The good news: fatalities and injuries from car accidents in the state of Maryland decreased between 2017 and 2018, down 45 fatalities and 1,457 injuries. The bad news? Car accidents overall increased by more than 2,000. In total, 117,750 car accidents occurred in 2018 in Maryland…think about that number for a moment. Even if the accident victims are fortunate enough to survive, there are still major problems ahead.
Should I Get a Lawyer?
The 117,750 car accidents previously mentioned resulted in 49,912 injured drivers and passengers as well as 83,390 cases of property damage. In each and every one of those cases, a lawyer should have been contacted. If you’re asking yourself, “When is it necessary to call a lawyer after a car accident?” the answer is: any time there is an injury.
When you think back to your car accident, you can probably remember several details. What you were wearing, what the weather was like, the location – it’s all etched into your mind. The sounds of screeching tires and crunching metal are ones that you’ll likely not forget anytime soon. If the accident proved to be fatal, the events are certainly ones that the victim’s loved ones are unlikely ever to forget.
The accidents alone are traumatizing enough. That’s not even considering any injuries sustained, no matter how minor or severe. It may be difficult or even impossible, depending on the severity of the injuries. Still, the situation calls for the ability to think quickly so you can handle the immediate aftermath of the accident. There can be a lot that unfolds not just in the initial moments after an accident but in the days, weeks, and months ahead as well. How do you manage it all? One of the best things you can do is get help from an expert Maryland car accident lawyer at The Lapidus Law Firm.
What Are the Advantages of Having a Lawyer?
There are quite a few. In short, lawyers handle all of the legwork you shouldn’t be bothered with after a car accident. The aftermath of car accidents involves several phone calls, negotiations, and back and forth with attorneys and insurance companies. Let us handle that.
A settlement may also be in order: having a lawyer goes a long way toward getting you a fair and reasonable settlement for the pain and suffering you’ve endured. Along with these reasons, having a lawyer can also help you with the following:
- Seeking, obtaining, and organizing the necessary evidence pertaining to liability and damages. This may involve speaking with law enforcement to obtain all accident reports and contacting witnesses for information, and providing guidance on how to navigate the complicated medical specialty services delivery system and billing quagmire.
- Contacting medical providers to obtain and organize your medical records related to the accident in order to prove damages. ( More complicated than it seems since many medical services providers now outsource their records to document management companies who frequently mismanage documents)
- Negotiating with lien holders on your claim (such as Medicaid & Medicare Programs health insurance, hospitals, urgent care centers, or workers’ compensation insurers) to reduce the amount of those liens.
- Negotiating with insurance adjusters or their attorneys in an effort to maximize any settlement offers.
All of the above are steps best taken by a lawyer, and The Maryland Car Accident Lawyers with The Lapidus Law Firm will work diligently to ensure you’re appropriately compensated for any damages resulting from a car accident.
What To Do After A Car Accident
The priority after your car accident is getting medical treatment for your injuries. Don’t hesitate to get treatment immediately, whether it’s at the scene of the accident or with your personal physician – it will serve both your health and your official documentation better to prioritize your well-being after a car accident. In your mind, you’re merely trying to manage the effects of being in a car accident as best as you possibly can, but to the insurance companies, your delayed treatment means something entirely different.
Prolonging treatment or “toughing it out” doesn’t help your situation at all, and in fact, can make things even worse. Insurance adjusters will interpret you “toughing it out” as a reason to offer you a small settlement – a settlement much smaller than the one you are entitled to when you’ve sustained injuries in a car accident. After all, insurance adjusters know most people don’t understand the laws surrounding car accidents in Maryland, so they’re able to keep millions of dollars out of the hands of the injured and keep it within their billion-dollar industry.
How can you make sure this doesn’t happen to you? Get the Maryland car accident lawyers on your case from The Lapidus Law Firm. With three decades of serving residents in Maryland, they know the tricks used by insurance companies to pay you as little as possible. They also know the laws inside and out and how they apply to your case. So, get to the doctor immediately, get a diagnosis, and get your treatment plan started. Doing so will give your lawyers the proper documentation to prove your injuries and the medical treatment necessary to help you heal properly.
Follow-Up Appointments
Be aware that, before you leave your initial doctor’s visit, he or she will probably let you know when you need to come back for a follow-up appointment. If you don’t get this information, be sure to ask, “Do I need to come back for a follow-up visit?” If the answer is yes, make the appointment before you leave the doctor’s office. This may seem like a minor task but delaying any follow-up appointments could mean big problems later when your lawyer is negotiating your settlement.
Not only do you need to make this appointment for the sake of your health, but if you don’t follow up, the insurance adjusters will use this as leverage to try to imply that your injuries must not be so serious; if they were, they’ll argue that you would have needed (and gone to) a follow-up appointment. Of course, it can be difficult and perhaps even inconvenient to prioritize doctor’s visits amid day-to-day life. However, if there were ever a time to put doctor’s appointments and medical treatment at the top of your “to-do” list,” it is when you have been injured in a car accident. Why?
Make no mistake: the insurance adjusters are not your friends. They work for “the other side” and don’t want you to know all the settlement funds you could be entitled to when you’ve been injured. Did you know that they won’t tell you all of the areas that could increase your settlement offer? Were you aware that they have a team of lawyers working for them whose sole job is to keep settlement offers low?
If you aren’t well-versed in the laws and legalities surrounding your case, you could waive your right to potentially thousands of settlement dollars and not even know it.
Sticking to the Plan
Once you make your subsequent appointments, make sure you keep them and attend them. If something comes up and you need to make a change, do so accordingly by calling your doctor’s office ahead of time to reschedule for another date as soon as possible.
The same applies to physical therapy appointments. It can be all too easy to skip physical therapy appointments because the progression of recovery from your injuries can seem drawn-out and slow. It’s important to remember, however, that proper healing doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to heal from a car accident injury, no matter how big or small, so keep those physical therapy appointments, make every effort to get to each one, and if something comes up and you can’t get there, reschedule as soon as possible.
This is imperative not just for your health and healing but also for the records that the insurance company and your Maryland car accident lawyer will obtain. The more responsibly you handle your medical treatment, the better off you’ll be.
What Can I Expect in a Settlement?
There’s no set amount or formula as far as accident settlements are concerned. Every case is unique, so settlements will vary from one case to another. Factors to consider include property damage, medical expenses, continuity and length of medical care, the value of missed time from work and most importantly, pain and suffering.
Again, there are several variables and moving parts at play here, so it’s best to let an attorney fight for you. And you can rest assured that the Maryland Car Accident Lawyers with The Lapidus Law Firm will leave no stone unturned in working to get you a fair and reasonable settlement when it comes to your pain and suffering.
Getting a Car Accident Lawyer in Maryland
When it comes to the law, the experience is just about everything. And The Lapidus Law Firm has decades of experience handling all types of personal injury cases – especially car accidents. Leave it to your Maryland car accident lawyers to handle cases involving:
- Rear-End Accidents
- Side-Impact Accidents
- Hit-and-Run Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Head-On Collisions
- And Much More
Experience is almost everything, but there’s just a little bit more involved in finding the right Maryland car accident lawyers for your case…a personal touch. That means a team of attorneys who know you, who know you, and who treat you like a VIP. You should be 100% comfortable with your Maryland car accident lawyers and have confidence in leaving your case in their hands.
When you choose The Lapidus Law Firm, you’re selecting attorneys who will make your case their priority, and you’re choosing a team who won’t allow the insurance companies to take advantage of the injured. We’re honored to accept cases like yours because we know it is our duty to help.
We’re ready to review your case to determine if you could receive a fair and reasonable settlement for your injuries. During your free, no-obligation consultation with our Maryland car accident lawyers, we will review your case and ask the necessary questions to determine if we believe the insurance company should be offering you a settlement. We will treat you with dignity and respect because we believe everyone should be treated in such a manner.
The Lapidus Law Firm is always here to help. Call us today at (301) 852-7500 to set up a free consultation. We will fight to make it right.