The Role of a Lawyer in Drunk Driving Victim Cases
When you’re involved in an accident or incident involving a drunk driver in Charleston, SC, the guilty party must be held to account. Hiring an experienced drunk driving accident attorney is the best way to ensure justice is served and you receive the compensation you deserve. From determining what your claim is worth to taking the case to court, we look at the role of a lawyer in drunk driving victim cases.
A Drunk Driving Accident Attorney Provides Legal Representation
A lawyer’s primary role is to represent you throughout the legal process. They will act on your behalf, looking after your best interests in negotiations and throughout court proceedings.
What Damages Can Drunk Driving Victims Claim?
Drunk driving accidents are devastating events that can leave victims with debilitating injuries, staggering financial losses, and profound emotional trauma. Driving while drunk is a reckless, negligent act, and those harmed by a drunk driver have the right to seek financial compensation for their suffering. Here’s some advice from a drunk driving victim lawyer serving Hendersonville, NC.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are financial losses stemming directly from the accident. Property damage is a clear cost related to the accident and can include the costs to repair or replace damaged vehicles or other personal property. Medical expenses due to the accident are also a significant part of economic damages that can and should be claimed after a drunk driving accident.
You can seek legal recourse if you suffer serious injuries caused by a drunk driver. Find out how a DUI accident attorney in Charleston, SC can help you get compensation to cover the cost of medical bills, lost wages, and other related expenses.
Compensation for Drunk Driving Injury: Advice From a Charleston, SC DUI Accident Attorney
Understand the Available Damages
Unlike some states, South Carolina doesn’t limit the personal injury damages in a DUI case. You can recoup both economic and non-economic costs. Economic costs include the expenses you can tabulate, such as medical treatments, surgeries, time out of work, and property damage like the loss of your vehicle. Non-economic costs include expenses without a number attached, like loss of life enjoyment or pain and suffering.
In addition, the judge can award punitive damages in a DUI case. These fines punish the responsible individual in cases of extreme negligence. The state limits punitive damage to $500,000 or three times the personal injury damages awarded (whichever is larger).
A critical part of the role of a drunk driving accident lawyer is to help victims understand their legal rights. If you’ve been injured by someone’s drunk driving, contact our Hendersonville, NC office right away, and we’ll help you protect each of your rights and get compensation for your injury and losses.
Ask a Henderson, NC Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer: What Are My Rights as a Victim?
Right to Seek Compensation
If you are a victim of a DWI in North Carolina, you have the right to seek compensation. This compensation is not limited to medical expenses but can also cover lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering. In North Carolina, the law recognizes the devastating impact a drunk driving accident can have on your life and therefore allows for comprehensive claims to cover various damages.
Should you give a recorded statement to the insurance company? We’ll cut straight to it: No. Generally, you shouldn’t. Recorded statements are taped question and answer conversations with an insurance adjuster, usually taken over the phone, where the questions revolve around the accident in question. On the surface, recorded statements can seem harmless, however, they are often a tactic used by the insurance company to trick an injured party and devalue the claim.
One of the most important things to understand about recorded statements is that they are not required in order to process your claim. The insurance companies like to create an illusion that the statements are necessary in order for them to continue working on your claim. This assertion is false. A majority of automobile claims can be fully resolved without the injured party ever giving a statement to the insurance company. Remember, at the end of the day, the insurance company’s goal is to pay the least amount of money on a claim as possible. Recorded statements are just one of the tools they use in order to devalue claims.
Since the insurance company likes to do the recorded statements as soon as possible after an accident, the extensiveness of your injuries might be unknown at that time. For example, you might believe that you just have a back sprain or neck sprain but then, later on, discover you actually have a hairline fracture in your arm. The insurance company will often try to use what you told them as your original injuries to discount any additional injuries later discovered since you did not previously disclose them to the insurance company.
Additionally, the adjuster will compare your statement to any other statements given to the police officer or any other person in order to try to establish inconsistency in your story. This is troublesome because any statement by you can be used against you in court hearings, even if they are not taken under oath.
Already given a recorded statement to the insurance company? Don’t feel like you have ruined your case. The best next step is to cease contact with the insurance company and contact our office instead. We’ll take over and use our expertise to smooth over any potential issues caused by your recorded statement for your personal injury claim.
WHAT TO DO AS A PASSENGER IN A CAR ACCIDENT
Being involved in a car accident is always scary and stressful, even as a passenger. It’s easy to become caught in the middle as the drivers of the vehicles and the insurance agencies fight it out and be left wondering who’s responsible for your medical bills. Here are some steps to take if you were a passenger in a motor vehicle accident, from the moments after the accident to seeking medical damages:
Make Sure the Police Officer Has Your Contact Information
Immediately after the accident, it is very important that the police officer on the scene gets your contact information and includes it in the accident report. If you are listed on the police report, it removes any doubt for the insurance companies later on about you being involved in the accident when you are making a bodily injury claim. It’s very difficult for the insurance companies to evaluate your claim later if there’s no record of you being a passenger in the accident.
Take a Photo of the FR-10 or Driver Exchange Form
Many times at the scene of an accident the only people that exchange insurance information are the drivers. This information comes in the form of an FR-10, in South Carolina, or a Driver Exchange Form, in North Carolina. However, what if you need that information in the future? While a passenger can’t expect to receive their own copy at the scene, you can definitely take a photo of it for your records in order to have all the insurance information should you need it.
It can be confusing and stressful to be a passenger involved in a car accident, especially if you are injured, because it can difficult to understand who is responsible for your medical damages. The sections below should help you better understand the steps to take.
Filing Insurance Claims Against the Other Driver
In general, the person who is at-fault for the accident is liable for any medical damages to all involved in the accident, including you as a passenger. To file a claim, you’ll use the insurance and contact information of the driver on the FR-10 or driver exchange form and file a claim with their insurance company if one is not already open for the accident.
Filing Insurance Claims Against Your Driver
If the driver of the car you were in is at-fault for the accident, he or she would be liable for any medical damages resulting from the crash. Just like if the other driver was at-fault, you would file a claim on their policy accordingly. Keep in mind, even if your driver is not at-fault for the accident, their policy may have medpay coverage. Medpay coverage is an optional form of coverage that can help cover your medical bills as a passenger. It’s a set amount, such as $500 or $1,000, that is available to someone injured as a result of the accident, regardless of fault. Therefore, even if your driver is not liable for the accident, their medpay coverage can help cover your medical bills while your claim with the at-fault insurance is pending.
Contact Us for Help
If you’ve been injured as a passenger in a motor vehicle accident, you need experienced legal advice to help you get the compensation you deserve. Our firm has vast experience handling motor vehicle collision personal injury claims in North and South Carolina and will fight for you.
WHAT TO WEAR TO COURT
When the day of your court case arrives, you’ve got a lot on your mind and what to wear to court is likely not at the top of the list. However, your outfit for trial is more important than you might first think. Remember, first impressions are powerful, and you want the jury and judge’s first impression of you to be a good one. While the courtroom isn’t a fashion show, looking neat and professional has a greater effect than you probably realize. Here are some of our tips on picking an appropriate courtroom outfit:
The first thing to consider when picking your court outfit is presentation. You want to show that you take the proceedings seriously but aren’t trying to draw attention to yourself. That may mean dressing up more than you might on a typical day. However, you don’t need to get a 3-piece suit or formal dress. Instead, think of dressing for court a bit like dressing for an ordinary Sunday at church. For men, that may be a button down shirt and pressed dress pants. For women, it could be a nice blouse and professional pair of pants or a skirt. Court is not the place to wear jeans, tank tops or sneakers. Aim for subdued colors and stay away from anything too flashy.
Now that you’ve selected a few potential outfits for court, the next thing to consider is comfort. Trials can be long, with quite a lot of sitting and waiting, and an uncomfortable outfit can go from annoying to a nuisance over the course of the day. If you’re fidgeting in your seat because your outfit is too loose, tight, itchy or not warm enough, you run the risk of distracting the jury, judge and your attorney. You want everyone’s attention focused on your case, not on you personally.
Finally, you want to consider how any nervous habits you have can be minimized by how you accessorize and style what you wear. It’s completely normal to be a bit nervous in a courtroom. However, nervous habits that you don’t always realize can be extremely distracting to other parties. If you tend to twirl your hair when anxious, wear it up instead of down. If you tap your leg, make sure you aren’t wearing shoes with loud soles. If you tap your nails on surfaces when nervous, remember to trim them down ahead of time. The less distractions there are in the courtroom, the better the chance that the jury will pay attention to your case as presented by your attorney.
When it comes to what to wear to court, it all boils down to common sense and seriousness. Dressing appropriately for your trial is one simple action you can take to help your attorney and your personal injury case succeed.
HOW TO CHOOSE A PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY
In any one day, you may come across a dozen legal advertisements. Whether on television, a billboard on your commute to work, the side of a bus or in the mail, the influx of ads can make choosing an attorney difficult. The truth is, not all personal injury lawyers are created equal. Finding the best attorney for your personal injury claim comes down to more than just who’s ad you last saw. Here are a few qualifications to look out for when finding the right personal injury attorney for your case:
Arguably, the most important trait for a personal injury attorney is that they are licensed and regularly practice in the state where your accident occurred. Every state has different statutes and procedures concerning personal injury cases. That’s why it’s important to find an attorney who is thoroughly familiar with them in the event your case goes into litigation. Almost always, your case will take place in the state in which your accident occurred. For example, if you are a New York resident injured in an accident in North Carolina on your way to vacation, then you’ll want the assistance of a North Carolina attorney, not a New York one.
Secondly, it’s crucial to find an attorney who primarily practices personal injury. There are a lot of general practice firms out there that practice multiple areas, from family law to criminal. While sometimes it’s convenient to have an attorney that can do a little bit of everything, in these cases, it’s best to find someone who has personal injury at the center of their practice. The more an attorney is concentrated in one area, as opposed to multiple, the more likely they’re an expert in that practice area. An attorney who deals with the same types of cases each day will have knowledge and insight that allows them to more easily and efficiently deal with any problem that may arise in your case.
Once you’ve picked the right attorney to take on your personal injury case, the hardest part is over! Your lawyer will take care of the rest and keep you informed as the process goes along.
Here at Yelverton Litigators, our team of personal injury attorneys regularly practice and are licensed in both North and South Carolina. They thoroughly understand the differences in the laws for each state and know how to work them to your advantage. Let us fight for you!
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