When you’re preparing to see your personal injury lawyer, you might not know what to expect. You’re likely gathering all of the documentation you have so you have all the proof you need to show them what your case entails. While this is a great way to prepare for your meeting, you should also prep yourself to be asked some questions that could be upsetting, or that you might not immediately know the answer to.

While these questions could upset you, that’s not your lawyer’s intention. They just want to get to the bottom of what happened, so any question they ask, your full honesty is important. Let’s take a look at some of the questions your personal injury lawyer might ask you at your first meeting.

After an accident, physical injuries sometimes aren’t the only kind of damages that you can suffer from. You also might suffer from emotional damages that are more abstract, but you still deserve to recover compensation for them. When you have a lawyer on your side, they’ll have to prove these damages and will use different kinds of evidence to do that.

At DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC, we’re here to ensure that you have the strongest case possible. We have experience building cases for clients and getting them the compensation that they deserve for all the damages they suffer. We’ll look into everything that happened so we can make sure you don’t settle for less than you’re owed.

Filing an insurance claim is meant to cover what you need from an event that left you injured or with property damage. For example, if you were in an auto wreck that wasn’t your fault, you’d file an insurance claim through your auto insurance provider. Ideally, they would fully compensate you for the damages you suffered and the costs you incurred from the accident.

When you have an allergy you know about, you don’t want to avoid the world for what might happen if you come in contact with it. Sometimes, people unknowingly expose you to your allergy and give you an allergic reaction. Even worse, if you didn’t know you were allergic to the substance, and this is your first reaction, it could get dangerous very quickly if your allergy is severe.

Whether you have an allergic reaction from food, medication, or another product, like cosmetics, you might be able to file a claim against the party responsible for giving you the reaction. A Charleston personal injury lawyer from DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC can help you through the process of filing a case against the person or entity who caused your allergic reaction.

Most of us have broken a bone at some point in our lives. Some have broken or fractured more bones than others, but for the most part, it’s a common experience. Since it’s such a typical occurrence, we might not always take a broken bone as seriously as we should.

When you experience a high-impact break, many things can go wrong that make the break a more serious injury. While millions of people break a bone every year, around 300 of those cases are compound fractures, according to an article published on the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

A compound fracture, also known as an open fracture, is when the skin is punctured by the bone, exposing the wound to the outside air. This is when a broken bone becomes the most dangerous because there are risks for many complications. Whether you were injured in a car crash, while playing a sport, or in a slip and fall accident, you could use a lawyer for your case. Before we discuss legal action, let’s take a look at when a broken bone can be a more serious injury.

Understanding the legal concepts surrounding a personal injury case can be overwhelming without the right legal counsel. Fortunately, the lawyers at DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC have years of experience in a wide array of personal injury cases. Whether you were injured in an automobile accident, on someone’s property, or by a doctor, we can examine your situation and help you determine how to proceed.

Every step of the way we’ll make sure you understand how your case is proceeding. This includes explaining legal terms and how they relate to you. When proving your accident resulted from another party’s negligence, we’ll use the terms “proximate” and “actual” cause. Let’s take a look at what those terms mean.

The days and weeks following a serious injury like a car accident injury can be a confusing time. Since adrenaline and shock can mask symptoms of pain, you may not feel the full effects of your injuries until days or even weeks after the incident. You may decide to delay seeking medical care due to this fact. This delay, unfortunately, can cause complications if you decide to file a legal claim against the individual, group, or company that caused the accident to occur. In a scenario like this, the best thing for you to do would have been to seek medical care immediately following the incident.

Complications may arise in this situation because the date that the accident occured won’t match up with the date that your pain and/or symptoms were discovered. When you “discover” an injury from an accident, the legal term for this is discovery is called “injury discovery”. In most personal injury cases involving immediate injuries, the injury discovery date will match up with the date of the incident, which can be proven by looking at police records. When a judge or jury then looks at that evidence, they’ll naturally be able to assert that the accident caused your injuries directly because the dates will match.

If you’ve been hurt in a personal injury accident and had to miss work to recover from your injuries, you can seek lost wages if you file a claim or lawsuit. Proving loss of earnings can be a challenge, but with the right legal team you’ll receive the compensation you need to recover as fully as possible.

You may be wondering what’s covered under lost wages. Your lawyer will be able to determine what you can seek based on your position and contract, but there are commonalities in regard to what’s typically included. Hourly wages are the most common. These are totaled by adding up the missed days and multiplying them by the hourly rate. If you regularly work overtime, that can be included as well. In addition to hourly wages and overtime, you may be eligible for compensation for bonuses, sick days, vacation days, perks, and tips.

A personal injury lawsuit is just that—personal. As the victim, otherwise known as the plaintiff, you might be asked to present a lot of personal information when your attorney is putting together your claim. That could include W-2s, pay stubs, tax returns, insurance policies, benefits, medical records, driver’s license number, or even your social security number. But is all that really necessary? Let’s discuss what information is essential when filing a personal injury lawsuit and what you need to know regarding your privacy rights and options.

If your personal injury claim involves complex evidence, you could benefit from having an expert witness speak at your trial. Depending on the circumstances surrounding you claim, you lawyer will be able to find the right witness to support your claim and help you prove negligence on behalf of the opposing party. If your lawyers suggests an expert witness, you’ll benefit from understanding the role and advantages of an expert witness, the types of witnesses that could support your case, and how the selection process works.

Why Are Expert Witnesses Important?

Even if the facts of your case seem straightforward to you, there could be complexities that make it difficult to receive full and fair compensation when your case is presented to a judge or jury. An expert witness can testify on your behalf to provide specific technical knowledge about you case. While, unlike a standard witness, the expert did not see the accident happen, they are allowed to testify because they have the ability to add important information to the claim based on their experience and knowledge. This can help cases resolve faster and ensure the proper amount of compensation is awarded.