How Upton & Hatfield Can Help
Our goal is to handle the busy work of your case, so you can focus on yourself. When we are your chosen legal guides, we can investigate the details of your accident to look for evidence of liability.
Sometimes, we will work with outside experts to better build your case, such as a neurosurgeon to get a full understanding of a client’s brain injury. We will also want to calculate your damages accurately, so the true extent of your injuries is represented in the damage values we demand from the defendant.
When it comes to dealing with insurance companies, we also have you covered. Our Portsmouth personal injury lawyers can negotiate with insurance representatives to secure a fair settlement on your behalf. If your case cannot be settled due to a lack of cooperation from the other side, then we can also help you by preparing your case for litigation and acting on your behalf in court.
What Compensation Can You Get for Your Personal Injury Claim?
Two types of compensation might be available in your personal injury claim:
- Economic damage: Financial damage related to a tangible or out-of-pocket expense is economic or special damage. Past and future medical expenses and wage losses are the most common types of economic damage.
- Non-economic damage: Abstract forms of damage that do not have a clear dollar value are non-economic or general damage. Physical pain and suffering damage is the most common type of non-economic damage.
What Are the Grounds for Filing a Personal Injury Claim?
Although many accidents do warrant a personal injury claim, many others do not. Our legal team can help you figure out if you have a valid claim after being in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence.
Four elements to a personal injury claim that legitimize it are:
- Defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff
- Defendant breached that duty of care
- Breach of duty of care caused actual injuries
- Injuries caused economic damage or expenses
In legal terms, an act of negligence is an action that someone does that another person reasonably would not have done in the same situation, especially when that action caused someone’s injury. When a defendant breaches the duty of care owed to the plaintiff, it can usually be shown that the breach was caused by their negligence, which raises their liability. The more liable a defendant is for a plaintiff’s injuries, the more likely they will be required to repay their damages.
Importantly, people owe all sorts of “duties of care” to other people around them, even when there is no official, written, or oral contract between them. For example, every time you get in your car, you automatically accept that you owe a duty of care to other motorists and pedestrians, which means you will act reasonably to prevent an accident.
How Long Does a Personal Injury Lawsuit Take?
A personal injury lawsuit can take anywhere from a few months to a few years. The difference in the timeline will be caused by nuances and details in your case, so predicting how long your case will take to conclude is difficult.
Everything from the money owed to you and how liability is split to the insurance company you are dealing with will change the duration of your claim. When we are your Portsmouth injury lawyers, we will do all we can to make certain your case moves as smoothly as possible by avoiding unnecessary delays.
We cannot promise that your claim will end on a certain day or week, but we can continually help move it forward through our excellent legal representation.
Every Case Counts When It’s Handled by Us
At Upton & Hatfield, LLP, we have built our reputation by caring about every single case that our firm accepts. No one gets a hasty answer or impersonal representation. We take pride in showing our clients we care by doing all we can to get the most compensation available for their cases.
Call our personal injury attorneys in Portsmouth at (603) 634-9560 today.
Reasons to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer
When you or a loved one is injured in an accident, you may wonder whether or not you should hire a personal injury lawyer. Is your focus solely on recovering your health? Or do you want to get involved in the telephone calls, paperwork, negotiation and possible trial work necessary to recover damages and see justice served to the injuring party?
Maybe all you want is for life to go back to the way it was before the accident happened. Unfortunately, that may not be possible. But it is possible for you to recover for some of the financial, physical, and emotional losses caused by the injury.
Here are a few ways a lawyer can help you do that.
Cover All Damages
When you contact Upton & Hatfield, our personal injury lawyers in Portsmouth can help make sure that you are aware and educated on all the different types of losses a person can recover. In the case of a more serious injury, this is crucial knowledge because more money is at stake. Unless you are keen on New Hampshire laws, regulations, and settlements, a personal injury lawyer would be the number one source for determining which damages apply to your case and how to win them.
Minor Injuries Can Become Major
From whiplash to a traumatic spinal cord injury, there is a wide range of injuries that can result from an accident. When deciding to hire a personal injury attorney, many people base their decision on the severity of the injuries obtained.
It's not uncommon for people who appear to only have minor injuries after an accident to forgo hiring an attorney because they can settle small claims through the insurance company. Insurance companies love this because they likely end up paying less and have closed the case forever. But in some cases, those minor injuries become more serious than previously assumed.
If you have already settled your case, you're out of luck.
Even a fender bender can result in serious and permanent injuries such as herniated disks and nerve damage. There is no correlation between the amount of damage to the car and the severity of the injury. Symptoms may not occur for days or even weeks. A consultation with Upton & Hatfield can provide important insight about how to move forward before your injuries get worse.
Keeping Your Best Interest in Mind
Working alongside a personal injury attorney will guarantee that throughout the entire process, your best interest will be at the forefront of all decisions and settlements. This can differ from what insurance companies might want, which is usually to pay out as little as possible toward each case.
Your attorney’s goals, unlike the insurance company’s, will be aligned with yours: recovering the full value of your losses.
You're already dealing with the mental, emotional, and physical pain of a personal injury. Let a professional carry the burden of fighting for you. The right personal injury lawyer will handle your case fully and efficiently, allowing you to focus on putting your life back together.
