Banged Up And Broke: A Personal Injury Attorney Might Have Helped
Many people in Des Moines have never made the distinction between a Des Moines personal lawyer and a Des Moines personal injury attorney, but it becomes obvious if someone gets hurt in an accident. Generally, after an accident, especially when there is injury severe enough to limit one’s day to day activities, the focus is on getting healthy. When the healing does not occur immediately or when the cost of treatment begins to impact one’s financial capabilities, then the victim may begin to notice the personal injury commercials or friends will advise them that they should get a lawyer.
Jane was driving down a side street where she came to a red light. She was behind two cars, a Volvo in front of a Mercedes which was in front of her. Suddenly she heard a loud screech from behind and was slammed into by a Toyota Prius. Her car, a Samurai Suzuki, was launched into the Mercedes and the Mercedes hit the Volvo in front of it. Jane hit the steering column and fell back into her seat as the airbag exploded. She immediately crawled out of her crushed vehicle and walked around in daze getting information from all the other drivers. A kind policeman called a towing service for her demolished Suzuki and allowed her to sit in his car as her knees and elbows were scraped and bleeding and she had a big purple knot on her collarbone.
Jane thought she was okay and did not go to the emergency room. She went home, took a few Tylenols and crawled into bed. The next day she called all the insurance people and explained what had happened. Having never been in a serious accident and having only minimal coverage she didn’t know that the other person’s insurance should pay for a car rental until she could get her car fixed or buy a new one. She was unable to get to work for several days while she tried to find alternate transportation.
Several days later, Jane woke up with stabbing pain running into her neck and back. She was unable to turn her head or bend. A friend took her to the doctor, where x-rays were performed. The x-rays showed no fractures, so the doctors said she had whiplash, gave her a neck brace, pain-killers and anti-inflammatories released her. Jane was unable to work. Jane had no vehicle. Physical Therapy and Chiropractic Care was suggested, but she she was working as a waitress and wasn’t able to pay for either of those as her minimal health coverage required a large deductible. A friend thought that she should hire a lawyer.
After listening to her story, the attorney agreed to help a friend and decided to take her case, even though it wasn’t the kind of law he normally did. He said that it looked like she could get a big payout as the other cars had little damage with no injuries and hers was totaled. He told her to keep track of all that she spent for health care. The problem was she had no money to spend on health care and since this wasn’t the attorneys field of practice, he didn’t know that they based the amount of injury settlement on how much care had to be received. Jane eventually lost her job as she was unable to continue at the previous pace and her neck continued to bother her for the rest of her life.
Twelve months later, a settlement was reached. Bt this time her lawyer had nearly forgotten about her case and often reminded her that he was just doing this as a favor to their friend. In the final judgment four plaintiffs filed complaints. The Mercedes had two people suing, the driver and a passenger and the Volvo driver. While their cars had little damage, they had, as advised by their personal injury lawyer, received as much treatment as possible. They spent it on weekly massages and therapy. None of the other plaintiffs missed any time off from work . The judge based his personal injury settlement on the amount of treatment received. Though her car was destroyed and she had obviously been the most grievously injured other plaintiffs received double what Jane received.
Jane learned the hard way that while personal injury lawyers sometimes receive a bad rap, when you have an accident and it is not your fault, an expert can make the difference.
Tags: Des Moines personal injury attorney, Des Moines personal lawyer