Claims in Athens, GA

What is a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

A personal injury lawsuit is a legal dispute between two individuals or parties regarding an accident where one of them is legally responsible.

There are two types of lawsuits, including:

• Formal Lawsuit: This is a complaint made by the injured against the other, a business or corporation. They will also need to hire a personal injury attorney to represent them in civil court.
• Informal Settlement: This is a document that is drafted by the two parties, their attorneys, and the insurance companies. The written agreement is reach by negotiations by both sides.

If you have suffered through personal injuries during an accident, do not wait and reach out to our Athens personal injury attorneys at Hall & Collins Injury Law, LLC. Call us today.

Do We File a Lawsuit on Every Injury Claim?

The simple answer is “No.” In the state of Georgia, less than 10% of any injury lawyer’s case load actually gets heard by a jury. The same is true for injury claims in the Athens, GA area. Injury lawyers settle a large majority of injury claims out of court, or on the courthouse steps just before the jury trial. However, because we are injury trial lawyers who prefer to focus on a small number of high-quality injury cases, we try a greater percentage of our injury cases than most other “trial lawyers.”

Georgia Personal Injury Claim Statue of Limitations

In Georgia, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases such as car accidents, wrongful death and other claims is typically 2 years from the date of the injury or death.

You must file a claim with the court by the statute of limitations date or your case is obsolete. This deadline applies to almost all types of personal injury lawsuits in Georgia.

Why Do Injury Claims Settle Before Trial

Looking at injury cases all across Georgia, the fact that injury claims more often settle is due to several factors, including the following:

Hiring the Right Injury Lawyer for Your Claim

If you hire a personal injury lawyer who properly prepares your accident claim, the insurance company is much more likely to make a reasonable offer to settle your injury claim. Further, if you hire an injury lawyer who has a proven track record of success in the courtroom, the odds are even greater that the insurance company will make a reasonable offer to settle your injury claim.

So, before you make a final decision about hiring an injury lawyer, you need to look closely to see what jury verdicts, not settlements, the injury lawyer has obtained in similar cases.

Litigating an Injury Claim is Expensive

Both attorney’s fees and costs increase after you file a lawsuit in an injury claim. These costs come out of any verdict rendered by the jury. The longer the injury litigation goes, the more expenses that are generated for both sides. These costs include:

• Court reporters
• Experts
• Traveling expenses
• Tracking down witnesses
• And other expenses

This is equally true for the responsible party that is sued. As a result, the increasing costs of litigating an injury claim in Georgia encourages both parties to closely consider a settlement of the injury claim prior to running up a higher amount of litigation costs.

Removing Uncertainty

Simply put, neither the defense lawyer or the plaintiff’s lawyer in an injury case can accurately predict what 12 unknown jurors will ultimately decide about the value of an injury suffered in an accident. Our firm tries a lot of injury cases, and we often spend time speaking to the jurors after the trial to gain insight on how they placed a value on an injury.

No matter how many times we try cases, each accident is different. Further, each injured neck, injured back, fractured hip, or shattered knee is different. This makes it very difficult to predict the amount of a verdict that will be returned by the jury in any given injury case.

Court Ordered Mediation in Injury Cases

Mediation is just a fancy word for a settlement meeting, done with the help of a professional mediator familiar with injury cases. Most judges in Georgia require both parties in an injury case to attempt mediation before going to trial.

This involves sitting down with a neutral mediator who is experienced in handling injury cases and attempting to settle the case before going to a jury. The mediator works between the two parties, and stresses the strengths and weaknesses of the injury case to both sides. More often than not, the injury claim settles at mediation or even shortly thereafter.

What Do Personal Injury Attorneys Do?

Suffering an injury due to the negligence of another can be overwhelming. The injury could stem from an car accident, a slip-and-fall due to a leaky refrigerator at your local grocery store, or even a defective product. It is our job to take all the stress and confusion out of pursuing your claim. We do this by educating you on the entire legal process and giving you our honest legal opinions about your case.

We take care of the following on your behalf: