Thursday, June 23, 2011

An Attorney’s Personal Touch is Important

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

Most people think that when they hire a Personal Injury Attorney they actually get an attorney to work for them.  Usually that is partially true.  I say that it is partially true because some law firms very much limit what the attorney’s will do for personal injury clients.  After the initial introduction with a client some firms will use a “Claims Administrator” or other individual to handle the file to a conclusion.  In fact, many times it is that same individual who actually settles the claim.  The attorney’s involvement is usually limited to the first introduction with the client.  That may very well be the last time that the attorney either talks to or sees his client again.  Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to know how a law firm handles their cases before hiring them.  The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson the personal injury attorney’s keeps contact with their clients throughout the pendency of the claim.  While secretaries, paralegals, and law clerks are used to assist with the file, the attorney’s are always available to discuss your case.  The attorney’s handle the negotiations for settlement.  The personal injury attorney’s at the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson enjoy their work and are available to discuss pending claims with their clients.  If you live in Placentia, Yorba Linda, Brea, Anaheim, Fullerton, or surrounding area, contact one of the attorney’s at the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson for a confidential and free evaluation of your claim. 

An Experienced Attorney can assist in getting their client fully compensated

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

Whenever someone is seriously injured by someone else’s negligence, there is a question as to whether the negligent party has any money to pay for the damage.  If the negligent party does not have any property or any other assets of consequence, that is when the benefit of an experienced personal injury attorney such as The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson come in.
If you are dealing with an automobile accident, it will be important to determine whether or not the negligent party was acting within the course and scope of his employment.  If so, the employer can be responsible for the negligent acts of their employee.  Even if the employee has a minimal 15/30 policy, if they caused the injury while acting in the course and scope of their employment, the employer will be held just as responsible as the driver.  Before settling any claim where the actual damages exceed policy limits, it is critical to determine whether or not the driver was acting in the course and scope of his employment at the time of the accident.  The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson serves the communities of Placentia, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Brea, Tustin, and Anaheim.  When evaluating personal injury claims the attorneys will carefully evaluate all potential sources of recovery for their client.  In order to insure a full and adequate recovery for your personal injury claim it is important to enlist the services of competent personal injury attorneys such as the ones that you will find with the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson.

Are you covered? Know your limits

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson is your local auto accident expert.  We service Yorba Linda, Placentia, Anaheim, Tustin, Brea, Fullerton, and surrounding areas.  When we meet with clients who have been involved in automobile accidents, one of the first things that we ask our clients is the level of coverage that they have for uninsured / under insured motorists.  A good percentage of the time, our clients do not know their policy limits in this regard.  We usually have to take a look at the insurance policy to confirm what their coverage is.  May times the uninsured / under insured coverage is not at the same level as their liability policy.  Many times it is only a 15/30 policy which means that the most that you can claim for an individual is $15,000.00. 

We encourage our clients to have the uninsured / under insured coverage to be the same as the limits for their liability portion of their policy.  The uninsured / under insured policy is really insurance for monies to be paid directly to the policy holder as opposed to the monies being paid to someone else.  Recent studies estimate that as many as 1 in 4 drivers in California are uninsured.  That does not take into consideration the number of drivers who are under insured.  Under insured means that while a driver has insurance, they do not have adequate insurance to cover the damages that arise when they are involved in an automobile accident.  If you take into consideration the uninsured motorists on the road, as well as the under insured motorists, you are probably talking about the majority of the drivers in California.  That means that it is very important to carry adequate uninsured / under insured automobile insurance.  Our recommendation is to carry a minimum of 100/300 thousand uninsured / under insured policy.  However, if you can afford it, the uninsured / under insured policy should be a 250/500 thousand policy or more.  If you are carrying a 250/500 thousand policy for uninsured / under insured motorists and you are involved in an automobile accident, there will be at least $250,000.00 available in insurance to cover your medical costs, loss of earnings, and personal injury.  

Be Credible And Have Good Doctors

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

It is absolutely critical for individuals who are injured and looking for attorneys to look for credible and reputable counsel.  If you have been hurt it is important to always tell your treating doctors the truth.  It is also important to seek out the doctors who have the best expertise to treat the injury which you have.  Usually it is best to receive a referral to a specialist from your family doctor.  Find out what you can about the specialist that you are being referred to.  It is important that you receive medical care for your personal injury from very competent and credible doctors.  Usually Chiropractors are not the first doctor that an injured individual should go to after an accident.  If you have already sought out credible and competent legal representation they will assist you in finding the best medical treatment possible. Be cautious of any attorneys who do not want you to use your group medical insurance and instead wish to refer you to their Chiropractor who will provide treatment on a lien basis.  Usually the charges are excessive.  The treatment may or may not even address the injuries which you have sustained.  Usually the insurance companies view this type of care as being litigation driven and questionable.  Doctors who are not credible severely damage the dollar value of what would otherwise be a very legitimate claim.  If your attorney or any medical provider suggests being anything other than totally credible you need to see someone else.  If you are looking for professional, competent representation, from ethical attorneys, look to The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson for your legal representation.  The attorneys who are part of The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson abide by the highest ethical standards and view credibility not as an option, but as a requirement.  Look to the personal injury attorneys of The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson to assist with your personal injury claim.   The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson serves the communities of Placentia, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Brea, Tustin, and Anaheim.  

Do you have enough Insurance?

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

I don’t think that insurance companies generally inform their clients adequately about the risk of having inadequate insurance coverage.  In California you are legally insured if you have a minimal policy of 15/30 coverage.  This gives up to $15,000.00 coverage for a single individual’s claim.  It will pay out as much as $30,000.00 for claims from two or more individuals.  When you purchase automobile insurance the question that arises is how much insurance do you need.  It boils down to what risk an individual is willing to take by purchasing minimal insurance.  In a worst case scenario a driver can be involved in an accident that causes millions of dollars in damages.  Most insurance’s are not adequate for those types of cases.  Studies show that the median award is $28,000.00.  This means that while the 15/30 minimal policy is inadequate, a 50/100 policy is usually adequate.  However, if you own a house with any significant equity you really should have an umbrella policy that increases the coverage up to one million dollars.  We have heard that insurance companies tell their insured’s not to be too concerned because most personal injury firms will only make policy limits demands.  I can’t speak for other firms but I know that, depending on the case, we do an asset check before we recommend to our client to make a policy limits demand only.  Just recently our firm collected $145,000.00 over the $50,000.00 insurance which the driver had.  In that case, even a 100/300 policy would have been inadequate.  The defendant owned his home free and clear.  He also had significant cash deposits in various accounts.  That individual should have had a one million dollar liability policy to have been properly insured.  If you have been involved in an accident in the Placentia, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Fullerton, or Brea area, look to The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson for local representation.  We are the Placentia auto accident attorneys

HAVING THE RIGHT TYPE OF AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE IS IMPORTANT

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

Having adequate automobile insurance is critical.  California requires a minimal policy for liability insurance of $15,000.00 for a single claim and at least $30,000.00 for multiple claims.  However, some of the most important parts of automobile insurance are not mandated by California law.  They are optional.  The uninsured/underinsured motorist portion of automobile insurance is optional.  This is the insurance that pays out to the insured in the event that the other driver is either uninsured, or underinsured.  We suggest that at a minimum the uninsured/underinsured motorist is at least at the same level as the liability insurance portion.  One other aspect of automobile insurance that is often overlooked is the portion that provides for medical pay.  This is the part of the policy that will reimburse you directly for out-of-pocket medical expenditures.  Usually all that is required from your insurance policy is for you to provide copies of the receipts for which you have paid.  The other requirement is that the payments relate to medical care caused by an automobile accident.  The medical pay portion of your automobile insurance can be very helpful in minimizing the financial burden sometimes caused by medical payments for injuries arising out of an automobile accident.  Medical pay policies can range from Two Thousand Dollars on up to One Million Dollars.  While a policy for One Million Dollars is probably not needed for medical pay, a policy up to Fifty Thousand Dollars or more may be very helpful.
If you have any questions about having adequate automobile insurance, give The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson a call for a free consultation.  If you are involved in an automobile accident and want to know what your rights are under your existing automobile policy check with the personal injury experts at the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson.  We are the personal injury experts serving the communities of Placentia, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Brea, Tustin, and Anaheim.  

If it’s Serious, Get an Attorney

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

If you have been involved in an automobile accident and was seriously injured you need to get legal representation as soon as possible.  Usually the insurance companies for the other side will attempt to contact injured parties shortly after the accident.  They are trying to settle the claim as quickly as possible, for as little as possible.  They are very aggressive in their attempts to obtain statements.  They are trying to obtain all of the information which they can to protect their insured.  You need a trained and knowledgeable expert representing you at this time.  The proper medical care and treatment should be the primary focus of someone seriously injured.  An Attorney can ensure that a proper investigation has taken place to ensure that all of the parties at fault have been identified.  They can ensure that the injured party is not pestered by insurance claims examiners trying to settle claims prematurely for a fraction of their true value.  This will leave the injured party better able to focus on obtaining the necessary medical treatment and getting well.  The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson serves the communities of Placentia, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Brea, Tustin, and Anaheim.  When the claim is settled all aspects of the injuries and damages are considered.  Past future medical care, future medical care, past pain and suffering, future pain and suffering, past lost wages, future lost wages, all aspects of the damages are claimed for.  If you or a loved one has been involved in a serious injury immediately call The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson.

Keeping Your Client Informed is Important

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

I think that one of the major functions of a personal injury attorney is to keep their client informed as to what is going on in their case.  Our offices’ practice is to provide copies of everything that is being mailed out of the office to our client.  This means that all of our discovery responses, letters and requests for discovery are being copied to our client.  This helps the client understand what is going on.  A lot of times the client assumes that nothing is happening if they do not receive some sort of phone call or letter from the attorney.   Usually that is not true.  By sending copies of everything to the client, that provides the client with some information about what is being done by our office.
In addition to sending copies of the correspondence that our office sends out, our attorneys like to review their files about every 30 days.  If something needs to be done at that time they will go ahead and do it at that time.  This keeps the case moving toward a conclusion. 
We encourage our clients to contact us when there has been any type of significant change in their medical condition.  This is true whether or not they are getting better or worse.  We need to know that.  We like to wait until a client has finished treatment before making any dollar demands on the defendant.  Once the client has completed their treatment we like to have an opportunity to meet with them and discuss how they are doing and go over their settlement options.  We then go ahead and draft a settlement demand letter that is sent to the defendant. 
All clients of The Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson are kept informed of their case.  The cases are advanced as quickly as possible.  Reasonable settlement demands are made when treatment has been completed.  For competent legal help with regards to personal injury claims, look to the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson.  We serve the areas of Placentia, Yorba Linda, Brea, Anaheim, Fullerton, or surrounding area, contact one of the attorney’s at the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson for a confidential and free evaluation of your claim. 

MEDICAL TREATMENT IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR CASE

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

MEDICAL TREATMENT IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR CASE

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for someone having been involved in an accident to receive the necessary medical treatment as quickly as possible.  I have received many telephone calls from individuals who have been involved in automobile accidents and are trying to enlist the services of an attorney after they have not been able to settle their claim with the insurance adjuster.  Not too surprisingly, little or no medical treatment has usually been obtained by the individual.  Insurance companies offer little or nothing for claims where medical treatment was not obtained.  The law does provide that someone causing an accident is obliged to not only pay for medical treatment and injuries, but they are also obliged to pay for inconvenience and related costs.  Unfortunately, most insurance companies do not view inconvenience as having any value at all.  Those same individuals calling and asking for help usually tell me that they have held off going to see a doctor because either they have been too busy, or they do not have insurance.  However, they assure me that they are still hurting.  It is with regret that I have to tell these callers that I am not able to assist them
If you think about it, if you are really hurting from an accident you will seek medical attention.  The emergency rooms in California do not refuse treatment to anyone.  If you are hurting enough, and don’t have medical insurance, you will go to the emergency room for treatment.  Most probably you will also follow-up later on for treatment if necessary. 
If you have been involved in an accident and have sustained serious injuries you need to obtain medical treatment immediately.  Make sure you tell the attending doctors and nurses about all of your complaints.  If you focus on one of the more serious areas that are hurting you it will be assumed that the other areas don’t exist.  The insurance companies will obtain copies of all of your medical records at some point in time and review those very carefully for what complaints you were making at the time that you were first treated.  Insurance companies make a big deal of any inconsistencies that they see in these records and what they understand your injuries to be.  Make sure that you complain about all of your body parts that have been injured.  Make sure that you repeat these complaints to the nurses or therapists who treat you.  Usually medical records are made by not only the doctors, but also the nurses and the therapists.
I do not recommend waiting thirty days or sixty days to contact an attorney after you have been involved in an accident.  I recommend that you contact them right after you obtain the initial medical treatment needed to stabilize your medical condition.  Don’t give any statements to any insurance people without first contacting your attorney.  As soon as you have obtained the services of an attorney advise all of the insurance companies of this.
If you have been involved in an accident the personal injury attorney’s at the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson are here for you.  If you live in Placentia, Yorba Linda, Brea, Anaheim, Fullerton, or surrounding area, contact one of the attorney’s at the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson for a confidential and free evaluation of your claim. 

Seeking Medical Attention for your Injuries is Important

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

One of the things that the insurance companies look at in determining the value of a claim is when the injured parties first received medical treatment.  If someone is involved in an automobile accident and waits more than two weeks to decide to go to a doctor then two issues arise.  The first issue is whether the medical treatment even relates to something that was caused from the accident.  The second issue is how bad the injury could be if treatment was not immediately needed.  Someone who is injured has a responsibility to act reasonably.  If you are injured and need medical treatment you should obtain that medical treatment.  This sort of thing is not something that should be delayed.  It is irresponsible and certainly could affect the value of any personal injury claim.  If you are involved in a serious accident and the paramedics or other safety personnel recommend that you go to the hospital, by all means go to the hospital.  You do not do yourself or anyone else a favor by being careless with your health.  If you have been involved in a serious accident it is important that you tell all of the medical providers the truth.  It is important to obtain medical treatment in a timely fashion.  You should also obtain a free consultation from the Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson to determine whether or not you a compensable claim.  Having this information will assist in providing you peace of mind.  It gives you the information you need to make the best decisions at a critical time in your life.  The Personal Injury Law Offices of Kennith L. Peterson serves the communities of Placentia, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Brea, Tustin, and Anaheim.  Give them a call for a free consultation to discuss your personal injury claim. 

PICTURES ARE IMPORTANT

You're Injured, Now What?
An update to keep you informed on personal injury situations.

In a Slip-and-Fall or Trip-and-Fall type of claim it is very important to immediately preserve evidence of what caused the fall.  Sometimes a broken step will be the cause of the fall.  You need to have a picture of that.  Sometimes the cause of the fall is a pothole.  You need to get a picture of that.  Pictures are sometime the only thing that will allow you to be successful with your claim.  Once the injury is reported to the landlord, usually they immediately make corrections or change things where the injury occurred.  If there was a pothole, they will fill the pothole.  If there was a spilled liquid, that will have been cleaned up.  If there was a broken step, that will have been repaired.  Fortunately most people carry cell phones that have the capabilities of taking pictures.  If you are too injured to take a picture yourself, have a friend, family member, or someone who is passing by to take the picture for you.  It is critical to preserve evidence of what caused the injury.  You will also need to keep and preserve the shoes that you were wearing at the time of the fall.  You should also make note whether or not you were wearing glasses or using any type of cane or similar devise.  As soon as you are able you or a family member should call an attorney to assist you in the claim.  Usually an expert will be needed to evaluate the claim.  Look to your local accident attorney, Kennith L. Peterson, to protect your rights.