Newport Beach Personal Injury Lawyer
Risks come into our lives everyday, often with little consequence. There are times, however, where injuries occur, and a personal injury lawsuit comes forth. Personal injury is considered bodily injury to a person or their reputation due to the intentional or negligent acts of someone else. If you or a loved one are struggling with their personal injury case, contact our experienced and local personal injury attorney in Newport Beach.
Choose the Winthrop Law Group, PC When You Have Been Injured by Negligence
Many personal injuries have a snowballing effect as they impact a victim’s life. The initial injury will likely cause pain and require medical attention. Their recovery may even require them to stay home from work. This, in turn, may cause bills to go unpaid and debts to accumulate, quickly escalating an already challenging situation into a desperate one. The Winthrop Law Group, PC is dedicated to providing the compassionate and responsive legal representation injured individuals need during these times.
As your Newport Beach personal injury lawyers, the Winthrop Law Group, PC believes in individualized legal counsel. We take time to get to know our clients and how their injuries have impacted their lives to ensure we provide the most comprehensive representation possible. Our firm can handle your legal concerns while you focus on recovery with peace of mind.
Is It Worth Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer?
You might believe your claim is straightforward enough that you do not need to hire a Newport Beach personal injury attorney, but this is a risky choice. An experienced attorney will know how to accurately measure the full scope of your damages, thus ensuring maximum recovery from a successful claim. An experienced Newport Beach personal injury lawyer can also handle procedural matters with the court, such as filing necessary forms and motions throughout your case. Without an attorney, you face meeting these obligations and creating a solid case on your own while already managing the personal aftermath of your injury.
Hiring an attorney means peace of mind while you recover, knowing your legal affairs are in capable and trustworthy hands. Your choice to hire an attorney can also be a safeguard against accepting too low a settlement for your damages out of desperation or uncertainty about your legal options. It’s not uncommon for insurance companies and combative defendants to attempt to coerce a plaintiff into accepting lowball settlements by preying on their current economic desperation.
Common Examples of Newport Beach Personal Injury Claims
Personal injury claims can arise from countless possible scenarios. The determining factor in whether a situation could escalate to a personal injury claim is one party causing harm to another due to a failure to act with reasonable care. Many personal injury cases are caused by:
- – Product liability. Product manufacturers are liable for any injuries their products cause to end-users through normal use. If a manufacturer learns of a product defect, they must issue a recall and take additional actions as the law requires to prevent harm to consumers.
- – Medical malpractice. Medical professionals must adhere to the standard of care when treating a patient. If a medical professional fails to meet the standard of care for a patient or harms the patient during treatment due to negligence, they should see an attorney. The patient will have grounds for a personal injury claim for medical malpractice.
- – Car, truck, or motorcycle accidents. Vehicle collisions continue to be one of the leading causes of accidental deaths and injuries across the nation. If another driver was speeding, driving recklessly, or under the influence when they crashed into your vehicle, a Newport Beach personal injury attorney can help you secure as much of a recovery as possible through an insurance claim and/or civil action.
- – Defamation. Deliberately harming another’s reputation with untrue statements can have a significant impact on their life. Filing a personal injury claim for defamation is often difficult to manage, but it’s possible to secure substantial economic damages from intentional damage to your personal and/or professional reputation.
- – Murder. Intentionally killing another person is one of the highest crimes in the country. The murderer is likely to face criminal prosecution from the state of California and civil action from the victim’s family.
- – Bicycle or pedestrian accidents. Bicyclists and pedestrians are some of the most vulnerable people on the road. When they sustain injuries due to accidents caused by negligent drivers, their damages tend to be significant.
- – Slip and fall. Property owners must ensure their premises are safe for lawful visitors. If someone suffers a slip and fall or similar injury due to negligent care of property, the property owner could face a personal injury claim for premises liability.
- – Wrongful death. If a victim of a personal injury dies before they can take legal action, their surviving loved ones can file a wrongful death claim instead of the personal injury claim they could have filed had they lived. A wrongful death claim is not the same as a personal injury claim, but it functions in very similar ways with some special regulations set forth by state law.
Many of these cases result in injuries. Serious injuries may bring large hospital bills and other costs. Compensation, or damages, may be awarded to your case to help pay for medical bills, lost wages from time off work that was spent recovering, disability, pain and suffering, as well as any funeral expenses in the case of a wrongful death.
Recovering Compensation for a Personal Injury
The first phase in any personal injury claim is to identify the defendant responsible for the plaintiff’s damages and prove their fault for causing the injury-causing event in question. The next phase is establishing the full extent of the plaintiff’s damages and proving that they did not result from another cause. This is “causation,” and it’s essential for a personal injury plaintiff to establish that their claimed damages were solely the results of the defendant’s negligence and not some other cause. One of the most commonly cited defenses by defendants is lack of causation, or that they do not bear responsibility for some or all of the plaintiff’s claimed damages.
There are generally three types of damages a plaintiff could potentially receive from a successful personal injury claim:
- – Economic damages. These are damages that pertain to measurable financial losses incurred resulting from the defendant’s alleged negligence. Many personal injury claims involve economic damages for medical expenses, lost income from time spent home from work, and lost business profits. Economic damages can be established with accurate totals using documented evidence and financial records.
- – Noneconomic damages. This form of compensation pertains to damages that are immeasurable, such as a plaintiff’s physical pain and psychological suffering inflicted by a defendant’s negligence. Many methods can be used to determine fair and reasonable amounts of noneconomic compensation in a personal injury case.
- – Punitive or exemplary damages. When a defendant’s behavior is grossly negligent, criminal, or intentionally harmful, a judge may award punitive or exemplary damages alongside a plaintiff’s economic and noneconomic damages. This is done to punish the defendant
Depending on the severity of the injuries and damages listed in a personal injury claim, the plaintiff’s recovery may be quite substantial. California law allows plaintiffs to recover not only immediate damages but also expected future damages caused by the defendant’s behavior. For example, it’s possible for a plaintiff to not only secure compensation for lost income for time spent home from work after an injury but also lost future earnings if the plaintiff is unable to return to work at all in the future due to a permanent disability.
Settlement Vs. Personal Injury Litigation
Most personal injury claims do not end in the courtroom. It is in both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s best interests to settle the matter privately as quickly as possible. This ensures the defendant can be released from liability swiftly and ensures the plaintiff can obtain financial recovery as soon as possible. During settlement negotiations, the plaintiff and defendant meet privately with their respective legal teams and negotiate appropriate compensation for the plaintiff’s damages. It’s not uncommon for defendants to pay more than they initially expect, and it is also not uncommon for plaintiffs to receive quite as much as they expect. The compromise for the expediency of settlement is a potentially smaller case award than could have been won at trial.
While litigation could potentially lead to more substantial recoveries for some plaintiffs, litigation also comes with risks. Primarily, there is no guarantee the judge’s interpretation of the facts will align with your own, and you could end up with nothing. A good Newport Beach personal injury attorney should strive to obtain the best negotiated settlement possible for their client but be able to recognize the signs when litigation is necessary and take appropriate action.
Personal Injury Attorney In Newport Beach
Attempting to handle such a complex case on your own can result in feelings of frustration and disappointment if you don’t have the outcome you were hoping for. Having a trusted attorney by your side can allow you to focus on other important matters in your life, such as spending time with your loved ones and recovering from your injuries. Our experienced personal injury attorney in Newport Beach is ready to help you and your loved ones have the most successful case possible.
Winthrop Law Group, P.C. has extensive experience with such cases and is prepared to handle your case next. We are ready to work hard for the compensation that you and your loved ones deserve. Allowing our firm to handle your case can help to ensure that it is as successful as possible. Contact our office today to schedule a case consultation.