Personal Injury Law

A lawsuit may be brought in District court, if the claim is for less than $15,000 or it may be brought in a Circuit court if the claim is for more than $15,000. The proper court to bring the action is any one of the following: the city where the accident occurred, the place where the defendant lives, or where the defendant works.

In order for a plaintiff to bring a legal action in Virginia for an Automobile accident the defendant must be negligent and plaintiff must NOT have been contributorily negligent.

Negligence is defined as: the failure of the defendant to use ordinary care for the safety of another.

Contributory negligence is defined as follows: Conduct on the part of the plaintiff, which falls below the standard to which he should conform for his own protection, and which is a legally contributing cause co-operating with the negligence of the defendant in bringing about the plaintiff’s harm.

Contributory negligence is a strict rule because a plaintiff who is 1% negligent is barred from recovering as a matter of law. Virginia law does not allow for comparative fault.

In Virginia you can recover for the following damages; past and future medical bills, past lost wages, loss of future earning capacity and pain and suffering. The amount of money you can recover will depend on the circumstances of your case. Generally the more serious the injury, the more you will be able to recover. Some general categories of injuries starting with the least serious to the most severe are: soft tissue injuries, dislocations, separations and ligament or cartilage tears, fractures, spinal disc or vertebrae injury, wounds, scars, amputations, brain damage, catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. You can also recover for psychological damage, if your psychologist or therapist diagnoses you with depression, stress or other related aliments as a direct result of your being involved in an auto accident. Soft tissue injuries for auto accidents, which are the most common, include sprains and strains of the muscles and/or ligaments of the neck, back, shoulder, knees or other parts of the body.

In order for you to recover any damages you most have records to prove your injuries. Immediately after your accident you should call the police and start documenting the facts of your case. You should create a folder to store all of your information. You should get a copy of the accident report from the police as soon as possible. You should also write down the officer’s full name, badge number, and what precinct he works in. You should also write down all names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses. Listen carefully to what the defendant tells you, if he admits any fault in the accident write down what he says and try to have him repeat the admission to the police officer. However, under no circumstances should you ever admit any fault to the defendant or the police officer. Also you should take many pictures of your car and the defendant’s car, showing the damage to both vehicles and you should get a clear picture of the defendant’s license plate. It is also a good idea to take pictures of the accident scene itself. You will also want to take pictures of your injuries. You should also be aware of what the policeman writes in his notes and whether or not he gives a ticket to you or to the other driver and, if so, what the ticket is for.

You should immediately seek medical attention for your injuries, the longer you go without seeking medical attention the less of a chance you will have to recover for your injuries. When you go to the doctor tell the doctor exactly how the accident happened and what parts of your body where injured. Do not try and deal with the pain yourself, tell the doctor everything that is bothering you or was bothering you as a result of your accident. The doctor will write down in his notes everything you tell
him about your accident and the injuries and pain you are currently experiencing. You should keep a record of any time you miss from work and write down the dates and times you miss. You should also keep a list of any of your regular activities that you are having trouble performing.

You should immediately contact your insurance company to see what kind of benefits you may be entitled to, especially since the insurance company most likely has a time limit in which they have to be notified in order for you to receive any benefits. For example, if you have a policy with Medical Payment, you should consult with an attorney as to how to properly submit the required paperwork to your insurance company. You may affect your rights to recovery from your insurance company if you do not properly submit your paper work.

Under no circumstances should you give a statement to the other driver’s insurance company except to give the very basics. You should consult with an attorney immediately. The other driver’s insurance company will most likely contact you very quickly and inquire about the extent of your injuries. You do not want to answer these questions until you have contacted an experienced attorney. The driver’s insurance company will also send you release forms for your medical records, do not sign any of these documents. Also the other driver’s insurance company will try to settle your claim for injuries and property damage at one time, even if you have not finished treatment for your injuries. If you sign any settlement offers at this time for your injuries, you will not be able to collect more in the future. You should only accept a settlement for your property damage immediately and settle your personal
injuries later after you have finished treatment and a doctor has evaluated your injuries.

In addition to keeping a record of your medical bills and lost wages you should also keep a record of all of your receipts from any prescriptions or medications that you have had to purchase and any other out-of-pocket expenses. Also keep track of your mileage to and from your medical providers, particularly if you have to travel large distances to get treatment for your injuries.

Your case will be valued based on your past medical bills, future medical bills, past lost wages, future lost wages and pain and suffering. This assumes of course that the other driver was totally at fault, otherwise your case is worth nothing. If you are still receiving treatment for your injuries or your injuries have not yet been fully diagnosed, placing a value on your case is more difficult. Therefore based on our experience we will generally come up with a range of value for your case. Other important factors in determining the value of the case is in what city the case will be brought in, as juries in different areas have very different views on what kind of recovery should be possible in a personal injury case.

If the other driver was at fault, you have a right to bring a lawsuit against him. If he has insurance the insurance company will be responsible for paying your medical bills and lost wages. In the mean time, before a lawsuit begins, and even after, you also have rights against your own insurance company, which carries insurance for automobile accidents and if you have your own medical insurance.

That all depends on whether or not your health insurance from your employer is through ERISA and based on whether or not that policy is an employer or employee funded policy, or whether or not the employer has in fact purchased separate insurance through a regular insurance company to pay it’s employees.

Under Virginia law you very well may be able to collect punitive damages depending on the exact circumstances of the other driver's intoxication and driving.

You need to contact an attorney immediately to find out what those papers are and go over with the attorney what the best options are for you. Never just sign papers from the other driver's insurance company without having them reviewed by legal counsel, it could cost you thousands of dollars.

Under no circumstances should you speak to him at all. You should immediately hire legal counsel and advise the agent that you are represented by counsel and all communications to you should be addressed to your attorney.

You should first call an attorney to discuss with him the case and to go over your account of the accident and what you are and are not required to tell your insurance company.

If you are having pain you should immediately go to an emergency room or call your physician for an appointment. The longer you wait to be seen by a doctor the less likely you are to recover any damages. The other drivers insurance company will attempt to deny that you were injured.

No, you should not sign this. You and your attorney will gather your medical records and then prepare and present them to the insurance company all at one time when you finished being treated. The attorney will then prepare a demand letter summarizing your treatment and state what he thinks the defendant should pay in damages.

No. this release should never be signed. If it becomes necessary to send prior medical history to the other side your attorney will request this information and then review it and present it to the other side.

No, you should not. You need to have the accident and your injuries properly documented so when you have fully recovered, a proper claim can be made on your behalf. If you settle with the other driver and do not document your case and discover that you are in fact injured at a later date you will have
difficulty winning your case.

You should call to speak to an attorney immediately. You may have an unreasonable insurance adjuster who will never come up on his offer until a lawsuit is filed or you may have to go to trial in order to get the proper settlement. Your attorney will need to investigate your case and advise you if
filing a lawsuit is proper in your case and if it is a proper claim, and file an immediate suit against the other party.

Yes, you may still file a claim. You will file against your insurance company under your uninsured motorist clause of your insurance policy.

Yes, you can file a claim in Virginia if the other driver lives in Virginia or in the place where the accident happened.

Yes, you can. Generally the police will not file a report if there are no injuries and the damage appears to be under $1,000. Obviously, if you told the police officer you were not hurt and there was very little visible damage to your car you will have a more difficult time getting a large settlement on your claim but you still can file one.