What Gets Covered after an Accident

Common Pitfalls

By Michael Ehline

There are a lot of misconceptions about lawsuits out there. Many of these are in one of two directions. In many cases people believe that the first thing to happen to them is that an ambulance chaser will track them down. This very well might happen. However, the other extreme is just as unlikely. Many people believe that lawsuits are made from pie in the sky numbers and not based on the hard reality on the ground.

Of course, most circumstances fall between the two. This is one of the biggest reasons why it is important to find an attorney that you trust. In addition, it's important to find an attorney that trusts you enough to be frank with you. The driver that caused the accident is not going to want to pay up for their fault. Secondly, your insurance company or theirs may choose to fight every step of the way. Some even refuse to pay out at all. It's not a cakewalk.

There are a lot of factors involved in determining how much money a person gets after an accident. First comes after the determination of fault. Often fault is pro-rated into the decision. Second is a combination of immediate and long term medical and other bills. Also factored in is the monetary value of lost work. Juries also consider incredible stress and suffering on the plaintiff and their family. Only an attorney specialized in such cases balances all of these varying concerns.

Consider these and more when discussing your accident case with an attorney. The bottom line always is the well being of your family. We cover more of these issues in next week's column.

Michael Ehline is an attorney specializing in car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. He can be reached at michael@ehlinelaw.com.