When you get injured in a car accident, chances are you know that you want to file a lawsuit, and you know that you need a lawyer to do so. However, it may not be exactly clear how a lawyer can help their client get the compensation they need after an accident. Would-be plaintiffs may be interested in how exactly lawyers are going to help them for the duration of the case.
In broad strokes, lawyers are communicators and investigators who have knowledge of the law and how courts work. We can handle getting evidence together, building an argument that will convince the court that you are owed damages, and communicating with other parties, some of which may not have your best interest at heart so that you do not have to.
To get a free initial case analysis with our Georgia car accident lawyers, call Howe Law at the number (844) 876-4357.
Are You Required to Have a Lawyer in Court in Georgia?
Technically, you are not required to have a lawyer represent you in court. However, not hiring professional legal help when you file a case is a monumentally terrible idea, which drastically reduces your chance of having any shred of success whatsoever in your lawsuit. Having legal counsel is so important to have a fair shot in any legal matter that courts will appoint a lawyer to represent people who cannot afford their own rather than have them represent themselves.
Litigants (parties in a lawsuit) who choose to represent themselves anyway are called “pro se” litigants. “Pro se” means that they speak for themselves and do not have someone representing them. Representing yourself is a terrible idea for many reasons. Plaintiffs are too closely connected to the events of their own situation to view them in the same way that an attorney hired to represent them would. For that reason and more, not even practicing lawyers will represent themselves in court and will hire legal counsel to do so instead. Moreover, the court cannot help you with many procedures, rules, and forms. You would be treated as if you were an attorney, and to help one attorney more than another would be unfair to the court.
How Our Lawyers Can Help with Your Georgia Car Accident Claim
Our Atlanta, GA car accident lawyers can do so much more than argue for you in court. The reality is that trials and arguments in front of a jury are only the last step in the lengthy legal process. Lawyers help plaintiffs in a variety of ways long before a case ever gets to trial.
Form a Legal Argument
Most non-lawyers will have an idea of when a car accident is someone else’s fault, especially if they got injured in the accident. However, knowing that you have been wronged and articulating that fact to the court in a way that lets the law handle your situation are two different things entirely. Essentially, you need to tell the court how the defendant wronged you in the right way, or it won’t make sense under the law.
Lawyers are trained to look at a situation and apply a legal framework to it. This means that we can explain to the judge and jury exactly how your situation lines up with the type of compensation the law permits.
Collect Information and Evidence
Another important function of lawyers representing you in a case is the compilation of important evidence before trial. When our lawyers build a case for a client, they need a lot of information from a wide variety of sources. For example, one case may need medical records from hospitals and care providers in order to show what medical treatments the plaintiff underwent, pay stubs from work to show if they lost income from not working while injured, testimony from eyewitnesses to the accident, and more in order to form a strong argument. In addition to all of that, attorneys will also reach out to the opposing lawyer to get information from them through a process called “discovery,” where attorneys for each side exchange information.
Talk to Other Parties
You will need to communicate with people who do not want you to win the case in the lead-up to your lawsuit. Namely, the other side’s lawyer or “opposing counsel.” This is not out of malice or ill will but instead because it is their job to represent their client in court, just like it would be our lawyer’s job to represent you. In some instances, talking to opposing counsel will be in a formal setting, like a deposition. However, there is a chance that opposing counsel could try and contact you directly, especially prior to when you retain legal counsel to represent you. Our lawyers can act as an intermediary so that the chance that communication accidentally hurts your case is minimized.
Depending on your case, you may also have to talk to both your insurance company as well as an insurance company for another driver. Some of the same things apply. Insurance companies are not in the business of paying out when they don’t have to, so they will be looking for things that make it seem like they are not holding the bag. Even saying something as simple as, “My bad,” could be seen as a potential admission of fault. When our lawyers communicate with these entities instead, the risk that something harms your chance of success is reduced.
Talk About Your Case with Our Georgia Car Accident Lawyers Today
Howe Law’s Athens, GA car accident lawyers are ready to talk about your case for free when you call (844) 876-4357.
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