If you are planning on filing a personal injury lawsuit with the state, you don't actually have to have a personal injury lawyer in order to file a lawsuit. You are allowed to represent yourself if you want with a civil lawsuit.
There are times where it makes more sense to represent yourself, and other times where it makes more sense to hire an attorney to represent you. Whether or not you should represent yourself depends largely on the time and expertise you have and the complexity of the case.
#1 You Can Handle a Simple, Small Case on Your Own
If you have a simple, small personal injury case where you are trying to get a small amount for an individual or insurance company, it is often better to handle it on your own. If you are looking at less than a $1,000 pay-out, it doesn't necessarily make financial sense to involve an attorney.
For example, if your personal property was damaged in an accident and you are seeking money to replace it, you could take on that case on your own. Any case where the financial payout is small and the evidence is really straight forward is something you can handle on your own.
#2 Hire An Attorney For More Complex, Expensive Cases
For any case where the issue at hand is more serious—for example, a wrongful death claim or a limb amputation or another life-threatening injury—you are going to want to bring in a lawyer. More complex cases means more complex evidence, and an attorney is going to know exactly what evidence they need to bring to the table. An attorney is going to know what evidence needs to be gathered up and when an expert witness is needed to explain the evidence.
With complex cases, the evidence you gather on your own isn't going to cut it. With more complex cases, evidence will need to be requested via court order from other parties, oftentimes the parties you are going against.
The more money is at stake, the more the party you are suing is going to put up a fight. No one wants to part with large amounts of money, so the larger the potential payout for you if you win your case, the harder the other side is going to try to fight you or get you to settle for less. An attorney will either ensure that you get a settlement you deserve or take your case to trial.
When it comes to personal injury lawsuits, if the damage at hand is really straightforward and the amount you are seeking is low, you can handle the lawsuit yourself if you want. You should bring in an attorney if the case is more complex and/or if the compensation you are seeking is a large amount. An attorney will be able to handle the complexity of your case while ensuring you get a fair settlement.
Share29 December 2018
After I was in a car accident, I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the future. I had some really significant back and neck pain, so I started talking with a lawyer about how to recover some of my losses. I began working with an attorney to take care of things, but I was nervous about how the process would unfold. I began working with the attorney to evaluate every component of the incident, and help me to decode the problems I was faced with. We worked on learning more about the lawsuit, and it helped me to make sense of the situation. Learn more about accidents on this blog.