White Bear Lake Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury claims are based on negligence, which is basically a lack of care. Most property owners and drivers in Minnesota have a duty of reasonable care. This legal responsibility is loosely based on the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you). For example, when we drive, we should follow the rules of the road and drive defensively, since we expect other drivers to do the same thing.

A negligence case doesn’t “blame” anyone for an injury. If Steve unintentionally dents his neighbor’s car, he should pay for repairs (pay compensation). If Steve unintentionally rear-ends his neighbor at an intersection and seriously injures him, Steve must likewise pay compensation. The compensation is higher because a person is worth a lot more than a car.

Generally, victims must sustain tangible personal injuries to receive compensation. There’s a difference between a visible injury and a tangible injury. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a tangible brain injury, even though it’s not a visible injury.

The average price of a Honda is much lower than the average price of a Cadillac. These vehicles have different features. Likewise, because each case has different facts, there’s no “average” personal injury settlement amount.

Usually, settlement amount begins with the settlement value, a figure that’s like the sticker price of a Cadillac or Honda. The settlement value, which accounts for economic and noneconomic damages, is the starting point for settlement negotiations.

Almost all personal injury claims settle out of court. Therefore, your White Bear Lake personal injury lawyers must be good negotiators. Good negotiators know when to stand firm and when to compromise. Litigation skills are important as well. If the insurance company doesn’t believe your lawyer is willing to go the distance, the insurance company is unlikely to make a favorable deal.

As mentioned, personal injury cases in Minnesota rarely go to trial. So, most victims never have to testify in court, at least not at a final trial.

However, preliminary hearings are common in personal injury cases. Insurance companies, as well as White Bear Lake personal injury attorneys, use these hearings to fine-tune their claims and defenses. Additionally, most insurance company lawyers depose most victims. A deposition is like testifying in court, except there’s no judge or jury.

Therefore, a Ramsey County personal injury attorney thoroughly prepares victims to give their testimonies. Victim testimony must be consistent but not sound rehearsed.

Occasionally, a personal injury lawsuit has multiple defendants. These actions usually involve complex legal doctrines like joint and several liability, permissive counterclaims, and mandatory counterclaims. Lawyers usually sort out such questions.

Much more commonly, an auto or property insurance company is the defendant in a personal injury lawsuit. These companies have a legal duty to defend their policyholders in court. This duty includes a responsibility to pay all litigation-related costs, such as legal fees and financial compensation to victims.

This arrangement brings up an important point. Usually, if Bill successfully sues Ted for damages, Ted pays nothing. Ted’s insurance company pays everything. Granted, Ted’s insurance company will probably raise his rates or may even cancel his policy. But these things probably would have happened anyway, lawsuit or no lawsuit.

Occasionally, a defective product, like bad brakes in a car or unsafe drug manufacturing practices, causes injury. In these cases, product manufacturers are strictly liable for the injuries their defective products cause.

Each Minnesota personal injury case is different, not only in terms of settlement amount, but also in terms of time.

Occasionally, car crash, dog bite, and other such claims settle almost immediately, if both damages and liability are clear. Damages are the extent of economic and noneconomic losses. Liability is legal responsibility for these losses.

As one might expect, insurance company lawyers routinely challenge damages and/or liability. For example, if Michelle didn’t see a doctor immediately after a wreck, insurance company lawyers may argue that her injuries weren’t that severe. Car crash cases also may involve various insurance company defenses, such as a lack of evidence and comparative fault.

When insurance companies use such questions as an excuse to drag their feet, a White Bear Lake personal injury lawyer must file legal paperwork. That filing begins the court process, which is often long and frustrating.

A legal filing usually picks up the settlement negotiation pace. When an insurance company knows a Ramsey County personal injury lawyer is serious about a case, its lawyers usually get serious as well. If these informal negotiations stall or break down, a judge usually appoints a mediator. The mediator ensures that both parties negotiate in good faith and earnestly try to resolve the case. “I’ll see you in court” is usually not a good faith negotiating position.

Pain and suffering can be difficult to value. A person injured through someone else’s negligence is entitled to recover for:

• Pain
• Disability
• Disfigurement
• Embarrassment
• Emotional distress.

What each of these is worth can be different based on the case. Some plaintiffs may have all of these and some may have only suffered one or two. We will work with doctors and in some cases mental health specialists to identify and treat pain and suffering issues. An attorney will ask a client to document activities they previously enjoyed that they can no longer participate in, and in some cases a plaintiff may want to keep a daily journal describing how they feel emotionally and what activities they can and cannot perform each day.

The good news is that Tyroler Leonard Injury Law works on contingency, which means that we don’t get paid until you get paid. Our legal fees are paid as part of a settlement agreement or jury award. If for some reason your claim is not successful, then you owe us nothing.