I could write about how I will fight tooth and nail to get you compensated or how insurance companies will treat you unfairly unless you hire an attorney. But you have already read that on every other attorney website (or heard it on the radio or on the buses across town). There are numerous law firms that can fit you into their cookie cutter approach to personal injury and hand you off to staff, paralegals or junior attorneys. I do not do that.
To make you stand out amongst the thousands of claims being filed, I use my film production experience to take a visual approach to demands and litigation. I understand that your personal injury is unique and personal to you. I concentrate on treating you and your injury as more than just words on paper.
The insurance adjuster will see you as a person, just like them, that has experienced an unnecessary and traumatic event their life. They will know you, your family and the impact your injury has had on everyone. The jury will envision the events that led to your injury and feel the impact that it has had on your life, and your future. Your injury deserves more than just being processed into dollars using a mathematical calculation on attorney letterhead. It had an emotional and shocking effect on you – that effect must be communicated to the people that will evaluate and ultimately compensate you, whether it be an insurance adjuster, judge or jury.
What is a tort?
Tort law is the foundation for all injury claims. While attorneys like to state they practice in numerous areas of the law, and list car accidents, dog bites, construction accidents, trucking accidents, slip and fall, etc., their focus is tort claims. Tort claims are divided into intentional torts, negligence and strict liability. Depending on the type of injury, the willfulness of the conduct and Arizona statutes, your claim will fall under one of these three. The most common tort claim is one of negligence.
While there are nuances to particular types of injuries, the four factors of negligence will be the most important:
(1) duty,
(2) breach,
(3) causation and
(4) damages.
A duty is established based upon the relationship the person. For example, car drivers have a duty to drive safely and not harm others on the road. Landowners have a duty to maintain a safe premises.
Breach occurs when a person with a duty fails to uphold it.
Causation means that your injury was caused by the breach of duty. In other words, if the person did not act, you would not be injured. Sometimes, your injury may be caused by one person, but your own negligence contributed towards your injury. Generally, the jury or fact finder will find a percentage of fault and reduce your damage award accordingly.
The final element is damages. This encompasses your medical bills, pain and suffering, loss of income, loss of future earnings and, in rare circumstances, punitive (penalty) damages. The amount of these damages can vary significantly from case to case. Without an attorney, you may find yourself at the whim of an insurance adjuster and evaluating your own claim will likely not maximize your recovery. Additionally, a standard attorney demand is not as effective as you would hope. The adjuster gets hundreds of self represented and attorney demands. To maximize your recovery, you need to do something different and stands out among the crowd.