Before Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney: 3 Things To Remember

If you’ve been injured on the job, in a car accident, or as the result of someone else’s negligence, it may take a lawsuit to ensure that you get the money you are due. But before you head off to hire a personal injury attorney, there are some things you should know. Too many people have incredible misconceptions about civil law and the suits around which the legal system is built on. High profile cases have been distorted by the media and have caused the average person to hold some pretty blatant myths as truths. If you aren’t sure what to believe, here are three things to remember before you embark on your lawsuit.

It’s Not The Lottery
Any personal injury attorney can tell you that this is probably the biggest misconception out there about their field of practice. Based on a few lawsuits that made all the papers and had everyone’s tongues wagging, the average person now has this incorrect assumption that anyone filing a lawsuit is looking to get rich. Unfortunately, the myth is so pervasive that it becomes truth. People actually think they are going to get a huge paycheck and never have to work another day in their life. Now, if you’ve been injured to the point where you can’t ever work again, there may be some truth to this. But even still, you won’t be getting rich. The point of these lawsuits is to make sure your lost wages are covered and your medical bills are paid.

You May Not Even Get Enough
Far from getting rich, many a personal injury attorney can testify to the fact that even your basic essentials may not be covered by the judgment. In fact, there may never be a judgment. Many of these cases are settled out of court. This means the defending party will offer a settlement and your lawyer will negotiate those terms. However, neither party typically wants to take the case before a jury. Wild, unpredictable things can happen in court and the outcome is never certain. Besides that, many things involved in filing a lawsuit are difficult to quantify, such as “pain and suffering”. 

Get Punitive Damages Out of Your Head
Punitive damages, when it comes to these kinds of lawsuits, are largely a thing of the past. Because of some truly outrageous decisions in years past, many states have eliminated them altogether. Others have strict limits on how much can be awarded. Even in those areas where no such limits exist, the judge has complete authority to overrule a jury’s decision when it comes to the monetary figure awarded. A personal injury attorney will fight to get you as much money as possible, but it would be wise for you to wipe away those dollar signs dancing in your eyes.