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What is a personal injury lawyer and how do I know if I need to hire one?

At Schuelke Law, we handle several different kinds of cases, all of which are classified as personal injury accidents. That includes car accidents, truck accidents, wrongful death, brain injuries, and dog attacks. 

A personal injury claim comes about when someone has been injured due to the negligence of another person or entity. Personal injuries can involve bites, broken limbs, amputations, burns, and a variety of other wounds varying from traumatic brain injury to paralysis. A serious personal injury can also result in death, which would then involve a wrongful death claim. 

It is important to know that every case a personal injury lawyer handles is different. While the details may sound similar, the outcome varies from case to case. Additionally, every state has its own set of rules, regulations, statutes, and laws to deal with personal injury accidents. And while each accident involves an injury or several injuries, these wounds affect each person differently and impact their lives differently. 

Your personal injury attorney has deep experience in personal injury and negligence cases and knows what your legal rights are. You may be entitled to compensation and a personal injury attorney knows how to evaluate your injuries and take your case to a settlement or trial. 

If you get hurt in an accident, immediately seek medical care and get your injuries assessed and treated. Try to get names, addresses, and other contact information from those involved in your accident, or from those who may have observed your accident, and provide that information to your personal injury attorney. 

If you can get pictures of the accident scene, do so. If you can get pictures of your injuries before and after the crash, take as many as possible. Keep all medical bills. Write your experience down in your own words. Get a traffic accident report from the police. 

Video what you can, particularly the accident scene and where the vehicles involved in a collision came to rest. If your accident was a slip and fall, still get pictures of the location and anything else that your personal injury attorney may need. Make it a point to connect with an experienced personal injury attorney to find out what your legal rights are, what options are open to you, what you may expect as an outcome, and what your attorney needs from you to assist in building a successful lawsuit. Do not wait to connect with an attorney, as the first few days after an accident are crucial when it comes to collecting information, pictures, documents, medical information, and eyewitness testimony. 

Unless you have a deep knowledge of the law, the rules, regulations, statutes, and other legal experience in taking a case to court, you are not going to be able to represent yourself in a personal injury case. To do so could mean losing the case, receiving much less than your case could have been worth if handled properly, and once your case is done, it is done. You cannot revisit a loss. 

The first consultation with a personal injury attorney about an accident or death is free and you can ask all the questions you need to ask to find out what is likely to happen when you move forward to file a personal injury case.

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