The truth is, many Americans have heard about civil law and personal injury law, and they may even be familiar with the types of cases that personal injury lawyers handle (thank you, high school Youth and Government) -- but many Americans don't realize that they deal with difficult situations which could be considered to be personal injury claims.
Let's face it: when you're not sure about something and you feel pretty embarrassed about it, are you more likely to ask around and find out more information, or are you more likely to spend late nights frantically Googling the situation while you spend the daytime hours pretending that nothing is wrong? It's okay, you don't have to answer that.
You aren't alone if you think you might have a personal injury case on your hands, but you aren't really sure, and you don't know what to do about it. So. Where does one begin to sort through it all?
Step One: Figure out if you have a legitimate personal injury case on your hands, or just a case of uncontrollable frustration. Honestly, there's a really fine line between the two, and it can be pretty difficult to find it. There's no shame in consulting an injury and accident law firm for help with this one.
Step Two: Seek medical treatment. This may sound weird, but hear us out. We don't want you to be suffering with an untreated injury just because you need "to prove what really happened," but yes, there does need to be some proof involved. Having a doctor testify that yes, she did in fact tend to your broken arm, is better than showing up at your lawyers' office with your arm broken and untreated.
Step Three: Get in touch with the person or business who is at fault. Many personal injury cases are handled outside of the courtroom, and honestly, these tend to be less time-consuming and more convenient. In many personal injury cases, either no single person is at fault, or the fault doesn't matter (such as with many work-related personal injury cases), and this is where it's handy to have some experienced personal injury lawyers step in.
Step Four: Find a team of lawyers you really trust (if you haven't already) and let them handle all the confusing stuff. "Personal injury law" is a pretty vague phrase, and it shouldn't be surprising that this type of law has many subgroups and is largely dependent on both the federal and state laws which may apply. Every personal injury case is different, and if you really are the victim of an injury lawsuit, then you deserve to have a good team of personal injury lawyers on your side who understand that.