Justice for the Injured.
Independent injury guides
What to do after a crash, how a settlement is actually worked out, and the questions worth asking a lawyer. Written for people reading this at the worst possible time.
Three things that matter most right now
1
Gaps in treatment are the first thing an insurer points at.
2
Weather, speed, what was said. Memory fades faster than you think.
3
You are allowed to say you will call back.
Four situations that make up the bulk of personal injury claims, each explained from the first phone call to the final cheque.
01
Fault, police reports and why the first offer is rarely the real one.
02
More insurers, more rules and a much shorter window to preserve evidence.
03
Who is liable, what the owner’s policy covers and how scarring is valued.
04
The notice problem: proving the hazard was there long enough to be fixed.
Almost every claim that goes badly went badly in week one.
Even if you feel fine. Soft tissue injuries show up two days later and an insurer will say the two are unrelated.
The scene, the vehicles, the bruising. Then again at 72 hours when the bruising is at its worst.
Taxis to appointments, prescriptions, the brace you bought yourself. All of it is recoverable.
Being straight about it saves everyone time.
Nobody here takes your case. These are explanations, so you walk into a consultation already knowing the vocabulary.
Deadlines and rules change by state. A guide cannot know which one applies to you.
No firm has bought a mention. If that ever changes it will say so at the top of the page.
A straightforward soft tissue claim often settles in four to nine months. Anything involving surgery usually waits until doctors can say what the long term looks like, which can push it past two years.
Most claims never see a courtroom. Filing a lawsuit is often just a way to force a deadline, and the case settles before trial.
Injury lawyers normally work on contingency, which means a percentage of the recovery rather than an hourly bill. Ask what the percentage is and whether case costs come out before or after it.
New explainers, written one at a time rather than churned out.
Car accidents
The short list of things that protect a claim, and the two that quietly sink it.
Settlements
Multipliers, per diem and why the number an insurer starts with is not a formula.
Insurers
What that first friendly phone call is for, and what you are allowed to say.
An hour of reading changes what you ask for and what you agree to. That is the whole point of this site.