PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER LAS VEGAS
Two of the biggest questions from those injured in an accident who want to file a lawsuit are:
(1) Is it worth it?
Personal Injury Lawyer Las Vegas faq cover illustration
(2) What’s my risk and cost?
Short answers: (1) it depends on your injury; and (2) on contingency with us, there’s no fee until we win.
The long answer to these and other answers are down below.
Personal Injury Table of Contents
Why Should I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
What Is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
Compensation in a Personal Injury Lawsuit
Types of Personal Injury Cases
What Does Your Personal Injury Lawyer Do in a Lawsuit?
What Do You Do in a Lawsuit?
What Happens in a Personal Injury Case?
What is the Personal Injury Settlement Process?
What are the Statutes of Limitations in a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
What does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
Why Should I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Personal injury lawsuits are crucial to our constitutional right to a civil jury trial. When you are injured due to someone else’s misconduct, and you are left with large medical bills, an inability to work, and other expenses, you should not be responsible for these harms and losses. Long are the days of an eye for an eye barbaric justice. Personal injury lawsuits help achieve a fair fight for full and fair financial justice.
To no fault of your own, your life changes could range from an inconvenience to something you might need to live with for the rest of your life. This is why you have a constitutional right to a personal injury lawsuit. You, the plaintiff, can hold the negligent person or business accountable and achieve the full justice that you need and deserve.
Contact a personal injury lawyer at Michael Hua Injury Law today if you’ve been injured and you want to file a personal injury lawsuit to receive full justice.
What is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
You might be curious about what your personal injury case is worth. Your personal injury case value depends on several key factors: the facts and circumstances surrounding your accident, the severity and gravity of your injuries, and the policy limits on insurance coverage, among other things. The main driving force behind a personal injury case value is how much the plaintiff could acquire in “damages” which may include:
Past and future medical bills;
Past and future lost wages;
Loss of earning capacity;
Loss of consortium;
Punitive damages; and,
Past and future pain and suffering.
Some of these considerations might not have a clear and definite value at first. However, based on our past experience, a personal injury lawyer may provide an estimated case value after assessing the facts and circumstances surrounding your personal injury cases such as your medical records, police records, recorded statements, and other evidence.
A personal injury lawyer will also need to know the progress or lack of progress in your physical and mental state and your future medical needs. Only a full picture may provide a personal injury lawyer with an estimated projected range of what to expect from your personal injury lawsuit.
Compensation in a Personal Injury Lawsuit
As stated above, you can get compensation for certain types of damages related to your injuries.
Ultimately, personal injury lawsuits are filed to seek justice through financial compensation, also known as “damages,” for the harms and losses that you may have suffered. Our society does not allow a victim to legally injure someone who injured you back.
Nonetheless, society does not turn a blind eye to justice and our constitutional rights allow for civil justice in the form of financial compensation from our constitutional right to a jury trial. An injury victim should not have to bear the financial burden of the consequences of another’s actions on their own and should receive compensation for the harms and losses they suffer.
Many potential types of damages exist in a personal injury lawsuit. Some damages are “economic” in nature and are calculated to specific measurable costs incurred because of an injury. Some damages are “noneconomic” which are subjective in nature. What is available and/or if damages are limited depends on how and where the injury occurred and the injury’s severity.
Medical Bills
PAst and Future Medical Bills
Most people involved in a personal injury accident need to get medical care. This may include scans, tests, treatment, therapy, hospital stays, and outpatient care to address immediate personal injuries. That’s not all though. Medical care may be necessary as an ongoing basis, especially with serious or permanent injuries.
This can be expensive. Those injured can face medical bills worth thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ideally, damages assessed before any settlement or trial against the defendant in a personal injury lawsuit should cover all of this.
Lost Wages
You missed work because you were injured or maybe you were forced to use some sick time to go to doctor’s appointments. Maybe you had to take time off because you were in the hospital. Or you can no longer work anymore because of your injuries. Whether you lose a few days or you are completely unable to work going forward, you may be entitled to compensation for lost wages and your future earning capacity.
Pain and Suffering
These damages are awarded based on the level of the pain and suffering you’ve endured. How long? How much? What Injuries? What medical treatment? What caused your injuries? How much trauma was involved? Severe injury to one body part can affect the rest of your body. A severe injury may affect the rest of your life. These are some of the questions, facts, and circumstances that factor into the value of your pain and suffering damages in a personal injury lawsuit.
Pain and Suffering
To obtain compensation related to pain and suffering, which can exceed a million dollars in a jury trial, the plaintiff will need as much evidence proving the impact of the injury or injuries that were caused by the negligence, carelessness, or the conscious disregard for the safety of the community.
Medical records are a major and credible way of showing the extent, duration, and recovery of an injury. Medical records do this by showing your diagnoses, your future prognosis, prescriptions, detailed surgeries, your statements to the medical providers, hospital stays, and a history of your pain complaints among other things.
Medical records work best if you are proactive about obtaining your treatment and that you communicate with your physician and their staff in a comprehensive manner. Photos and videos of your injuries and the impact of your injuries can be effective as well as written notes, journals, or other records of your symptoms.
After gathering sufficient evidence that is true and accurate of your condition, expect this evidence to be provided to the court (or even an insurance company) to demonstrate or persuade someone of pain and suffering damages.
Lost Earning Capacity
There is no clear and definite standard calculation used to assess a dollar amount on pain and suffering even though you may have heard or read some form of a multiplier on the internet. Essentially, a representation of a cross-section of our community (the jury) could award compensation for pain and suffering purely based on subjective factors.
Therefore, the credibility of an injured’s testimony and whether or not the jury even likes the injured person are some of the most important aspects of evaluating an award for pain and suffering. This is why medical records and additional evidence can improve your case for pain and suffering despite subjective factors.
Emotional Distress
This category of compensation is connected to an injured person’s mental and emotional state related to an injury. After all, severe injury isn’t just what you see on the outside. Severe injuries will affect every aspect of your life, your independence, and your freedom.
Depending on the nature of the accident and injuries, the victim in a personal injury lawsuit may suffer from anxiety, depression, severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and other extreme mental traumas.
Obtaining damages for emotional distress typically requires comprehensive and accurate records from your mental health providers, like your therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist, along with a diagnosis of your symptoms related to emotional distress.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful death claims are lawsuits filed by the survivors and heirs of an individual or individuals killed in an accident and the negligence or misconduct of another person or business entity. Survivors are left without love, support, and income and may be respectfully compensated, at least financially, through the court system and our constitution.
Compensation for a wrongful death lawsuit may help with the financial burdens surrounding the loss of a loved one. Financial compensation awarded can cover lost income, leftover bills, and funeral expenses that survivors face from the death of their family members. Damages for the deceased may also be financially compensated for what the victim had gone through while still alive in the form of pain, suffering, or disfigurement. Compensation is also designed to help with less quantifiable aspects of wrongful death.
Here in Nevada, financial justice may be awarded for the loss of probable support, companionship, society, comfort, consortium, grief, and sorrow among other things.
Loss of Consortium
Loss of Consortium
In Nevada, if you or your spouse are injured from an accident to where you cannot truly complete a relationship with your spouse (or them with you) — or one of you were killed in an accident — you could be entitled to compensation for loss of consortium or also known as the loss of companionship.
Punitive Damages: Making an Example of and Punishing the Defendant
Punitive Damages to Punish
In Nevada personal injury cases, punitive damages may be awarded against the conscious disregard for public safety or when someone acts at a level beyond mere negligence, such as acting with specific intent, malice, wilful misconduct, or fraud. Punitive damages are in addition to your compensatory damages, not only punishing the defendant but also serving as a deterrent to dissuade other individuals and corporations from engaging in similar misconduct.
Examples are an insurance company that acts in bad faith or a corporation that continually and knowingly allows needless harm to our community in order to save a quick buck. These may be capped depending on the facts and circumstances of your personal injury lawsuit.
Types of Personal Injury Cases
These are some of the most common personal injury lawsuits that we handle.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Some of the most common accidents that result in personal injury are those involving cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, and other vehicles. These personal injury claims are usually caused from another person’s negligence. These accidents can have lifelong impacts, even if they do not seem that serious at the time of the incident.
When you are injured in a motor vehicle accident, you would file a personal injury claim or lawsuit to pursue compensation for immediate and future medical bills, such as for rehabilitation or future projected surgical treatment and life care plans.
Other common damages include lost wages and loss earning capacity. In some instances, punitive damages may be warranted depending on the facts and circumstances, such as for a DUI driver, a sleeping driver, or when a corporation turns a blind eye to ensure their profits.
As with most personal injury claims, the law allows for awards for the past and future physical and emotional pain and suffering.
Slip & Fall Accidents/Premises Liability
Personal injury lawsuits that arise from a slip and fall are more serious than people realize. Many times, you do not fall for no reason. Not everyone who slips and falls is clumsy. People who slip and fall on someone’s property may find that their injuries could have been avoided if only the property owner was not negligent in looking for, repairing, or fixing the hazardous and dangerous conditions that resulted in injuries.
Oftentimes, grocery stores and restaurants fail to clean objects and liquids on the ground. Sometimes a railing can be loose and out of code. Sometimes steps can be uneven, in poor condition, cracked, and out of code. There are many dangerous situations that result in slip and fall lawsuits than people think.
Many types of falls can cause injuries that may seem like they will never go away. This may result in expensive medical bills and missing work. A personal injury lawyer in slip and fall lawsuits will use evidence such as photos, video, and medical records to prove that someone’s liability resulted in your injuries. You and your family do not need to needlessly suffer because of the carelessness of a property owner.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful death cases are needless and heartbreaking tragedies. Compensation for wrongful deaths caused by the needless actions of another can fall under many different categories. Common forms of compensation exist for pain and suffering, current and ongoing medical bills and lost wages that one can get in any personal injury lawsuit.
Then there is compensation reserved for the survivors of people who needlessly died. Survivors can seek compensation for funeral costs. Survivors can seek compensation to recover for the sudden and enduring loss of household income that arises from death. Compensation is also available for pain and suffering, as well as the loss of companionship. This compensation can help provide families some degree of peace of mind after a sudden loss, at least financially for that which is priceless.
Given all this, it is paramount for survivors to pursue legal action with a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. While considering a lawsuit after the lost of a loved one is uncomfortable, legal action is important to ensure that you obtain full and fair justice.
Brain and Spine Injuries
Some of the most worst and tragic types of injuries that are caused by motor vehicle and other personal injury accidents are brain and spine injuries. In personal injury cases involving these specific injuries, people can suffer potentially permanent physical and/or mental injuries in the form of cognitive impairment, motion restrictions, paralysis, unrelenting pain and discomfort, and a number of different symptoms and conditions.
If a negligent individual or corporation injures you or a family member, you all are victims of their negligence. You do not have to fight for justice alone. If you hire us, we will work on contingency, we will dive deep, and we will fight tirelessly for you.
Prosecuting these personal injuries requires evidence such as medical records, photographs, videos, and other documentation. Medical expert depositions may be required and we will build a case to bolster your claim to receive compensation to cover damages for past and future medical bills, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment to life, lost wages, and more.
Burn/Fire Injuries
Burn and fire injuries are some of the worst. Imagine you or a loved one was injured or killed in a fire because a corporation or a landlord was cutting corners with fire safety to save a pretty penny? It’s unjust.
Landlords who fail to follow proper fire safety rules resulting in apartment tenants being burned, scalding beverages, negligent electrical wiring, and many other failures to follow fire safety rules can cause tragic burns. Whether one heals or whether the burn leaves lifelong scarring and disfigurement, you have a right to achieve justice against the negligent individual or corporation accountable for causing your injuries.
Burn injuries may result in large medical bills, both from the hospital visit and until full recovery. You may also miss work and suffer from pain and future pain and suffering for the rest of your life.
These injuries can be life-changing. Whether it happens to you or someone you love, you may feel angry and helpless. However, sometimes the biggest insult to injury is being thrust upon painful conditions to no fault of your own because of someone else’s failure to follow fire safety rules and the perpetrator fails to accept responsibility or even worse, acts like it was your fault.
Dog and Animal Bites
We love dogs. Most of us have dogs. Dogs are a man’s best friend. Dogs will love you unconditionally.
Personal Injury Lawyer Las Vegas Dog BIte Attorney
Personal Injury Lawyer Las Vegas Dog BIte Attorney
However, dog bites and attacks can be serious despite this. If someone’s pet attacks you, then you may be able to file a lawsuit against the animal’s owner, their homeowner’s insurance, or business liability insurance.
Like most other personal injury cases, dog and animal bite lawsuits may provide justice for you in the form of expenses for medical bills, lost wages, and physical/emotional past and future pain and suffering that stems from the violent incident.
Generally, an owner is liable for the actions of their animal— even if their dog or pet was the sweetest or if the dog had an aggressive personality.
Negligent Security
If you are a patron of a store, school, gym, concert, club, party, casino, or popular businesses, and someone suffers an injury or death because of negligent or below standard security practices, you may file a lawsuit to obtain justice and compensation.
Generally, the property owner or security company will be the one liable for personal injury or wrongful death. If the property owner knew his property was dangerous and had the ability to reasonably provide adequate security but failed to do so then the property owner could be liable on top of the perpetrator of a shooting, rape, or assault.
Foreseeability of the offense and whether an incident was preventable are some factors that demonstrate a property owner’s liability. For example, if a door or gate was open when it should have been locked and a violent individual entered the premises and attacked someone, that could be negligent security. The owner has a duty to keep guests safe.
Other examples of negligent security include a habitual and repeated security threat requiring an alarm system or other measure to be installed or carried out to prevent needless danger, but the responsible party did nothing—there was a need for lighting, metal detectors, and security staffing, and the property owner failed to install such things. Many circumstances, such as a mass shooting and assigning liability for compensation can get complex, even if it were possible. Whereas, other cases may have less moving parts.
What does a personal injury lawyer do?
We get dirty in the trenches fighting in the front lines for you to seek the full justice and the full compensation that you deserve in your personal injury suit.
We first take a deep dive into assessing your case to strategize and to best determine how to fight for you. We will:
Analyze with you, step by step, the gravity and nature of your injuries as well as the negligent facts and circumstances involved in your personal injuries;
Investigate the place of the accident;
Find and question witnesses;
Request and obtain documentation;
Work alongside medical experts;
Review and compile documents, photos, and videos to build your case; and
Work with experts who can reconstruct an accident or other negligent acts.
Once we obtain all of that information, we then go head-to-head with the defense’s adjusters and attorneys to get you full justice and the best compensation possible. Oftentimes, this can occur in settlement discussions; however, if the corporation or insurance company won’t move, we take them to court.
What do you do in a personal injury lawsuit?
When you are represented by an personal injury lawyer in a personal injury case, there’s only a few things you need to worry about, including:
Do not speak with anybody about your case, especially the other party, opposing attorneys, or insurance companies;
Follow your medical provider’s treatment plans and recommendations;
Maintain all documents that relate to your injury and also reasonably note your injury; and,
Provide your personal injury lawyer any and all evidence and documentation you have that can help that is related to your case such as any police reports, insurance documents, and photos or videos you have of your injuries or the accident scene, among other things.
What happens in a personal injury lawsuit?
After you’ve consulted medical professionals and you begin to consider a personal injury lawsuit, there many standard steps to take that are essential in cases involving vehicle accidents, falls, and all other personal injury accidents.
Personal Injury Lawyer Consultation: Contact an personal injury lawyer with years of experience handling personal injury cases who is willing to invest their time and money to obtain full justice and full compensation under contingency. They will provide a strategy after deep diving into your case to determine whether you are able to pursue a personal injury claim and how much you may get in a case.
Creating your case: After you sign a retainer agreement, your personal injury lawyer and legal team will analyze every angle of your injuries and the facts and circumstances of your case. They will gather evidence such as photos or videos that are available, analyze your employment history and wages, your family’s circumstances, your medical records, and other pieces to strengthen your case. They will also get to know you as a person, which is essential in the court room and just a part of being a good human being.
Settlement Negotiations: Your personal injury lawyer will send a “demand letter” to the insurance company or other party that will lay out your case and damages. Oftentimes at this stage, your personal injury lawyer can get you the reasonable settlement you deserve and may help make you whole again financially.
Taking them to Court: If the opposing insurance company or other party fails to provide you a reasonable offer or outright rejects a reasonable settlement, then your legal team will switch gears and be ready to file a lawsuit to try to get you the best compensation possible in court.
Discovery: During discovery, both sides in a personal injury law suit begin to share evidence, documents, photos, and take depositions. Your personal injury lawyer will fight for every piece of evidence from the other side that may support your case.
Trial: If a case can’t be settled then all of the evidence and witnesses in the case will be presented before a judge and a fair and impartial cross-section of the community: the jury. This does not mean everything is admissible. Here at Michael Hua Injury Law, we go to trial so that you can get a fair fight. We fight to make sure your opponents and the judge plays by the rules. We fight to make sure the admitted evidence and witnesses follow the law. We will use everything we had worked for and heavily invested in your case to fight with everything we have.
What is the Personal Injury Settlement Process?
When an agreement is made between all relevant parties regarding the damages that include all other harms and losses, a personal injury settlement has been achieved. The actual amount will depend on a variety of factors such as the level and duration of your injury, the type of accident, your ability to work and your time missed, the types of bills you’ve incurred, and the level of misconduct caused by the opposing party.
Your personal injury lawyer fights with no initial costs or fees. Your personal injury lawyer, in many situations, fights to reduce your medical bills as well but will take a reasonable contingency fee from the final recovery.
The process is not automatic. Your personal injury lawyer usually will not take the first offer and will continue to go back and forth with the opposing counsel to achieve a full amount that is suitable to the facts and circumstances of your accident and injuries. Once an agreement is made, it may take up a few more weeks to get your check.
Settlements Aren’t Taxable — Usually
A personal injury lawsuit typically is not taxable. Some exceptions may apply such as if you filed deductions for medical bills related to your case. Ask us to clarify specific tax questions.
What are the Statutes of Limitations in a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Most personal injury lawsuits have definite deadlines to file with the court. These are called the statute of limitations. These set the maximum amount of time the parties involved in a dispute have to initiate a legal proceeding from the date of an alleged offense.
Here in Nevada, you only have two years after the date of your personal injury. If you wait too long then our personal injury law firm will not be able to accept your case and you will be unable to pursue full justice and compensation.
This is why if you have been thrust upon you injuries, large medical bills, an inability to work, and you simply want to get your life back on track, you should contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. Not only does the evidence of your case begin to get weaker, you may risk losing the opportunity to get justice and compensated if you miss the deadline.
What does a Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
Michael Hua Injury Law does not charge exorbitant hourly rates or generally any fees at all up front for personal injury cases. Instead, we work on a “contingency fee”, which means you do not pay any fees until we win your case. We also do not take a fee for any vehicle repairs or replacements during your case.
This contingency fee is ideal for personal injury cases where you are faced with large medical bills or your injuries prevent you from earning a steady income. It allows for the ordinary person their right to an attorney without a lawyer’s hourly rate, which oftentimes may be over $500 an hour. When going up against an insurance company or a large corporation, they typically hire their attorneys on an hourly structure. In these cases, you are going up against Goliath. Our contingency fee gives you a fair fight in the courtroom and levels the playing field against the opposing insurance company or corporation’s bullying tactics.
We are only paid a reasonable fee when you win. Sometimes we make the defendant pay your attorney fees. Either, way, you do not risk anything up front.
If you or someone you love was injured and you want a fair fight for full justice, contact Michael Hua Injury Law for a free deep dive to evaluate your case. We are always happy to help.
GET YOUR FREE CASE EVALUATION TODAY
We will get back to you as soon as we can and remember, no fee until we win.
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