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Sustaining an injury in a slip and fall accident, automobile accident, or another personal injury case can be overwhelming. In addition to the pain and suffering you experience, you could incur substantial bills, expenses, and financial losses. 

The situation is incredibly frustrating when your injury was caused by another person’s negligence or intentional acts. You would not be in this position had it not been for another party’s reckless acts. 

The good news is that personal injury laws give you the legal right to file a claim for damages. The party responsible for causing your injury can be legally liable for your economic damages, including lost wages and out-of-pocket expenses. You can also seek compensation for your emotional distress, pain, and suffering.

As the injured victim, you must prove your case, which can be challenging. However, here are some ways you can ensure you get compensated for personal injury claims. 

Gather Evidence from the Accident Scene 

Proving fault for an accident begins with the evidence you collect at the accident scene. Tips include:

• Take photographs of the accident scene, including what caused your injury and property damage
• Make a video of the accident scene in case you overlooked something when taking photos
• Gather information from the witnesses so your lawyer can contact them for formal statements
• Ask for a copy of the completed accident report 

Don’t say anything that could imply you accept blame for causing the accident or think you could be partly to blame. Avoid talking about the details of the accident to anyone other than the police officer.

Seek Immediate Medical Treatment for Injuries

It is generally a good idea to receive medical attention, regardless of whether you’ve sustained an obvious injury. Some injuries do not present themselves at the scene of the accident.

Therefore, don’t refuse treatment at the accident scene. Instead, go to the hospital or a physician as soon as possible. 

Delays in medical attention could hurt your case and keep you from receiving compensation for injuries. If you wait too long to see a doctor, the insurance company might fight your claim. The insurance adjuster might say the accident did not cause your injuries or you failed to mitigate damages.

On the other hand, seeking prompt medical care can strengthen your personal injury case. You must prove the accident caused your injuries. Detailed medical records become key evidence in a personal injury case. 

Don’t Discuss Your Injuries or Accident Case

Only discuss your case with your personal injury lawyer. Talking with an attorney before you speak with the insurance company is best. Also, avoid social media, blogs, and other online posting sites.

Posting information online could hurt your case. Insurance companies perform thorough searches for evidence online. An innocent post saying you are okay could be twisted to argue you were not injured.

Hire an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer 

Having a trusted legal team handle your case could be one of the most important choices you make to help you get compensation after a personal injury. Handling your claim without legal advice and guidance often results in a much lower settlement amount. 

The insurance company has a team protecting it from liability. It is virtually impossible to fight those resources on your own. Instead, you can hire a personal injury law firm to even the playing field. Your attorney has the resources, skills, and experience to go up against insurance companies and win.

However, don’t just hire a lawyer. Instead, hire an attorney with considerable experience handling cases like yours. For example, if a car wreck caused your injury, hire a car accident attorney. But if you were injured in a slip and fall, hire lawyer with experience in premises liability law.

Complete Medical Treatment and Be Patient

A personal injury case can take time to settle, so you need to be patient to get fair compensation for a personal injury or accident. 

First, you don’t want to settle your claim before you complete medical treatment. Otherwise, you are responsible for future medical bills and losses. You also need to know if you sustained a permanent impairment that could substantially increase your claim’s value. 

Second, your lawyer needs time to investigate your claim and gather evidence. The more evidence you present, the better your chance of receiving maximum compensation for a personal injury. 

Being patient could result in much more money in your pocket at the end of your case. 

Listen to Your Personal Injury Attorney and Follow Their Advice

An insurance company might make a quick settlement offer. Don’t fall for it. Initial settlement offers are usually much lower than what your case is worth.

The insurance company knows you want to settle your case quickly. Therefore, it makes an offer and hopes you take it so the company can avoid paying a more considerable amount. 

Your lawyer understands how much your case is worth. So listen to your attorney’s advice about accepting a settlement offer. 

The choice is yours, but you hired your attorney for their expertise. If your attorney says the settlement offer is too low, don’t take the offer. 

It can be difficult waiting for a personal injury settlement. However, when you hire the right attorney and are patient, you have a much better chance of receiving the money you deserve.

There are a glut of attorneys in the U.S. In fact, lawyers are the 25th most common profession in the country. There are over 108,000 active attorneys in Texas alone. 

With this many lawyers around, it can be hard to know how to find the right one for your case. This article discusses how to find the right personal injury lawyer in Austin. Read on for key tips that can help you in your search for legal representation. 

1. Searching the Internet 

The internet is the most common method for finding a lawyer. Over 90% of consumers use a search engine when looking for legal services. Google, of course, is the most popular search engine.

You can begin your search for a lawyer on Google. You can search for keyword terms like “personal injury lawyer near me” or “Austin personal injury lawyer.” This search will provide you with a list of lawyers and law firms in your area.

A Google search should be the beginning — not the end — of your search. You can’t automatically assume that law firms that appear on the first page of Google are the best firms to handle your injury case. They may just have the biggest marketing budgets or the most search-engine-friendly websites. 

Therefore, you should always conduct further research on the attorneys you find on Google or other search engines.

2. Legal Directories

Legal directories provide an excellent way to do more in-depth research on a particular personal injury lawyer. Directories provide useful information about an attorney, including their contact information, years of experience, practice areas, awards, and disciplinary history, among other things. Many directories also provide a rating for the attorney based on peer reviews and/or information in their profile. 

We’ll go over the most popular legal directories below.

Avvo

Avvo is perhaps the most well-known legal directory and attorney rating service. The platform creates a profile for every licensed lawyer it can identify — which includes 97% of attorneys in the U.S.

Avvo rates lawyers on a scale of 1.0 – 10.0 based on the information lawyers include in their profiles and information from state bar organizations.

Avvo also has a spot for “customer reviews,” where former clients can rate their experience with a lawyer out of five stars. For example, if you are reviewing personal injury lawyers in Austin on Avvo, you will see a one to five-star client rating below the attorney’s name.

Avvo allows you to get a comprehensive look at the quality of an attorney’s legal services. Ideally, you’d want to hire someone who has an Avvo Rating of 10, such as Joshua Fogelman, a personal injury lawyer in Austin at FVF Law Firm.

Justia

Justia has a large directory of lawyer profiles. Like Avvo, the platform uses a 1.0 – 10.0 rating system for attorneys. However, a lawyer’s rating is based solely on peer reviews from other attorneys who have worked with the lawyer. Justia provides specific 1.0 – 5.0 ratings for an attorney’s legal knowledge, legal analysis, communication skills, and ethics/professionalism.

Justia provides you with a glimpse of what the legal community thinks about a lawyer.

Findlaw

Findlaw has one of the largest online lawyer directories on the internet. FindLaw does not have its own rating system. Rather, an attorney’s Findlaw rating is based on the average of all the attorney’s client reviews on their profile. Clients can rate a lawyer from one to five stars. 

Findlaw offers a good opportunity to find out what former clients have to say about their experience with a lawyer.

3. Online Reviews

As noted above, many online legal directories provide a terrific source of client reviews. However, Google is the gold standard for attorney reviews — and will be the place you’ll likely find the most client reviews and ratings for a lawyer or law firm. 

You can typically find an attorney’s Google reviews on their Google Business Profile listing. This listing should come up with you search the attorney or firm name on Google. You can also type the name or the term “personal injury lawyer” into Google Maps to see the results with reviews.

Take time to read the reviews of a lawyer you’re considering hiring. Read the good reviews and the bad reviews. Take note of how the attorney responds to negative reviews. Are they professional and empathetic, or are they petty and aggressive? This information can give you insight into what the lawyer would be like to work with. 

4. Texas State Bar 

The State Bar of Texas website can be a valuable asset in your search for an attorney. The bar operates an attorney referral service for individuals looking for legal services. This service will refer you to a lawyer in your geographic area that best matches your legal needs. 

The Bar also has a directory of all active and inactive attorneys in Texas. This directory will tell you the lawyer’s contact info, date of licensure, and disciplinary history, among other things. 

5. Prepare for Your Consultation With an Injury Lawyer

Identifying a lawyer is only the first step in finding the best legal professional for your case. Your initial consultation will provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision. Most personal injury lawyers offer free consultations. So, be sure to make the most of it.

Prepare a list of questions for your injury attorney to help you determine if they’ll be a good fit for your case. At a minimum, you should ask about:

• Their years of experience
• Their history of handlings cases like yours
• Whether they exclusively practice personal injury law
• Whether they have trial experience
• Whether they’ll hire experts to help with your case
• Their fee structure
• Their estimation of the value of your personal Injury claim

Preparing a list of questions can help you stay on task during your consultation. It can also help you remember all the things you want to discuss in the meeting. 

You should walk away from your consultation with a pretty good idea of the attorney’s personality and whether they are they right lawyer for your case. You should feel free to have multiple initial consultations to make sure you get the right legal representation. After all, it can take a few tries to find the best personal injury lawyer in Austin, TX.

In many cases, the rear driver in a rear-end car crash is at fault, but not always. The lead driver could be at fault or share liability for the cause of a rear-end collision. 

Fault for a rear-end accident is not automatic. You must review all facts and circumstances to determine which driver caused the accident. 

Why Is Liability Important in a Rear-End Accident Case?

Fault determines who is responsible for paying damages after a car accident. Liability can be established by proving which driver’s negligence caused the car wreck. 

An injured victim could pursue a personal injury claim against the at-fault driver for damages such as:

• The cost of medical treatment 
• Loss of income
• Pain and suffering
• Future lost wages and decreases in earning potential
• Permanent disabilities and impairments
• Cost of long-term nursing care 
• Out-of-pocket expenses
• Mental and emotional distress
• Decrease in quality of living
• Personal care and assistance with household chores

In addition to compensatory damages, a person could receive punitive damages (exemplary damages) for a rear-end accident if they can prove the other driver acted with malice, fraud, or oppression. Punitive damages are rarely awarded, however.

How Do You Prove Fault for a Rear-End Accident in California?

Fault for a rear-end crash is determined by negligence. To hold a driver liable for damages, you must prove the elements of negligence:

• The other driver owed you a duty of care
• The driver breached the duty of care through their acts or omissions
• The breach of duty was the proximate and direct cause of the rear-end accident
• You sustained damages because of the breach of duty

All drivers have a duty to use reasonable care when operating a motor vehicle, including following California traffic laws. Drivers must control their speed and movement of the vehicle, and they must keep a lookout for other vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, and other obstacles.

Many rear-end accidents are caused by the rear driver failing to maintain a safe distance or failing to keep a proper lookout. Numerous factors could contribute to the cause of the accident, including:

• Impaired driving
• Distracted driving
• Following too closely
• Drowsy driving
• Speeding
• Aggressive or reckless driving

Proving liability requires you to prove that the rear driver caused the crash. Evidence could include video of the collision, eyewitness testimony, vehicle damage, physical evidence, statements by the drivers, and evidence from expert witnesses. 

California Vehicle Code §21703 states a driver shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is prudent and reasonable. 

There is no law stating a specific safe following distance. Therefore, drivers have the duty of judging the following distance needed to be able to stop if the car in front of them suddenly slows or stops. 

Typically, it is presumed that the rear driver is at fault unless evidence proves the lead driver was negligent. The driver in the rear failed to keep a safe distance and a proper lookout.

Can the Lead Driver in a Rear-end Crash Be at Fault?

Yes, in some circumstances, the lead driver could be responsible for causing the crash. Negligent conduct that could result in liability for the lead driver includes:

• Backing up on the road
• Pulling out in front of another vehicle
• Intentionally trying to be rear-ended
• Suddenly braking without cause
• Drunk driving
• Driving without operating brake lights

The lead driver also has a duty to use reasonable care when driving. If the lead driver fails to use reasonable care, they could be liable for damages.

In some cases, the lead driver could be partially to blame. California’s contributory negligence laws state that an injured party’s compensation for damages is reduced by the party’s percentage of fault.

Therefore, if a jury finds the lead driver in a rear-end crash was 50% at fault for the cause of the crash, the lead driver would only receive one-half of their damages. For example, if the jury awarded the lead driver $200,000 in damages, the amount received would be $100,000.

Who Is at Fault for a Chain Reaction Rear-End Crash?

Rear-end accidents might involve several vehicles. A rear-end crash begins a chain reaction with each vehicle colliding with the vehicle in front of it. Liability for a multi-vehicle rear-end accident can be challenging to determine.

Multiple drivers could share liability for the car accident. As a result, an accident reconstructionist and other experts may be required to sort out fault.

What Should I Do if I Am Involved in a Rear-end Crash in California?

You should report the accident to the police by calling 911 and not admit fault at the accident scene. As soon as possible, seek medical attention for your injuries and consider seeking legal advice from a Los Angeles car accident lawyer. 

The insurance company may try to shift blame to the other driver to avoid paying a claim. You might need an experienced accident attorney to investigate the crash to gather evidence proving you did not cause the accident.