Mendota Heights, MN, Car Accident Lawyer

Your world can turn upside down in an instant if you are seriously injured in a car accident. What had started as a normal day can quickly turn into a nightmare of pain, fear, and uncertainty. When this happens to you, your next phone call should be to a Mendota Heights, MN, car accident lawyer who will listen to your concerns and is passionate about protecting your legal rights.

Why Choose Us as Your Mendota Heights Car Accident Attorney?

Choosing the right Mendota Heights, MN, car accident lawyer is one of the most important decisions you will make. All attorneys are not created equal. Some have more experience, skill, and determination than others. Attorneys Isaac Tyroler and Rachel Sperling Leonard are among the most experienced and brightest.

Isaac Tyroler is compassionate with clients and understands that many have been through traumatic experiences. At the same time, he is an aggressive negotiator and fierce litigator. He takes each case personally and is entirely focused on getting his clients the justice they deserve. He is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with insurance companies to negotiate a favorable settlement or litigate a case in front of a judge and jury when necessary. Mr. Tyroler has been practicing law for more than a decade and is admitted to the bar in Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as in U.S. District Court. He has received the Super Lawyers Rising Star Award multiple times and is a frequent speaker at legal seminars.

Rachel Sperling Leonardis a fourth-generation lawyer who began brainstorming case strategies as a child while sitting around the family dinner table. She focuses on personal injury and wrongful death cases, including car accidents, boating accidents, dog bites, and dog attacks. She also handles sexual assaults/abuse and other assault cases. Ms. Sperling Leonard is a fierce proponent of her clients’ rights and advocates passionately for native English and Spanish speakers, as well as native speakers of many other languages.

Isaac and Rachel will fight tirelessly to achieve the best possible outcome for every client. They are proud of their outstanding case results. To learn more about what their satisfied clients have to say, you can read these client testimonials.

How We Can Help

The skilled Mendota Heights car accident attorneys at Tyroler Leonard Injury Law can help you put together a powerful legal claim that increases your chances of a winning outcome. The following are the elements we handle when representing injured clients:

  • Interview accident witnesses
  • Gather evidence including police reports, surveillance videos, electronic communications, photos, medical records, and other relevant materials
  • Ensure your medical treatment by recommending specialists and other medical professionals
  • Conduct an accident scene investigation
  • Assist in gathering employment verification and documenting lost wages
  • Attending depositions with you
  • Crafting and filing all necessary written documents with the court
  • Hiring expert witnesses, if needed, including medical specialists, flooring experts, and accident scene reconstruction experts
  • Negotiating aggressively with opposing counsel
  • Arguing your case in court, if necessary.

Our car accident lawyers in Mendota Heights, MN, will leave no stone unturned when building a powerful case on your behalf.

Car Accident Lawsuit FAQs

Our car accident attorneys in Mendota Heights, MN, answer frequent questions.

Clients often have similar questions about various aspects of a car accident lawsuit. These questions can include queries about timing, locations, dollar amounts, and costs. The following are some answers to frequently asked questions:

Who pays for my lawyer in a car accident claim?

Can I get reimbursed for a rental car after a crash?

Can I sue if my loved one died in a car accident?

When do car accidents happen most often?

If I am injured in a car accident and self-employed, how are lost wages calculated??

Who is the defendant in a car accident lawsuit?

How long does a car accident lawsuit take?

Where do car accidents happen frequently?

What is the average car accident settlement amount?

What if I am partially at fault for the accident?

 

If you have additional questions, our skilled and experienced car accident lawyers in Mendota Heights, MN, would be happy to provide answers. You do not have to feel overwhelmed by the legal system or uncertain about your options. Call us for a free consultation about your case today.

Minnesota Shared-Fault Rules

Mendota Heights car accident claims follow a “modified comparative negligence” rule.

Some states, including Minnesota, follow a rule known as modified comparative negligence. This means that the law recognizes that in many situations, more than one person may be at fault for an accidental injury. The court will determine the amount of fault that belongs to each party based on the facts in a case. If your share of the fault is 50% or less, you are entitled to collect some amount of damages for your injury.

Let us look at an example that illustrates this rule. Suppose you are driving to your mother’s house on a road where the speed limit is 40 mph, but you are in a hurry, so you are driving 50 mph, which is 10 mph over the speed limit. In all other ways, you are correctly following road signs and traffic rules. You enter an intersection where cross traffic has stop signs, but you do not. Suddenly, your car is hit broadside by another vehicle crossing the intersection after that car failed to stop at the stop sign.

In this scenario, you were driving over the speed limit, but the other driver failed to stop at a stop sign and crashed into your car. Eventually, it is determined that you are 25% at fault for the accident, and the other driver is 75% at fault. Let us say the total damages for the accident are calculated to be $80,000.

Under Minnesota’s comparative fault rule, 25% (the percentage of fault assigned to you) will be subtracted from that $80,000. This means you will collect 75% of the total, or $60,000.

If you have additional questions about the particular facts in your case and how fault might be determined, talk to a skilled and experienced Mendota Heights, MN, car accident lawyer at Tyroler Leonard Injury Law.

Damages Car Accident Victims May Be Entitled To

If you are injured in a car accident due to someone else’s negligence, you may be entitled to damages. Damages can be both economic and non-economic. They include:

  • Medical and rehabilitation expenses (current and future)
  • Lost wages
  • Loss of future earnings
  • Pain and suffering
  • Loss of consortium
  • Emotional distress (including trauma, humiliation, and disfigurement).

In some instances, there can also be punitive damages in addition to the damages listed above. Punitive damages may be awarded by a court when there is evidence of gross negligence by a defendant who knowingly or recklessly placed persons in danger, or if the defendant had a history of safety violations. Punitive damages, as the name implies, are designed to punish a defendant, and prevent any other would-be wrongdoers from being similarly negligent.

How Do You Prove Negligence in a Car Accident Lawsuit?

In a Mendota Heights car accident lawsuit, your attorney will need to prove that the other party acted negligently when they caused the accident in which you were injured. A defendant can be a person, a business, an insurance company, a government entity, or any combination of these.

To prove negligence, your attorney will have to prove four elements in your lawsuit. These include:

  1. Duty
    The defendant owed the plaintiff a legal “duty of care” to ensure that an environment or location was safe.
  2. Breach
    A plaintiff must show that the defendant breached this duty by doing, or failing to do, something that a reasonable person would have done in a comparable situation.
  3. Causation
    A plaintiff must show that the defendant’s actions, or inaction, caused the injuries to another person.
  4. Damages
    Damages mean that there is a monetary way of compensating a plaintiff for their injuries and property damage.

Statute of Limitations for Car Accident Claims in Minnesota

In most cases, the statute of limitations for a car accident claim is six years in Minnesota.

The 6-year statute of limitations for Minnesota car accident lawsuits can be found in Minnesota Statutes section 541.05. There are a few scenarios in which the “clock” on the 6-year statute of limitations might be delayed. These include:

  • If the injured person is under the age of 18, then the statute does not run until the latter of 6 years or when the person turns 19 years old.
  • If the injured person is legally insane, then the clock will not start running until the period of legal disability is over (mental competence is restored). However, this filing deadline will not be extended beyond five (5) years, and once sanity is restored, the suit must be filed within one (1) year. (Minnesota Statutes section 541.15.)

Minnesota Car Accident Statistics

Across Minnesota, motorists are driving their cars, trucks, and SUVs to work, the grocery store, soccer practice, and a hundred other destinations. A recent annual report shows that 4.74 million people hold Minnesota driver’s licenses, and 5.12 million vehicles are registered in the state. While most motorists drive safely and obey traffic laws, some do not. Careless drivers who are speeding, running stop signs, or worse, can create havoc, causing crashes that result in injuries and death. If you are hurt in a crash, our Mendota Heights, MN, car accident lawyer can help you get the justice you deserve.

In Minnesota, there were 364 traffic deaths in 2019, a slight decrease compared with 381 deaths the previous year, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Of the 364 fatalities:

  • 89 involved in drunk driving.
  • 75 were speed-related.
  • 34 involved distracted driving.
  • 73 were motorists not wearing seatbelts.

There were 80,636 traffic crashes in Minnesota in 2019, in which 27,260 people were injured. Cars and trucks traveled more than 60.7 billion miles on Minnesota roadways that year.

If you or a loved one are seriously injured or your loved one was killed in a vehicle crash, you may be entitled to financial compensation. This is especially true if the injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence. People injured in car accidents often face mounting medical bills, time off work, and months of rehabilitation. You do not have to face this alone. To find out more about how our Mendota Heights car accident attorney can help, call Tyroler Leonard Injury Law at 651-259-1113 for a free consultation.

Different Types of Injuries in Car Accidents

Preliminary data from the National Safety Council (NSC) shows that as many as 42,060 people are estimated to have died in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. in 2020. The estimated rate of death on the roads in 2020 spiked 24% over the previous 12-month period, despite miles driven in 2020 dropping 13%. This increase in the rate of traffic deaths is the highest estimated year-over-year jump in 96 years, according to the NSC.

An estimated 4.8 million additional roadway users were seriously injured in car and truck accidents nationwide in 2020, and the estimated cost to society was about $474 billion, according to the NSC. Several types of injuries commonly occur in traffic accidents. Some of these include:

  • Concussions
  • Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
  • Neck and back injuries
  • Broken bones
  • Cuts, abrasions, and lacerations
  • Internal bleeding
  • Organ damage
  • Burns
  • Puncture wounds
  • Paralysis
  • Wrongful death.

Some common causes of vehicle crashes include:

  • Speeding
  • Drunk driving
  • Distracted driving (texting, talking on the phone, adjusting the radio, etc.)
  • Failure to follow the rules of the road
  • Illegal lane changes
  • Running through traffic lights and stop signs
  • Ice, snow, rain, and inclement weather
  • Vehicles with manufacturing defects.

Contact Our Mendota Heights, MN, Car Accident Lawyers Today

If you have been injured in a car accident and need help getting the compensation you deserve, Tyroler Leonard Injury Law can help. We have a track record of success in holding careless drivers accountable for the injuries and harm they caused. We represent all our clients aggressively and fight for their rights. To find out more about how we can help, call us for a free initial consultation at 651-259-1113.

Attorney Isaac Tyroler

Attorney Isaac Tyroler has been a strong advocate for injured people his entire legal career. He has a passion for righting wrongs, and he deeply cares about representing injured clients who may feel overwhelmed or uncertain about how to navigate the legal system. He is compassionate toward clients and aggressive with insurance companies and defendants. He is on the elected Board of Governors of the Minnesota Association of Justice (MAJ), the top personal injury lawyers’ group in Minnesota. And is currently the chair of MAJ’s legislative committee. [ Attorney Bio ]