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It is often the little things that make a big difference in a personal injury case. When you go to any doctor\’s office, one of their first questions will be \”Do you have medical insurance for your personal injury accident?\”

If you have been referred to a doctor or chiropractor by a personal injury attorney, that doctor or chiropractor has agreed in advance to accept your case on a lien basis. That means that the medical provider will be paid out of your personal injury settlement and by signing that personal injury lien, you and your personal injury lawyer have guaranteed payment to the doctor when your personal injury case is resolved.

Accident victims and their personal injury lawyers must wait for their settlement, award or judgment before receiving financial compensation from insurance companies. So should the medical provider but that is not always the case, even though the medical provider has agreed to provide medical or chiropractic services on a personal injury lien.

It is human nature to prefer being paid sooner rather than later. Many medical/chiropractic offices will ask the personal injury patient to sign an assignment of benefits. That document authorizes the medical provider to bill and collect their charges long before the personal injury case is resolved. That is good for the doctor but is not usually good for the injury accident victim. Never sign an assignment of medical benefits without first talking to your personal injury attorney.

Allowing the medical provider to be paid before your accident case is settled, arbitrated or tried may prevent your personal injury lawyer from negotiating the best discount of the medical expenses. Doctors are not likely to offer any discounts or refunds on your personal injury charges after receiving payment from an insurance company, regardless of the amount of compensation the personal injury patient actually receives. The result can be less net compensation for the personal injury accident victim but a larger payment for the doctor or chiropractor.

Personal injury attorneys usually want the accident victim\’s medical bills to be unpaid prior to settlement discussions so that doctor discounts can be effectively negotiated for their personal injury clients, although there may be exceptions with hospital bills or other unique personal injury situations where expensive medical procedures are involved. Be certain to talk to your personal injury lawyer before signing any document that authorizes your insurance company to pay anyone other than yourself for your personal injury medical bills or expenses.

We have all tripped on a sidewalk or walkway at some point in our lives. Sidewalks and other pedestrian walkways are often uneven. Water and ice can cause major problems on these surfaces during inclement weather. Tree roots are also known to break through concrete and cause a simple walk to become treacherous. Regardless of why the surface is uneven, slippery, misaligned or damaged, it is possible to obtain a serious injury on a sidewalk.

But who is responsible when you are injured on a sidewalk? An experienced personal injury attorney can identify where negligence lies when you are injured by tripping or falling on a sidewalk.

— About Slip and Fall Accidents —

Slip and fall accidents are what sidewalk injuries and other similar incidents are called in personal injury law. Thousands of Americans suffer these types of injuries each year from their own slip and fall accidents. Some people suffer severe ramifications of an accident that often should not happen in the first place.

While many slip and fall accidents are due to negligence, some are just a normal part of life. People often lose their footing for no reason or due to their body’s own mechanisms or simple mistakes. While sidewalks and other walkways can become icy, slippery or uneven, someone else is not always to blame. Frequently humans seem to have two left feet. We are all capable of slipping and falling anywhere, at any time. So it is our own responsibility to watch where we are going.

That said, property owners are obligated to maintain their property so it is safe for those who come to visit. This is particularly true in regard to known hazards.

As an example, a retailer should know that it is important to clean up spills on their floor as quickly as possible so someone does not slip and fall. Such a store owner could be held civilly liable if they neglect to clean up spills in a timely manner.

— When You Are Injured in a Slip and Fall —

When you are injured in a slip and fall, determining who is responsible for your injuries can be a little tricky. In order to know who is responsible, it is important to determine if there was negligence involved in your accident and resulting injury. For responsibility of others to be claimed, another party must have been negligent in causing a hazard, known about the danger of that hazard without rectifying it, or been in a position of knowing about the hazard without taking the initiative to fix it.

Most cases of liability come down to employees or owners of the premises not observing and repairing a hazardous surface in a timely manner. But these cases can be difficult to prove. This is because it must be clear that the employees or owner “should have known” about the problem. These cases often come down to the jury or judge’s decision based on whether common sense was applied in the situation of the hazard.

There are certain things the law considers in regard to a property owner’s “reasonable” behavior and response to a floor or ground hazard, when looking at a negligence claim. In cases involving slips and falls, the law focuses on the owner’s repair and maintenance efforts.

Questions the law asks of a case include:
Is the property otherwise well-maintained?

How long was the spill present before the slip and fall injury?

Were employees neglectful of the spill, despite seeing it?

If outdoor ice was the cause of a slip and fall, had the owner worked to rid surfaces of ice?

If an object was on the ground and caused the fall, was that object there for a legitimate reason? If the answers to these queries lead to property owner negligence, a good claim for a slip and fall injury may exist. But it is important to look at personal carelessness and how the accident may have been a matter of human clumsiness or not seeing where you were going.

Most slip and fall accidents do involve some level of personal contribution to the resulting injury. People are often distracted when walking. “Comparative negligence” is a term used to describe the process of determination of where most fault lies, between the victim and the property owner. If you are determined to be where most of the responsibility lies, the property owner may be cleared of any negligence. But if the owner is found to be at least partially responsible, he or she may have to pay at least some of your injury damages.

— Considerations for Public Sidewalks —

Public sidewalks are particularly difficult to determine responsibility for, when a slip and fall occurs. Determination of negligence may be based on local ordinances and statutes. Adjacent landowners are often the ones who must ensure sidewalks attached to their property are well maintained and hazard free. For other sidewalks, the city may be fully accountable. These variances in government and civic accountability can obscure clarity on where responsibility is held for a sidewalk injury.

When faced with injuries resulting from a slip and fall accident, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer to help you determine where negligence lies in your case.

Life is supposed to be unpredicted and same is the case with the accidents especially the road accidents. We can have to experience these accidents even if we are not at fault. So, in these type of accidents, if a victim has to go through a series of physical injuries and financial losses and that too due to the neglect and rashness of another person, personal injury compensation claims are a medium through which the justice can be availed.

The basis of all the personal injury claims, which are being filed for the gaining of compensations, is supposed to be the fact that the claimant is the one on the receiving end of the injuries without his or her own fault. Road accidents are no exceptions in this regard. The victim of the accident if wants to be a winning claimant then he or she has to take some measurements in order to secure a compensation claim in his or her own favor. It should be kept in mind that road accidents are of various types and the victim can be a pedestrian hit by a vehicle or the owner of an automobile hit by another vehicle driver. So, the nature of all the road accidents is supposed to differ from each other.

There are two important steps that are to be taken by a victim and a future claimant for the personal injury claim if he happens to be the suffering party in a road accident. Getting the accident scene registered right on the spot rather calling the police officials at the accident spot and getting a thorough medical examination right after going through a road accident. These two are the most important steps that should be taken by the victim.Gathering some evidences like the photographs of the scene and the contacts of the witnesses can also be very helpful in the long run.

While considering claiming for compensation from the guilty party, the most important step is supposed to be the professional consultancy being done with a specialist personal injury lawyer. This step is to be taken very wisely because a professional lawyer dealing in the field of personal injury claims is the one who can tackle the case with full command. These accident cases can be very tricky if there are not sufficient evidences to support the claimant and the guilty party has refused to own the responsibility. In such circumstances, the expertise of a skilled lawyer comes very handy in the favor of the claimant.

So, these are some things that are to be kept in mind if being a victim of a road accident, you are planning to file a personal injury compensation claim.

The contents of the article are provided for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended for a legal advice.

The angst that we feel when we”re badly hurt and injured due to someone else”s fault cannot be explained in words. In fact, it is quite common to be accident prone these days. You never know when a car might bump into you, or when a ball may strike thereby damaging your eyes. At such times, you don”t even know whom to approach for help. And paying for the medical treatment might pinch hard, as it is a totally uncalled for expenditure. You didn”t invite the accident, then why should you pay for it?

A personal injury lawyer is the best counsel to visit to in case you”ve been injured in an accident. They can get you compensation on various fronts ranging from death of a family member due to accident, disfigurement of the body, psychological trauma, loss of business or daily wages because of inability to attend office, and cost of medical treatments.

Since it is pretty difficult to prove the fault of the one who has caused accident, often due to lack of evidence and hard facts, people usually don”t file a case. However, personal injury lawyers can help you out in claiming your right and suing the accused of damages. They will know which facts your case should be built on, and what documentation will support the same. Let”s have a look at the top 5 facts before hiring a personal injury lawyer sydney

“Don”t pay for the first consultation: Every solicitor usually offers a free first consultation. If someone says that they will charge you for their first consultation, don”t entertain them unless they”re the best in the industry. In the first meeting, ask them clearly whether you”ve a case that can be fought for.
” How much experience do they have? “” Experience implies both their experience in the field of law as well as in fighting personal injury cases. Make sure that the lawyer knows personal injury well enough.
” What is their fee? “” Different lawyers have different modes of compensation. Certain lawyers charge a flat fee regardless of the case. There are some others who swear by their experience and charge hefty sums attached to their reputation. A lot of lawyers work on commission basis, which implies that they charge for everything you want to contest for.
” Check their background: You should do a thorough background check of all the lawyers before hiring them. See whether they”re well qualified. For example, someone with a solicitor”s degree would be better than someone who”s just done an LLB! A better educational degree surely equates to a more informative lawyer.
” Other expenses: Other expenses include all the money that a lawyer can charge on account of the additional arrangements he needs to make for court evidence.