Charleston Personal Injury Lawyer

How do you find “The Best Personal Injury Attorney in Charleston”?

Choosing the best personal injury lawyer in Charleston is not always easy. You have a lot to consider and you want to make sure that whomever you pick has your best interests at heart.

That is why when you contact Frank, from the very first moment, you will understand why he has a 5 star rating on Google from all former and current clients.

Frank cares about you, your situation and getting justice and the compensation you deserve. This may sound like the same messaging as other firms but the biggest difference is that you will be dealing with Frank, the attorney, not some other lawyer within some huge firm that you never spoke to initially. There is nothing worse than be passed off to another attorney, especially when you were not expecting it. You hired the person you spoke with, that is who you are comfortable with and that is who should represent you. That’s not to say you will never speak with a paralegal, you will, in any legal firm, it is part of their job. They are responsible for collecting information and building your file however, if you ever have to go to court, or someone needs to speak to an insurance company, it is the attorney you spoke with that should be there by your side and standing up for you and your rights.

What Should I Know About Personal Injury Cases?

Frank wants you to be educated in all personal injury matters. If you take a look at his YouTube channel, you will see that Frank gives a lot of free legal advice so that if you feel you are not quite ready to contact him yet but you have questions about something, he can give you the answers you may be looking for. If you are not finding the answers to your questions on the website or in the videos, remember that consultations are free so call if you have a question.

One of the biggest complaints seen on attorney feedback is: “My lawyer never called me back”. Frank actually addresses why your personal injury lawyer might not be calling you back in this YouTube Video but rest assured that you will always get a call back from Frank and he is working really hard on your case. Sometimes a paralegal will call you with questions but you will get a call back and you will never wonder why your attorney never calls you back.

The overall field of law that Frank practices is known as personal injury.

What is Personal Injury Law?

Personal injury law involves a person, known as the plaintiff, and involves a type of injury. The injury can be physical, mental or emotional. The lawsuit is brought against another person, governmental agency or a business and they are known as the defendant. The lawsuit is considered a civil lawsuit and falls under the legal term called “tort law”.

What Questions Should You Ask a Personal Injury Lawyer Before You Hire Them?

1. What experience do you have in handling personal injury cases?

This is a question some personal injury lawyers will try to answer by stating the experience of their firm’s senior attorneys, but you may be assigned to a new attorney who hasn’t been with the firm long or who’s new to personal injury. When seeking a car accident lawyer, it’s important to locate a professional with real trial experience in your state who can easily point to specific settlements and awards in your type of case. For example, an attorney may focus more on whiplash cases with small awards or an attorney may focus more on big DUI cases with catastrophic injuries. The latter cases take much more time to conclude, and the law firm must be able to advance all costs of making the case against the defendant’s insurance company.

2. What is your contingency fee?

A typical personal injury firm in South Carolina works on the basis of advancing all fees and cost on behalf of the injured victim. The lawyer only gets paid a percentage of any settlement or jury verdict that is obtained on your behalf. This is in addition to any costs that they itemize as being paid out during the case. Examples of costs could be court filing fees, deposition fees, photocopying, notary fees, postage and packaging fees, and trial exhibits. Usually, an attorney’s contingency fee percentage is lower if the case is settled and greater if the case goes to the civil trial. Even in cases where lawsuits are filed, the insurance company may still settle out of court before the case is resolved.

3. How much do you think my personal injury claim might be worth?

In a personal injury law firm, it is unethical for a lawyer to promise you a settlement or a jury award. He or she can state the potential value of your medical damages based on your injuries, medical bills (so far and in the future), lost wages, pain and suffering, to name a few. However, car accident law firms are not able to help a client recover damages if there is no insurance company to sue. In some instances, however, the defendants may have personal or business assets that might be targeted in the lawsuit even if they did not carry the appropriate amount of insurance to cover your damages.

4. Will my spouse or child be able to make a claim for this injury?

You and your spouse could potentially make a claim for your injuries if they can be proven by a doctor as being caused by the accident. Your child may also have a claim, depending on the injuries sustained by the accident. Each case is going to be separate in the sense of proving the injuries. However, the insurance company may try to make an offer to you and to your child at the same time. Alternatively, they may choose not to settle each injury claim and then take their chances in court. You and your child will try to recover damages from the same defendant’s insurance policy, which has a maximum benefit that can be paid out per accident.

5. How will your accident law firm show that the defendants were at fault in my case?

A good personal injury attorney has a team of experts and investigators who can fully reconstruct the accident and demonstrate how the defendant caused the accident or injury. Ask the lawyer to give you examples of strategies used in cases like yours. You wouldn’t expect to hear a strategy for proving a DUI case in which the person is wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life as the way to solve your whiplash case. This is when you get to understand the attorney’s actual trial experience. Personal injury lawyers who have been to court many times and won against the defendant’s insurance company can easily talk about these points because there are so many examples to share. They just have to choose which one relates to your situation

6. How long will the personal injury case take?

Again, every case is different. In South Carolina, an accident injury attorney should advise you on the statute of limitations. This is how long you have to file your claim or forever lose your right to recover damages for these injuries. An attorney can also explain your rights to how you are represented and treated by the insurance companies. An attorney can estimate the timeline if there is knowledge of enough factors (i.e. whether he believes the case can be settled without filing a lawsuit). Serious cases in which the insurance company will go to great expense to fight the claim will take longer than ones that are easy to prove. For example, just because the police write in the accident report the other driver was at-fault does not mean that you are the victim. The other driver may also hire a lawyer who will attempt to prove that the accident was your fault. Some cases end up being found in the jury trial as ones involving comparative negligence, with a certain percentage of the liability being attributed to the plaintiff (that’s you) and a certain percentage of the liability being attributed to the defendant.

7. Why is this the best personal injury law firm to represent me?

Personal injury attorneys with adequate experience seek employment in a respectable law firm or go out and start their own firms. With your first consultation (free at The Hartman Law Firm, LLC) with a personal injury lawyer, you have the opportunity for him to explain how his services outrank those of others whom you might consult after the accident. A top car accident law firm has many examples of past settlements and verdicts as well as attorneys specializing in different kinds of cases. Other law firms have a smaller number of attorneys, but they aren’t as concerned with volume. They are concerned with real civil trial work on serious cases. If you have an inexperienced attorney assigned to your case, he should be working under the supervision of a board-certified trial attorney with an impressive court record. Frank Hartman has been trying cases in South Carolina for years and is very successful in his cases. You can just look at his Google reviews and know that he has several satisfied clients.

8. When should I give a statement to the insurance company?

We need to take a moment here to explain that no insurance company is really on your side, not even yours and not even if you weren’t at fault. They only stay in business if they can avoid paying claims to injured victims. You will need to report the car accident to your insurance company and to the other insurance company. However, calling in to report a claim does not mean that you must agree to having your statement recorded. They record your calls and twist things you say around in order to pay less. Do not agree to a recording. In fact, it is better to just speak with your attorney and let the attorney make the call or be with you while you make the call. This is something that your attorney will arrange and then will only have you answer questions after being prepared for the event. You can also ask the defendant’s insurance company to help you resolve your property damage claim (because your vehicle was damaged or totaled in the accident) but refuse to discuss your injury claim. Don’t be badgered by the insurance adjuster for your insurance company or the defendant’s carrier.

9. Can I make a claim against my Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage?

Not every driver who could hit you on the road will have insurance or enough insurance to cover your injuries. Now that you are missing time from work and the medical bills are adding up, you need expert help in preparing your personal injury claim. If you have insurance coverage to protect against uninsured and underinsured drivers, you may have a claim against your own company. Many consumers who are hurt in a motor vehicle accident fear making a claim against their own insurance company will cause them to lose their coverage or to have their rates increased as a condition of policy renewal. This is not something you should be concerned with. You should worry about how to recover for the medical bills that were not your fault because you did not cause the accident. It’s the personal injury lawyer’s job to work with the insurance company on your behalf and to negotiate any settlement. It’s in every party’s best interest in this type of case to resolve the matter before going to a jury trial.

10. Can I represent myself and get a settlement for these injuries?

This is an option that every person has—-self-representation. However, knowing how to navigate the civil court system and to prepare a claim for review by the defendant’s insurance company is a professional specialty of an accident lawyer. Remember that insurance companies work with other insurance companies, police, medical professionals and everyone else involved in the accident business every single day. You do not have that same experience nor exposure. However, Frank Hartman does. You don’t have to rush into the decision of which attorney to hire, but you do want to ensure that the facts and evidence in your case are preserved. Remember it is free to call and you do not pay anything until Frank wins your case. So representing yourself doesn’t make much sense. Lastly, studies show that insurance companies pay, on average, significantly more (40% conservatively) to people when they are represented by a car accident lawyer. So even with the contingency fee, you still may be awarded a larger settlement if you hire Frank as your personal injury attorney.