Personal Injury Claims

Guide to Personal Injury Law

The legal definition of a personal injury is an injury to your body, mind or emotions. It is not an injury to physical property. Personal injury covers physical harm, such as broken bones, bruises, or any serious injury sustained in an accident. It also includes...

Getting Your Claim Started

Personal injury claims must be brought within a specific period of time following the accident.   This is called the statute of limitations and it varies for each state, but most often it is a period of 3 years.   If you miss this window, there is very little that can be done...

Determining Liability in a Personal Injury Case

Determining liability is a major factor in any personal injury case.   It is essential to the success of any lawsuit and the primary focus of the attorney representing the injured victim.   It is the duty of your legal counsel to establish negligence.   Negligence is a legal term describing the actions of a party...

Statute of Limitations: Time Limit to File a Personal Injury Claim

If you have suffered a personal injury due to an automobile accident, medical malpractice, unsafe working conditions or another cause, the law limits the time in which you have to file a personal injury lawsuit.   Failure to timely and properly file suit within the applicable limitation period...

Your Claim and Amount of Compensation

After you have filed a claim with your insurance company, one of the first people you will encounter is the claims adjuster.   Their primary objective is to get you to sign a release of your entire claim as cheaply as possible....

Structured Settlement vs. Lump Sum Award Payments

Structured settlements are agreements to pay money to a successful plaintiff in a series of smaller payments rather than one lump sum...

Filing a Personal Injury Suit

Filing a lawsuit for personal injury cases involves a lot of paperwork and a dearth of knowledge regarding the personal injury laws that are practiced within the victim’s state of residence or the jurisdiction where the injury occurred.

Finalizing and Accepting a Settlement

A personal injury settlement is an agreement reached between two parties in a civil lawsuit.   In a settlement, one party attempts to keep the case from going to trial by offering an amount of money in the hopes that the other party will agree.   Once you and the adjuster have agreed on your personal injury...

Processing an Injury Claim: Beginning Settlement Negotiations

Records and other evidence are crucial in a personal injury case. From the time that the injury happens, you need to keep meticulous records.   Write down everything you remember about what happened, before, during and after the accident.   It’s a good idea to keep a daily log of how you feel...

The Settlement Negotiation Process

The insurance adjuster can be an intimidating individual.   They represent large insurance companies.   The claims adjusters overall job is to get you to sign a full release of all your claims for as little money as they can get you to accept.   The adjusters have many strategies for accomplishing...

Liability and Specific Accidents

The definition of civil law is applied when an individual seeks to obtain a resolution to a non-criminal dispute.   These most often include disagreements over divorce, child custody, property ownership, damages to personal property, and disputes regarding the meaning...

Personal Injury: Compensatory Damages

Personal injury torts are some of most prevalent legal actions in the American civil court system. In fact, the United States District Courts, which are the federal court forum for civil tort resolution, took on a collective caseload of 36,469 personal injury cases in the year 2007.

Should I Settle with the Insurance Company Myself or Hire an Attorney?

In this article I will discuss considerations in accepting the insurance company’s offer in a serious injury or wrongful death...

Independent Medical Examinations and Your Insurance Claim

When an injury victim files an insurance claim for medical benefits, the insurance company, will challenge the claim by obtaining an Independent Medical Examination.  Most insurance companies maintain a list...

Identifying Medicare and Medicaid Liens: Essential Tasks in Settling Your Case

The Personal Injury Attorneys at Collins & Collins, P.C. understand that Medicare and Medicaid liens are serious business. Failure to address...

Medicare & Medicaid Liens - Lurking Danger in Personal Injury Claims

Often times, our clients at Collins & Collins, P.C. have received Medicare or Medicaid benefits in the treatment of their personal injuries...

Filing a Claim for Personal Injury against a California Government Entity

Filing a Claim for Personal Injury against a California Government Entity