From festivals, to fishing and boating, to biking, Mount Dora provides many adventures for outdoor enthusiasts in addition to indoor offerings such as the Modernism Museum and Las Palmas Cuban Restaurant. However, in an instant, the enjoyment of all that Mount Dora has to offer can be erased when a person suffers a catastrophic injury such as a spinal cord injury. Acting as a messenger for the brain and all parts of the body, the spinal cord is extremely important and injuries to this area are often permanent.
If you or your loved one suffered a spinal cord injury because of a careless driver, business owner, or other person or entity, the personal injury claims process could provide a means to get compensated.
The spinal cord, while being crucial to the body’s ability to function, is very limited in its ability to heal from injury. Because of this, many people are left with permanent disabilities such as the inability to walk, loss of feeling and function in the limbs, or even the inability to breath or move on their own. The injury commonly results in a lifelong need for medical treatment, a risk of infection and other complications, and the provision of care by a family member or personal assistant.
All of the issues that come with a spinal cord injury commonly result in financial losses that can exceed a million dollars within a matter of years, and a loss of the enjoyment of life that the individual had before the injury. The personal injury claims process is where the injured party can seek monetary compensation for the financial and psychological costs of the injury from the at-fault party, most often through an insurance policy. This may include auto liability coverage, business or property liability policies, or even homeowner’s coverage.
To receive compensation after a spinal cord injury has occurred in Mount Dora, the claimant and their lawyer must be able to show the following elements of liability:
In addition to using evidence from the scene of the injury to prove liability for the accident, a Mount Dora spinal cord injury lawyer will also have to show evidence of the financial and psychological impacts of the injury. This may take the form of medical bills, statements from employers of lost wages, and medical opinions about the claimant’s ability to work and earn an income.
In most cases, when a person has suffered an injury in Mount Dora that was caused by someone else’s carelessness, they have two years to file the claim in court as a personal injury lawsuit. Before the legal complaint is filed in court, however, the claimant and their lawyer will first file a claim with the at-fault party’s insurance provider.
The provider will assign a claims adjuster to review the case and determine whether to offer a settlement. It is common for this initial settlement offer to be lower than the value of the claim, and the claimant’s lawyer commonly engages in settlement negotiations to increase the value of the offer to properly compensate the claimant.
If a settlement cannot be reached and the two-year statute of limitations is approaching, the claim is filed in court. At that point, both sides will begin preparing their legal arguments, considering the evidence held by the other side, and continuing to negotiate. If a settlement for the spinal cord injury still is not forthcoming, a judge or jury will be asked to hear the case and resolve issues of liability and compensation.
Spinal cord injuries are complex and costly. Unfortunately, the legal process of seeking compensation is also complex. To learn more about the options that are available to you and the services a Mount Dora spinal cord injury lawyer can provide, contact The Umansky Law Firm online or call us now.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
