When Should You Call for Personal Injury Lawyers

Many people are apprehensive about the idea of working with lawyers despite the need for legal help. However, when you’ve suffered from a car accident or been hurt in your workplace, consulting with personal injury lawyers can enable you to win the case without having to deal with further financial issues and stress.

Filing a personal injury claim can be distressing—all the more when the person liable for your injury denies a fair compensation. While not all legal claims require a lawyer, you will need a reliable personal injury attorney when the other party including the insurance company refuses to take any responsibility for your injuries. Your lawyer should help you understand your case, the laws involved, and the appropriate settlements.

Personal injury lawyers exist to represent their clients in court. You wouldn’t have to worry about explaining your case to the judge as your knowledgeable lawyer will be the one to speak on your behalf. Working with a personal injury attorney who will watch out for your interests and ensure that you receive fair legal treatment can save you from all the stress of taking on a litigation.

You are more likely to be taken advantage by insurance adjusters when you file a claim without a lawyer, so entrust your case to reputable personal injury attorneys; especially when you’ve been inflicted with serious damage. Make use of free consultations to learn if you have a strong case and if compensation is very much possible.

A Close Look at the Challenges of Driving in Toronto

If you drive along Toronto's roads on your way to work or school and back, you know how much of a hassle it can be to get caught in a nightmarish jam. Having to deal with drivers prone to road rage can be a headache, but trying to understand careless pedestrians or bicycle riders who act like they're driving a truck can also be very frustrating.

“Count your blessings”, you might tell yourself. “At least I don't have to take public transport.” Even so, driving your own car is fraught with challenges, and one of those challenges is to prevent clueless but gutsy pedestrians from bumping into your car.

When countdown timers were put up in some Toronto intersections, many people believed that it was going to make both motorists and pedestrians more careful on the road. It seems that cautiousness, however, is relative. If a pedestrian has all the time in the world to spare, he is will be willing to wait for his turn to cross the street. Otherwise, you, as a driver, should not let go of the patience you were taught to adapt in driving school.

If you somehow figured in an accident that is by no means your fault in the first place, consult a local car accident lawyer. He'll be able to prove that you abide by Toronto's traffic rules.

Should You Hire a Lawyer After a Car Crash?

There's good news for drivers: according to Statistics Canada, the number of casualties in vehicular accidents has been slashed by half over the last 25 years, despite the growing number of vehicles on the road. Having said that, these accidents are still a fact of life, with over 120,000 related injuries reported in 2009 alone.

Aside from vehicle repairs following these mishaps, drivers and passengers also have to deal with expensive medical bills for treating their injuries. Granted, victims can seek damages from the driver proven to be at fault, but the process is rarely smooth. Insurance adjusters can use every trick in the legal books to low-ball a settlement claim. After all, they work for insurance companies and also look to save more money for their employers. If you feel that you aren't being given a reimbursement commensurate to the damage and injuries you sustained following a vehicular accident, a Toronto personal injury lawyer will ensure that you do.

Your lawyer can also help if there are disputes over who caused the accident. Saying “I'm sorry” after an incident will often be taken by the other party as an admission of fault, even when you are the victim. Personal injury lawyers will ensure that the erring party is the one who pays the aggrieved.

What to Do When You Get Into a Road Accident

Car accidents can catch anyone by surprise, causing trauma, injury, and loss or destruction of property. Yet as any accident survivor can tell you, knowing what to do can make a huge difference. Those who are prepared usually do the right thing when they figure in an accident.

If you do get involved in a road accident, the first thing you should do is to check whether any of the people involved are injured. Therefore, your initial response should be to get yourself and others to safety. Once everyone is safely away from oncoming traffic, you can then start calling for help.

While help is underway, seek basic information from the other party, including name and license. Avoid giving any profuse apologies, even if you were wholly or partly at fault, as these may be used against you. Instead, provide accurate information to the other party so you won't be accused of fraud. If you're uncertain about what to do, call an accident lawyer immediately for guidance.

As soon as the police arrives, provide all the information that may be asked of you, including any evidence you may have. Pictures of the accident scene can serve as useful evidence that may help solve the issue right away. Once you've got a lawyer on your case, you can start thinking about money matters, such as insurance and damage claims.

Why Car Accidents in Canada Can Sometimes be Messy

Canada may be a relatively safer place to drive than, say, the United States, but accidents on the road can and still do happen in this part of North America. In 2010, about 125,000 traffic-related accidents were reported throughout the country, which is still a slight improvement compared to the approximately 153,000 cases reported almost ten years ago. As such, legal battles for damage settlements are still fairly common and are, indeed, the reason why car accident lawyers exist.

One of the most pressing issues car accident lawyers handle involves determining the right amount of compensation a victim is entitled to. The matter can be complicated by the “fault policy” used by the victims' and drivers' respective insurance companies, since a no-fault policy means that a person can only rely on his or her insurance policy for compensation and nowhere else. An at-fault policy, on the other hand, means that the person's premium must be renewed once it's proven that he or she was at fault in the accident.

Some aspects of Canadian law can also make matters more complicated, especially those that involve lending and borrowing vehicles. According to Financial Services Commission of Ontario, lending a vehicle also entails lending the insurance policy associated with it. In essence, if a woman who borrows her boyfriend's car gets into an accident, she'll be using the terms and conditions of her boyfriend's insurance policy and not hers.

Finding Personal Injury Lawyers

Accidents can happen at anytime in many unexpected ways, but the most traumatic ones often involve vehicular mishaps. The resulting physical, emotional, and financial may be too much for any victim to handle. If you find yourself in such a situation, particularly if the accident was due to the negligence of another party, it would be best to seek legal representation.

Among other reasons, you need someone who can face insurance representatives or claims adjusters on more equal footing. Otherwise, you just might get shortchanged. An experienced personal injury lawyer would certainly be in a better position to handle the insurance negotiations.

However, how do you find the right personal injury lawyer to protect your interests? There are many ways to do it, but the best way to narrow down your search is to find a lawyer whose practice revolves around issues that concern your particular case. Otherwise, you might not get the compensation you deserve for the injuries you've sustained.

Taking all things into consideration, however, the most important thing is to find a lawyer with whom you can establish the necessary rapport. Good communication is crucial, so find a competent and service-oriented lawyer who will see things through to the very end.

Dealing with a Car Accident

The vibrant city of Toronto has an estimated 1.4 million highly skilled and multilingual workforce. Busy streets like Bayview Ave. and Leslie St. consequently get congested during the morning rush hour. To stay “productive”, some employees are tempted to check and answer their work e-mails on their smartphones while driving. Unfortunately, distracted drivers are highly likely to figure in accidents.

If you suffer injuries in an accident that was clearly the fault of a distracted driver, you have the right to receive “damages” for your medical expenses, lost wages, and future physical therapy expenses (if any). Under Canadian law, this is referred to as a “tort claim.”You can put forward a claim for accident benefits, which will be paid by the motor vehicle insurer of the person who caused the accident.

Keep in mind, though, that some insurance companies will try their best to convince you to agree to damages that are far less than what you are entitled to. Some insurers will even try to dispute the fact that the defendant caused the accident and instead pin the blame on you. To avoid these traps, it's best to seek the help of a personal injury lawyer who will negotiate with the insurance company and ensure that you receive a fair compensation amount.