Suffering an injury in any type of accident can change your life in an instant. Your injury might require surgery and extensive time in rehab before you can even consider going back to work. An accident caused by someone else's negligence that has left you injured should not leave you in a financial rut. It's important that you always hire a personal injury attorney after being injured in any type of accident (car, construction, workplace, slip and fall, etc). When you hire a New Orleans lawyer, you are putting yourself in the right position to recover compensation for your injuries.

#1 You Don't Understand the Law

The law is very difficult to understand. You should never try to represent yourself when seeking compensation for injuries caused in an accident. Your financial situation has already taken a hit because your injury has kept you out of work. Don't risk losing out on compensation by not having an understanding of the law that is there to protect you as a victim of someone else's negligent actions.

#2 Lawyers Know Filing Deadlines and Procedures

Experienced personal injury attorneys know the filing deadlines in Louisiana as well and the proper procedures for posting bail. This means that when you work with an attorney you won't risk missing the deadline to file your lawsuit, also known as the statute of limitations, which can prevent your case from even being heard in court or settled outside of court. Proper procedure is another important skill lawyers have. Using the wrong procedure when representing yourself could result in an unfavorable outcome for your case.

#3 Access to Expert Witnesses

Not every personal injury case will require an expert witness to testify on the plaintiff's behalf, but if your case does, a personal injury attorney will have access to these witnesses. Expert witnesses include doctors, retired law enforcement officials, auto mechanics, construction officials, and many other professionals. An expert witness can make or break your claim for compensation from the at-fault party.

#4 Negotiate a Settlement Outside of Court

When you work with a Louisiana lawyer with experience in personal injury cases he or she will know how to negotiate a settlement outside of court. Even though you were injured in the accident you might not want to fight for compensation in court. This can be stressful, traumatizing and take months on end to complete. A settlement is not always easy to reach, which is why working with an attorney is the best option when injured by someone else in an accident.

#5 Experience Dealing with Law Enforcement

The benefits of hiring a lawyer extend well beyond the courtroom and the ability to negotiate a settlement. A personal injury lawyer will have experience dealing with law enforcement, which is helpful when seeking the police report from the accident and interviewing responding officers to find out what they saw upon arrival at the scene. The experience dealing with law enforcement will also help if your attorney needs to call an officer to the stand as a witness if your claim reaches trial.

Hire An Experienced Personal Injury Attorney

As you can see, the reasons to hire a lawyer after suffering an injury in any type of accident shows how much an attorney can help your case. Make sure you contact a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after being involved in an accident to begin building a case for compensation in New Orleans. Call the office of Schwartz Law at (225) 766-6775 to speak with an experienced attorney.