your medical bills and lost wages when it’s not your fault. This is when you need to speak with an experienced Prestonsburg personal injury lawyer, like the team of attorneys available at the Peterson Law Office.
If there is strength in numbers, then the Peterson Law Office is a very powerful firm. We’re part of a network of 200+ attorneys who aren’t afraid to take on the insurance companies. When you retain the services of the Peterson Law Office to handle your personal injury case, you’ll have the team’s full support.
Why should you contact the Peterson Law Office to help with your personal injury claim? Consider what we bring to the table:
Legal Expertise
Personal injury law can be complex due to the numerous state regulations that comprise tort or civil liability.
Kentucky law applies the principle of pure comparative negligence. That means you can still pursue compensation in an accident even if you were partially at fault. This also means that the person who caused your injury will try to deflect and shift the blame to you.
With our legal expertise, we can anticipate these tactics and provide strong counterarguments based on the evidence and your version of events.
Investigating Skills
You can only prevail in a personal injury accident claim when the evidence is on your side.
We have a network of dedicated investigations and experts who can support your injury claim. We also have the resources to gather evidence, including surveillance videos, dashcam footage, police crash reports, witness statements, medical records, and the history of the at-fault party.
We can also deploy accident reconstruction, medical testimony, and accounts that can help accurately calculate all your relevant damages.
Negotiation Skills
Many Prestonsburg personal injury attorneys working at the Peterson Law Office have experience working for insurance companies. That provides us with keen insight into how these companies work and what tactics they’ll deploy to protect their interests.
Negotiations play a significant role in resolving personal injury claims. It’s helpful to know the insurance company’s actual limits.
Litigation Experience
With some claims, you might reach an impasse with the insurance company when they aren’t willing to budge off a low offer or don’t accept the clear evidence of who was at fault.
When that happens, we might recommend moving to filing a civil complaint. If that happens, it will mean presenting the accident evidence to a judge and jury for their consideration. That will be the final opportunity to be awarded fair compensation.
No Upfront Costs
We understand that you’re pursuing a personal injury claim because of the financial burden that your injury has created. We don’t want to add to those burdens. That is why we never charge upfront fees and work on a 100% contingency basis. In other words, we only get paid when we get paid.
You’ll know the expected fees before we begin the work.
Peace of Mind
The more important benefit of hiring the Peterson Law Office as your personal injury attorney is the peace of mind from knowing that we’re working hard to get you a resolution. We want to give you the space to focus on your recovery while we handle the filing, follow-ups, and all the legal matters.
A personal injury claim can be applied to various types of incidents. The following are some of the personal injury categories in which we excel at helping our clients.
Car Accidents
Car accidents are the leading category of personal injury claims. According to data from the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC), 130,042 collisions were reported in 2022. Those collisions happened on public roads, private property, and parking lots. It is a safe bet that most collisions generate an insurance claim.
When a driver’s negligence causes the crash, the other drivers or pedestrians are entitled to seek a remedy. A driver’s negligence can be one of the following:
- Distracted driving
- Speeding
- Driving under the influence (DUI)
- Reckless driving
- Drowsy driving
- Improper turns
- Running red lights or stop signs
- Tailgating
- Aggressive driving
In any of those scenarios, we will collect all the possible supportive evidence to establish clear liability.
Truck Accidents
A fully loaded semi-truck will tip the road scales at around 200-plus tons. Your family SUV might only be 2 tons. This means any collision between those two vehicles would be especially catastrophic for you.
All commercial trucks are regulated by the Federal Highway Administration (FHA), and regulations are provided for everything from service hours to the proper way to secure a load. If an accident involves a big rig, the FHA will conduct an investigation, and the findings will be made available to your Prestonsburg personal injury lawyer.
An accident with a semi-truck can become complicated because there are many potential parties to hold accountable, including the following:
Truck Driver
The truck driver will be the primary at-fault party. Their negligent actions will be scrutinized.
In most instances, the truck driver will automatically be given a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test to determine if they are driving under the influence.
Truck Company
The company that hired that driver can also be held partially liable for the accident.
Their hiring practices might have allowed an unqualified driver to drive the truck. If the company also exerted pressure on the driver, causing them to drive without rest or speed, that can be another reason to hold them accountable.
Cargo Loading Crew
On the big rigs, the truck driver rarely loads or unloads their cargo. A third-party crew handles that.
If that crew loaded the cargo improperly, and it can be determined that was a factor in the accident, that crew and their company can be held liable.
Mechanic
Every truck should undergo consistent inspections and maintenance. If mechanics fail to recognize or repair an issue with the truck’s brakes, transmission, tires, or other mechanical systems, they can be responsible for the accident.
Medical Malpractice
Your trust in a healthcare provider does not make them infallible. A misdiagnosis, prescription mistake, or surgical error can lead to further harm and prolong your recovery. Those are all instances of medical malpractice.
Before proceeding with this type of claim, you must obtain a certificate of merit. This is an affidavit from an independent medical practitioner that verifies what happened to you rises to the level of malpractice. It is not the final word, but the foundation your attorney will build on for your claim.
Premises Liability
Premises liability is the area of personal injury claims involving the property owner or their designees.
If you are injured in a slip and fall accident because the staff at a grocery store or restaurant did not clean a spill or warn you about the spill, the business owner can be held accountable for your damages.
The issue of premises liability also comes up if you’ve been assaulted at a property because of a lack of security.
Wrongful Death
In the worst-case scenario, personal injury is a fatality caused by someone’s negligence. That becomes a wrongful death claim, and the surviving family members are entitled to sue the responsible party for compensation.
Although these cases are painful for the family, they can ultimately bring closure, helping them move forward.
Damages Your Prestonsburg Personal Injury Lawyer Can Collect
The guiding principle behind filing a personal injury claim is to cover all the losses you’ve suffered as a result of the accident. Those damages are broken into these three categories:
Economic
The economic damages cover all your outstanding expenses. These include all the doctor visits, X-rays, surgery, hospitalization, prescriptions, medical supplies, and physical therapy. Economic damages also cover the lost wages that you accumulated while recovering. If you’re unable to return to the same job at the same pay, a case could be made for future earnings.
You are also entitled to recover the loss of any property. In a car accident, that will mean paying for the damages or the car’s value at the time of the accident.
Noneconomic
Non-economic damages are meant to compensate you for how the accident has impacted your life.
Are you in constant pain? Have you been kept from participating in events you once enjoyed? Are you suffering from mental anxiety? Your attorney will review these types of issues with you to determine a number that can compensate for your losses.
Punitive
Depending on the circumstances of the accident, a jury could award you punitive damages. These are paid when there is especially egregious negligence, such as driving under the influence or recklessly speeding.
Talk With Peterson Law Office
All the support you’ll get from your Prestonsburg personal injury lawyer begins with your first call to Peterson Law Office. Depending on your type of personal injury, you’ll be assigned an attorney with the skillset to help.
During the initial free consultation, you’ll discuss what happened and present any relevant evidence. We’ll make a thorough evaluation and discuss the options for moving forward.
You don’t want to let time slip by without seeking compensation for your personal injury accident.
Call our offices today to get started.
