If you or someone you know has been injured in some type of accident, or is the victim of a bad result from a surgery or from some doctor’s care, it is natural to wonder whether you may have a valid case against the person causing the accident or the doctor or hospital that you think may have made a mistake. Sometimes it is hard to know whether you  do or do not have a valid claim to pursue.  What should you do?  Where should you go to get some answers?

     For those with internet access, searches uncovering blogs like this one provide an invaluable amount of information, most or all of which is free, to help you research or decide whether you need a lawyer or not, or whether you can try and handle something on your own.   Another excellent resource are your friends or coworkers.  Often, family, friends and business associates or co-workers are the first to suggest that you should “get a lawyer!”  Sometimes that is sage advice, and other times maybe less so.  But it doesn’t explain to you whether you have a valid claim or not.  So, if you indeed want to decide on your own whether you have a case, and then decide whether to talk to a lawyer, what do you look at to determine the answer?

     As lawyers working for people that have been the victims of other’s negligence, or the actions of doctors or corporations, we suggest that anytime someone has been hurt in some type of accident, you MAY have a valid case.  So, if that is all the research you wanted to do, then pick up the phone and call or send an email. It’s a free call!

     But, if you want to look even further to decide whether you have a case.  What should you look at?  We suggest you look at the FACTS of what happened.  Think carefully and objectively about what exactly were you doing at the time of the accident.  If it is an auto accident, how fast were you going?  What direction?  Were you distracted in any way?  Were you on your cell phone? Were you under the influence of alcohol or drugs?  Were you wearing your glasses or contact lenses?  Were your headlights on?  Did you blow your horn before the accident?  Did your car leave skidmarks?  Were you alone in your car?

     After you completely outline what you were doing, then turn your attention to the conditions surrounding your accident.  What was the weather like?  What were the road conditions?  Was it busy traffic?  Was there a stop sign?  Stoplight?  Streetlights? Was the road under repair?  Were certain lanes of traffic closed or narrowed because of construction? After you  place your own actions in the context of the conditions of the road and environment surrounding your accident, then you should look at the actions of the other driver or drivers.

     In terms of the actions of the other driver, what lane was he or she in?  What direction? Were their headlights on? Did you hear their horn before the accident? Are there any skidmarks from their car or truck? Was there anybody else in their car or truck?  Was their car or truck working properly?  How fast do  you think they were going?  Did they appear under the influence of drugs or alcohol after the accident?  Did the admit fault for what happened?  Did they apologize to you or offer to pay for any damage?

     After you sort through those factors, if it appears the other person is much more at fault than you, you probably have a good claim to bring.  If your own degree of fault is the same or greater than the other driver, you still have a claim, but it may not be one that many lawyers would be interested in handling.  Either way, how could it hurt  to place a free phone call or email and let a trained professional decide.

     But, what if you got hurt at work?  You were just doing your job and you threw your back out.  You think to yourself, well, my company didn’t do anything wrong.  I guess I don’t have a case.  WRONG!!  Almost anytime anyone gets injured or hurt in the course and scope of their employment, they have a valid workers’ compensation claim!!  Call the lawyer and get your rights protected!

     If you are the possible victim of medical malpractice, it is almost impossible to decide on  your own whether you have a valid claim to bring or not.  The best advice in those circumstances is to call a lawyer as soon as possible.  A trained professional lawyer that handles medical malpractice cases can tell you pretty quickly whether what happened is worth pursuing or looking into further.  Sometimes doctors make mistakes that cause a minor injury that hurts for a day or so.  You may have a case there, but the damages are so low most lawyers would not be interested in investing so much money and time because the recovery would not be large enough to justify it, even though the doctor clearly made a mistake.  Even so, call the lawyer and they can still give you advice what to do in those circumstances.  If the injury is severe or death, skilled lawyers will take the time to get all the medical records and get them reviewed by their own  medical professional to determine whether it is a good case of medical malpratice.

     So, to decide whether you have a case, you do have tools at your disposal to research and decide on your own.  Whether you think it is worth your time or not to call a lawyer is a decision you have to make.  But, injury lawyers almost always work on a contingent fee and advance all the expenses, so you really have nothing to lose by calling a trusted lawyer and getting sound advice.  Most injury lawyers work under the “NO FEE IF NO RECOVERY” rules, so it is no out of pocket money to you.