Areas of Practice:  Personal Injury
HELPFUL TOPICS:

(1)  Personal injury accident -  Typically involves some type of vehicle
whereby someone’s negligence caused a person to suffer bodily injury.

(2)  Jurisdiction - The county and state where an action can be filed.

(3)  Parties - The persons or entity who are potentially involved in a
case/lawsuit.

  • Plaintiff - the person or entity bringing the action  (lawsuit).

  • Defendant - the person or entity against whom an action or  lawsuit
    is filed.

(4)  Statute of limitations - The time in which a party has to bring an
action or lawsuit.  If the case is not filed as a lawsuit or settled before the
statute of limitations runs  you are forever barred from recovery. The time
for the typical personal injury case is two (2) years.

(5)  Damages - The result of the accident, this is generally an injury to the
person, place or thing involved in the accident. You must have damages
to have a cause of action.

(6)  Medical bills - The result of most accidents involve a trip to the
hospital, then a follow up with surgery, physical therapy or other types of
treatment, all of which cost money. Most medical providers will file a lien
for payment. We help with the management of the bills, liens and work to
obtain payment from the insurance company.

(7)  Insurance - This is a complicated topic.

  • Property coverage - typically covers the vehicles.

  • Liability - only covers who you hit.

  • Full coverage- really means nothing.

  • UM - coverage you have and pay for to help if the third  party was
    uninsured or underinsured.

(8)  Property damage - The damage done to an automobile, vehicle or
property.

(9)  Experts - Depending on the issues involved in your case you might
need someone to help with a certain topic.

  • Medical expert - to explain injuries, treatment and future medical.

  • Accident - a person to help establish the events which   caused the
    accident and fault.

  • Economic - deals with loss of income due to injury or   death of a
    party. Assistance in valuing a case.

  • Other - experts exist for almost any issue and their    assistance is
    irreplaceable.

(10)  Filing a lawsuit - A lawsuit is filed any time prior to the expiration of
the statue of limitations as a way to motivate the other side to work
toward a resolution. The       compensation due to an injured party is
money. That is how the system is designed to compensate personal
injuries and assist in deterring future negligence.  Every day an insurance
company can keep money in the bank, they earn interest. The insurance
company has two goals: (1) to pay the least amount of money possible;
and (2) to keep their money in the bank as long as possible. When a
lawsuit is filed it is typically filed in the county where the accident took
place. After the filing of a lawsuit the court will set deadlines to move the
case forward. The parties will conduct depositions and exchange
discovery.

(11)  Mediation - This is a common practice in most injury cases. The
parties attend a conference with a mediator to attempt to settle the case.
Each party outlines their case to the mediator. The parties and their
attorneys are then separated and the mediator spends time going back
and forth between the parties attempting to settle the case. Mediation is
an excellent opportunity to settle a case.

(12)  Trial - If all else fails and the parties cannot agree on how to settle
the case, the mater will be set for trial before a judge or jury.

(13)  Settlement - Most cases will be settled before trial. Typically all
parties are working to settle the case before trial.

(14)  Value - What is my case worth? This varies widely depending on
the facts and circumstances of the case. A true evaluation typically cannot
be determined until all of  the treatment is done and the facts and evidence
are gathered.

(15)  Fees and costs - Cases are typically handled on a contingency basis
with all fees and costs advanced by our firm.

(16)  Why do I need a lawyer - Because they have a lawyer and the
resolution of your case to them is just business. The business is to keep
profits up and costs down.  This may seem harsh but it is the basic
principal of a successful business.  The insurance company is not your
friend. The system is complicated, confusing and not user friendly.

(17)  Final thought - If you were involved in an accident and injured
someone, would you want your insurance to pay? By pursuing
compensation you are simply exercising your legal right. You are not
taking money from the other party. You will be paid by an insurance
company. Your lawsuit will not harm the other party. The other driver's
record was damaged when they caused the accident.  
Our Mission is to
help our clients
obtain
extraordinary
results in the
Oklahoma legal
system through
professional
representation.
ALBERTS & ASSOCIATES
Attorneys & Counselors at Law
Phone (405) 232-2444                                        john@albertslaw.net                                      Fax (405) 232-2445