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If you or a family member has been in a car accident in Atlanta, Georgia, you may be eligible for financial compensation to make you whole again by reimbursing you for expenses. The Atlanta car accident lawyers at BMW Law Group can guide you through the recovery process and obtain payment for lost wages and medical bills.
A car accident is a disaster that can inflict mental, physical, and financial strain on a victim.
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A lawyer can protect you from tactics that insurance companies may use to devalue your claim and give you the ability to focus on your recovery instead of the stress of legal processes. While handling the entire legal process, including settlement negotiations, your Atlanta personal injury lawyer can fight for maximum financial compensation for your past and future losses. Having a accident lawyer on your side can ensure your family receives what it needs to pay for necessary medical care, such as surgeries or physical therapy, in the future.
Although Georgia law does not require you to hire a car accident attorney to represent you during a car accident claim or injury lawsuit, it is wise to do so if you have serious injuries or a complicated case. In these circumstances, insurance companies may try to take advantage of you if you are representing yourself. An Atlanta car accident lawyer will have the resources, experience, and skill to aggressively go up against an insurer on your behalf. A personal injury lawyer can perform many important tasks during your injury claim, including:
Having a legal team take care of the complicated legal aspects of your car accident claim can give you the peace of mind to focus on recovering while a trained professional handle the legwork of your case. Hiring a Georgia car accident lawyer can also lead to a better financial recovery than you would have received on your own, which is especially important if you have serious injuries and future medical expenses.
If you want to hire a car accident lawyer to represent you during a claim but are afraid of how much one will cost, find a law firm that operates on a contingency fee basis. This type of arrangement makes sure that you don’t take on any of the financial risks associated with your lawsuit. It is a solution to ensure that every accident victim has access to high-quality legal representation.
With a contingency fee basis, you won’t pay any legal fees upfront to start your claim. The initial consultation will be free and there won’t be a retainer required to secure the attorney’s services. Instead, you will only pay if and when the car accident attorney secures financial compensation for your claim.
If the attorney is successful, he or she will charge legal fees as a percentage of the overall amount secured rather than billing you directly. That way, you never have to pay your attorney out of pocket. If your claim does not result in financial compensation, you won’t owe anything in attorney’s fees. This is how our No-Win, No-Fee Guarantee works at BMW Law Group.
Filing a car accident claim could help your family in many ways. It can bring you closure and justice by holding a driver or another party accountable for causing the wreck. It can also repay you for the money spent while recuperating from the car accident, such as the costs of your medical expenses and property damage. Car accidents can result in financial compensation for the following expenses:
No average settlement value exists. The value of your case will depend on its unique elements, such as the severity of your accident injuries and how long they will impact your life. Our Atlanta car accident attorneys can carefully review your case to give you an accurate evaluation of its worth. Then, we will strive to achieve maximum compensation. It is important to consult with an attorney before you accept an insurance companies settlement. Insurance adjusters will make you a settlement offer, but that amount may not come close to covering the true cost of your accident injuries.
According to Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33), you have 2 years from the date of the accident to file a personal injury lawsuit. This deadline is set and applies to most personal injury lawsuits in Georgia.
It is important not to base the value of your claim on a preconceived notion of what an “average settlement” looks like. As stated above, this value does not actually exist. Some car accident victims achieve multimillion-dollar jury verdicts for their injuries while others receive less than $10,000 for the total value of their medical bills and property repairs. The dramatic difference in settlement and judgment awards is why it is impossible to base a claim on an alleged average amount.
There is no hard and fast rule about how to calculate a car accident settlement. Instead, an insurance company, judge or jury determines values based on the specific facts of each case. These facts may include injury severity, permanent disability, the pre-crash value of the vehicle, the income level of the victim and the amount of insurance coverage available. This is why it is important to consult with an attorney who can give you a personalized estimate of your case value before you say yes to an insurance settlement.
One of the main things that can affect how much your car accident case is worth is the amount of pain and suffering related to the collision and your injuries. Pain and suffering, also known as non-economic damages, refers to an accident victim’s intangible losses. These can include emotional injuries and psychological trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or grief over losing a loved one.
In Georgia, there is no cap on the amount of damages that can be awarded for pain and suffering in a car accident case. Pain and suffering is not calculated using medical bills or invoices, like economic damages. Instead, it is up to an insurance company or jury to determine how much a plaintiff deserves in pain and suffering based on the severity of the injuries and how greatly they impact the plaintiff’s life. It is up to a plaintiff to prove pain and suffering with evidence such as an injury journal, psychological reports and medical records.
Although an insurance company or jury is not required to use an equation to determine pain and suffering, a common method used to calculate a fair amount is the Multiplier Method. This multiplies a victim’s economic damages by a number that is reflective of the gravity of his or her injuries. Another equation is the Per Diem Method. This multiplies the victim’s daily wage by the number of days he or she will be incapacitated from the injury.
Under Georgia law, accident victims have the right to file a lawsuit against the person or party at fault for causing a car wreck. You will only have grounds to file a lawsuit against someone, however, if he or she was negligent. In-car accident law, negligence means a defendant was careless and this caused an injury to another person. To establish negligence, you or your Atlanta auto accident attorney must present evidence that proves the defendant owed you a duty of care, breached this duty, caused your car accident, and gave you compensable losses. These are the four elements that comprise the legal doctrine of negligence.
There must be evidence that the defendant committed an act that fell below the accepted amount of care and that this caused or substantially contributed to the collision. As the plaintiff in an accident case, it is your burden to prove the defendant caused your accident based on a preponderance of the evidence. This standard means clear evidence that convinces an insurance company, judge, or jury that the defendant more likely than not caused the car crash. In other words, another party was more than 50 percent responsible for causing your crash. A car accident lawyer in Atlanta can help you with the burden of proof.
Motor vehicle accidents occur for many different reasons in Atlanta – most of which are entirely preventable. After a car accident in Georgia, you or your lawyer will have to determine the cause of the crash to identify the defendant. The main cause of car crashes in Atlanta is driver error. Drivers can make many mistakes behind the wheel that increase the risk of collisions. The most common reasons car accidents happen to include:
Georgia is a fault-based insurance state, meaning the party at fault for the crash is financially responsible for accident injuries and related losses. In a no-fault state such as Florida, on the other hand, all drivers recover through their own insurers, regardless of fault. If another driver carelessly or recklessly causes your car crash in Georgia, his or her insurance company pays for your damages.
Selecting the right lawyer to represent you during a car accident claim is critical to the overall success of your case. Not all lawyers are equal in terms of experience, skill, resources, and results. The ideal attorney for your particular case is a trained professional with experience in your practice area. At BMW Law, we have experience handling cases involving:
Car accidents could end up leaving you with thousands of dollars in medical bills, lost wages, and BMW Law has successfully represented individuals and families in Georgia for many years. After any type of car accident in Atlanta or the surrounding area, our attorneys can answer your questions and concerns. We can guide your family through the legal process from beginning to end, protecting your legal rights every step of the way.
According to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), 331,796 total crashes occurred in Georgia. 124,493 vehicle accidents in Georgia resulted in injuries and 1,588 resulted in death. In Atlanta, there were over 24,000 crashes in 2020. This resulted in 11,777 injuries and 53 deaths.
When it comes to at-fault in an accident, many states apply comparative negligence while others implement contributory negligence. Georgia is a modified comparative negligence state. If you are less than 50 percent at fault in an car accident, you may receive compensation for your injuries according to Georgia’s comparative negligence statute. However, if you are over 50 percent at fault for the accident, you are unable to recover damages.
Immediately after a car accident, you are most likely shaken up and distraught. It can be difficult to think clearly about what you need to do to protect your rights. It is important, however, to try to stay calm and take the following steps after a motor vehicle collision:
At BMW Law Group, we can help you with a personal injury claim at any stage – whether or not you completed all of these steps. Find out how we can help your family today.
If you were recently injured in a car wreck in Atlanta, discuss your rights with the car accident lawyers at BMW Law Group. We can investigate your crash, gather evidence, hire qualified experts and help your family or a loved one in many other ways during this difficult time. Request a free consultation today. Send us a message online or call (770) 225-4710 anytime to talk to an attorney at BMW Law.