How Much Can I Claim For My Motorcycle Accident?
Negligent drivers are often responsible for injuring motorcyclists, especially in busy cities. If you or a family member or friend has suffered such an injury, how do you know how much your claim is worth? This depends largely on whether you can prove liability and an experienced personal accident attorney can help you to do this.
Who was liable?
If you have suffered a motorcycle accident and you believe the other party was negligent, you have to be able to prove this if you want to win your case. The proof may be in the form of statements by eyewitnesses, police reports or physical evidence from the accident scene.
Having a personal accident attorney who has handled personal injury accidents before can make a difference to the outcome of your case. After considering the facts, he or she will know all the legal options available to prove that the other party was at fault.
Damages
If the other party is at fault due to negligence, the next move is to calculate the damages. Damages include more than just physical injuries. They may also be emotional, mental and financial.
‘Special’ damages can be calculated exactly. This may consist of the medical bills you incurred as a result of the accident. This includes treatment you have undergone as a result of the accident and future medical expenses for treatment like physical therapy.
Loss of earnings will include loss of past and present earnings. The figure is obtained by multiplying your hourly wages or salary directly before the accident by the amount of time you have been unable to work as a result of the accident.
Future loss of earning capacity is more difficult to calculate as there are more speculative variables involved. If you work with a personal injury attorney, a forensic accountant or economist may be hired on your behalf to help calculate your future loss of earning capacity.
General damages are not as easy to calculate. This includes damages that do not have an exact dollar figure attached, such as emotional pain and suffering. Once again, an experienced lawyer knows acceptable methods to prove this kind of damage as well as how best to present your case to the jury if it goes to trial.
To settle or not to settle
Deciding whether to settle or not involves calculating risks versus rewards. A settlement may be below what’s awarded by a jury but it’s a certainty, whereas being able to convince a jury is not. Your attorney will be able to make the best decision by relying on experience and knowledge of the law.
Get legal assistance
Attorneys at the Weberman Law Office in Los Angeles have successfully litigated many personal accident cases. If you want them to put their expert legal knowledge to work for you, fill in a contact form on the website and someone will contact you as soon as possible. You can also call (213) 386-9100 to arrange an appointment.