WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON PERSONAL INJURY CASES THAT YOU HANDLE?

The most common cases are motor vehicle collisions, whether it be a tractor-trailer, commercial vehicle, passenger vehicles, or passenger cars getting in wrecks. Certainly motor vehicle wrecks or auto accidents are the most common. We also handle what would be considered premises liability cases. People getting injured on somebody else’s property whether it be from falling merchandise, somebody tripping or an assault in a parking lot. We also handle product liability, medical malpractice cases and nursing home cases. To generalize, personal injury and wrongful death matters.

Interest In Practicing Personal Injury Law In KansasFor a decade, I did defense work so I defended claims, a significant portion of my defense career was associated with defending trucking companies and their insurance carriers. I was interested in representing the other side of the table, meaning the people that had suffered some sort of catastrophic injury or had lost a loved one as a result of a wreck that was completely preventable. Representing real people that needed help lots of times and one of the worst times of their lives is what interested me.

Is Filing A Personal Injury Claim Relatively Easy Or Hard?It can be either one depending on the nature of the claim. Sometimes, the process is relatively straightforward and quick depending on the nature of the liability, meaning who was at fault for the incident and then the nature and extent of the damages. Whether we are talking about injuries that are subjective, like a broken bone that shows up on an x-ray, or if there is a different type of injury like a brain injury that may not be reflected on some diagnostic test, but is absolutely real. The more complex the injury typically the more complex the fight is.

The Majority Of Personal Injury Cases Settle Before Going To TrialThe vast majority of personal injury cases settle before trial. Now, whether that is a week before trial, a month or a year before trial is certainly a variable. Statistically, probably ninety-seven to ninety-eight percent of cases settle before trial. About three percent of personal injury cases actually go to trial.

Common Reasons That Clients Tend To Settle Before A TrialFor clients, the settlement provides some certainty, it provides them with some security in not having an unknown possible result at trial. A lot of times, clients are in need of the compensation sooner rather than later. Maybe perhaps due to an injury, they have been off of work and so they have had had their usual income and so they are in a financial situation where they need the money. The certainty of a settlement is probably the number one reason that I hear clients indicate that they would rather settle.