Arizona Personal Injury Lawyers

Even when a person suffers injuries in an accident that someone else caused, the accident victim still has the burden of proof in the case. Ordinarily, the accident victim must demonstrate, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the at-fault person or entity violated the duty of care and that, as a result, the accident occurred. Finally, the accident victim must show that the injuries and damages they suffered resulted from the accident.

In the case of a car accident claim, for example, the accident victim would need to show that the at-fault driver deviated from the prevailing standard of care in some manner. The driver might have violated a road rule, such as by speeding or failing to use a turn signal, and the accident occurred as a result. In clear cases of drunk driving accidents, the at-fault driver’s insurance company might go so far as to concede fault for the accident.

In addition to proving a violation of the standard of care, the accident victim must show that this negligence led to the accident—and that the accident led to the resulting injuries.

In a personal injury case, expert testimony often becomes necessary. In cases where the insurance company is disputing fault for the accident, the accident victim’s lawyer might need to retain a qualified accident reconstructionist who can piece together exactly how the accident happened. Moreover, in many personal injury cases, medical experts are necessary. A medical provider, such as a doctor, would need to state—to a reasonable degree of medical certainty—that an accident victim’s injuries are related to the accident and causally flow from the accident.

A knowledgeable Arizona personal injury attorney at Zanes Law Injury Lawyers can retain the necessary experts to try to prove the legal elements of your claim. Proving these legal elements puts you in a position to be eligible for monetary compensation in the form of damages.

The experienced team of Arizona personal injury lawyers at Zanes Law Injury Lawyers can handle all of the legal aspects of your claim while you concentrate on recovering from your injuries. Our legal team will help you file a claim or lawsuit against the person or entity at fault for your accident. We can then help you pursue the compensation that you need for your injuries by way of a favorable financial settlement, arbitration award, or jury verdict. What follows are the answers to some common questions that often arise in the context of Arizona personal injury cases.

How long do I have to file a personal injury claim or lawsuit and what happens if I fail to file on time?

The statute of limitations—or the deadline for filing a lawsuit—in Arizona personal injury cases is relatively short. To be exact, most victims of car accidents, slip and falls, and similar accidents only have two years from the accident date to file a lawsuit arising from their injuries. This statute of limitations is very unforgiving, and if you fail to sue within this deadline, you can no longer seek monetary compensation and damages for all of the injuries resulting from your accident. Therefore, you must file your lawsuit on time in the Arizona state court system.

This short personal injury statute of limitations is one reason why you should retain experienced legal counsel to represent you in your case as promptly as possible. A knowledgeable attorney can file a lawsuit well in advance of the two-year statute of limitations deadline. Even after you file the lawsuit, your attorney can continue working on your behalf to pursue a favorable settlement offer in your case.

What happens after I file a personal injury claim with the at-fault party’s insurance company?

If you sustain injuries in an accident that happened due to someone else’s negligence, you should usually file a claim with the at-fault person’s insurance company. Assuming the insurance company accepts liability for the case, you can begin the settlement process by submitting a demand letter to the insurance company adjuster handling your particular claim.

As part of a demand package, your attorney will likely include:

• Demand letter – The demand letter discusses how the accident occurred and makes an opening demand for settlement. If the accident victim suffers serious injuries in the accident—or if the accident brought about a fatality—then the initial demand might be for the full available limits of the insurance policy. In any case, the demand should fully and fairly compensate the accident victim—not only for economic damages (medical expenses, lost earnings, and other out-of-pocket costs), but also for all of the pain, inconvenience, and suffering that the accident victim had to endure following the accident.
• Pertinent documentation – Along with a demand letter, the settlement demand package should include copies of all pertinent documentation in the case. Important pieces of documentation include all related medical records, medical bills, lost wage documentation from the accident victim’s employer, and a copy of the police report or other investigative report. The insurance company will use all of this documentation to assess the value of the case and likely make an offer to settle.
• Photographs of property damage and injuries – When the insurance company observes significant property damage on one or more vehicles, adjusters tend to assume that the case is valuable from a settlement standpoint. Consequently, any property damage photos should accompany the settlement demand package. Moreover, if the accident victim has photographs of their injuries, such as bruises, scars, or abrasions, they should also include those to help the insurance company adjuster assess the damages in the case.
• Victim impact statement – In some instances, a victim impact statement becomes important to a personal injury case—especially when the accident victim is alleging that they sustained permanent injuries and damages in the accident. The victim impact statement, which the accident victim prepares with their attorney’s assistance, usually contains a narrative description of the accident and how it occurred, along with information about the impact that the accident had on the person’s overall quality of life and well-being. For example, injuries that the accident victim sustained might prohibit them from playing with children or grandchildren.

Once the accident victim’s lawyer submits the demand package to the insurance company, the adjuster will review the demand letter along with the other documents that make up the settlement demand package. The adjuster may then make an initial offer to settle the personal injury case.

Accident victims should be very wary about accepting initial settlement offers from insurance companies. This is because initial offers do not typically compensate accident victims for the full measure of their damages. In most cases, the amount of the initial settlement offer won’t cover all of your expenses. Keep in mind that insurance companies are big businesses, and they will do everything in their power to settle a personal injury case for as little money as possible. By offering a small initial settlement amount, the insurance company is trying to entice accident victims who are in a hurry to settle and are willing to accept anything to resolve the case.

An experienced Arizona personal injury attorney can negotiate with the insurance company adjuster. In many cases, it will take several rounds of negotiation between the accident victim’s lawyer and the insurance company adjuster before an injured claimant receives a reasonable settlement offer.

However, at other times, the insurance company adjuster might refuse to offer full and fair compensation to resolve the personal injury case. When that happens, the accident victim might elect to have their attorney file a lawsuit in the matter. Filing a lawsuit does not prevent the person’s injury case from settling. Rather, filing suit gets the ball rolling on litigation and keeps the case moving forward to a conclusion.

The knowledgeable Arizona personal injury attorneys at Zanes Law Injury Lawyers can help you determine whether or not a pending personal injury settlement offer is worth accepting in your case. Your attorney can also let you know your approximate net compensation if you decide to accept a settlement offer from the insurance company. If you decide that a particular offer is not worth accepting, your attorney can assist you throughout the litigation process by filing suit and moving the matter forward to a favorable conclusion.

Will my personal injury legal matter need to proceed all the way to a jury trial? What are some other options?

Even if you decide to file a lawsuit in your personal injury case, you can still reach a favorable settlement. In fact, the vast majority of Arizona personal injury cases settle before trial. Therefore, just because you file a lawsuit in your case does not mean that you will need to go to a jury trial to resolve the case.

First of all, by filing a lawsuit in your case, the court will typically schedule a settlement conference with the court. Settlement conferences usually take place after the conclusion of written and oral discovery, including depositions. At a court settlement conference, both attorneys and their clients meet with a judge or settlement officer to see if the case can reach a favorable resolution. The judge or settlement officer will usually meet with everyone together and then have individual breakout sessions with the lawyers and their clients. The goal of a settlement conference is to see if the parties can reach a settlement number that they both can live with.

As an alternative to taking an Arizona personal injury case to a jury trial in state court, the parties might consider some form of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or binding arbitration. A mediation proceeds much in the same way a settlement conference does. The parties meet with a neutral, third-party mediator who helps the parties see if they can reach a favorable settlement number in the case.

At arbitration, the parties put on their case much as they would at a jury trial. However, a pre-appointed neutral arbitrator decides the outcome of any disputed issues. At most binding arbitration proceedings, the only disputed issue is that of damages. In binding arbitration, the arbitrator’s decision is final and you generally cannot appeal it in court.

The experienced Arizona personal injury lawyers at Zanes Law Injury Lawyers can explore potential alternative dispute resolution options with you and explain the pros and cons of each.