Posted on: 12 January 2016

One of the easiest ways to make dealing with the aftermath of an auto accident more tolerable is by hiring a personal injury lawyer, mostly because he or she can assist you by making your case as strong as possible. Listed below are two ways that a personal injury attorney can help you out with your auto accident case.

Avoiding Blame

One of the single most important parts of making your case as strong as possible is avoiding having the blame for the accident placed on you. In many cases, the person who actually caused the accident and struck your vehicle will attempt to transfer blame to you because he or she will want to avoid any penalties for causing the accident. The penalties that the responsible party will want to avoid will include loss of insurance coverage, financial penalties, and possible criminal charges.

An attorney can request phone records in order to see if the person who caused the accident was distracted in some way when the accident occurred, such as being on the phone or texting. Your attorney will also collect eyewitness accounts and police reports to see if anyone reported that the responsible party was driving way too fast or if he or she seemed to be driving recklessly. 

Negotiating Settlements

Another major way in which a personal injury attorney can help you out is by taking over the negotiations with the responsible party's insurance company. This is important as any settlement offers from that insurance company is likely only going to be the bare minimum that they think they can get away with. This means that the settlement from the insurance company may not even be enough to cover your medical bills.

What makes dealing with a settlement offer even riskier is that if you do accept the settlement then you cannot sue for more money later if the settlement is not enough to pay for your medical bills. An attorney can help leverage the strength of your case to possibly force the insurance company to increase the size of their settlement offer to at least cover your medical expenses and vehicle repair costs. In addition, an attorney can try to factor in lost wages when trying to negotiate for a larger settlement.

Speak to an attorney as soon as possible when you are dealing with the aftermath of a car accident. An attorney can help you strengthen your case and negotiate with insurance companies to get you the best possible settlement offer.