Consider THIS When Interviewing a Personal Injury Attorney for Your St. Petersburg Injury Claim
- The law firm MATTERS when Insurance Companies Value a Claim: In personal injury matters its almost always the insurance companies who ultimately pay the claim. While we sue individuals and corporations, the insurance company makes the decisions. Insurance companies track the success record of personal injury attorneys and factor that into settlement offers. its the attorneys with a track record of going to trial that get the best settlements.
- It’s about settling for the highest amount AND then reducing medical bills to maximize your recovery: It is true that most of our time is spent building your case to maximize the settlement (or trial) amount. And of course, you need to be free to go to the doctors you need to treat your injuries without regard for medical bills. Frankly, higher medical bills are a factor that increases case value. However, as soon as the case is settled, a good attorney will work hard with the treating doctors to reduce any outstanding medical bills. They will also work with your health insurance or hospitals to reduce any liens. Every dollar saved is an additional dollar for your compensation.
- Your Lawyer Needs to Understand Bad Faith and the Art of Opening Policies: It is criminal how many personal injury lawyers believe a $10,000.00 insurance policy is only $10,000.00 in all situations. Repeat after me: The policy limit is only the limit when the insurance company does the right thing and settles your care in good faith. Often, insurance companies do the wrong thing. They operate in bad faith. And many times, this means we can force the insurance company to pay you more then the insurance limits for your personal injury claim.
- The REAL reason you need Lawyer Communication: To Tell Your Stories: Our St. Petersburg Injury Lawyers communicate with clients. This is not only to help you understand the process and make good decisions. It is also so we can understand what makes your case unique. We can understand your human story. And we can understand what has been taken from you because of the negligence of another. We call these human damages, or pain and suffering. No two humans are the same. And we need to tell your story to the insurance company as part of each and every settlement negotiation. We can only do that if we talk and develop a relationship.
- Why It Actually Matters That You Injury Lawyer Has a St. Petersburg Office Location: Not to beat up on this big firms that take cases all over the State of Florida, but it is vital to have an attorney who knows St. Petersburg. Your personal injury lawyer has to be familiar with the Judges in the Courthouse in downtown St. Pete off of 1st Avenue South. He or she needs to know the “locals” that would make up a Pinellas County Jury. And he or she should be familiar with the roads and businesses that need to be investigated to successfully bring your case.
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Understand a Personal Injury Claim in Two Minutes Or Less
Do you have a personal injury claim? The personal injury claim cliff notes:
In the US, every person has the natural right to live life the way or he or she wants. Each person is born with a human body that is (often) healthy, dynamic, and free of pain.
In the old days we would duel the person that negligently but unintentionally hurt us. The civil justice system is a better way to address our injuries. Personal Injury Attorneys Help With This.
In the US, we all owe each other a certain standard of care to make sure we do not infringe on each other’s rights and cause injury. For example, a person driving a car has a duty to keep his eyes on the road and drive safely.
If a person violates the standard of care and causes injury to another, then the person is responsible for any damages that result.
If you get hurt, you don’t challenge the person to a duel or beat them up. We are civilized. Instead, you use the justice system to get civil justice. Simply put, money to account for whatever has been taken from you by the other person.
Civil Justice is money that is equal value for what was taken from you by a negligent person or corporation.
When we talk about what you lost, we are talking about damages. Damages include both economic (medical bills and lost wages) as well as non-economic (pain, suffering, inconvenience).
Therefore, if you are injured and damaged because of another person’s negligence, then a personal injury claim is how a lawyer uses the justice system to get you fair compensation for what you lost.
Damages: Medical Bills versus Pain and Suffering and Why It Matters
Below are the Types of Damages Your Personal Injury Will Seek to Recover in Your Claim:
- Medical Bills: A type of economic damage, under Florida Law you can recover your reasonable past and future medical bills.
- Lost Wages: Past and future income is also recoverable under Florida law. Expert accountants can help calculate lose wages.
- Pain: Pain is a specific type of non-economic damage. A jury can award money for past and future pain. In some cases, we may value pain by trying to estimate the number of hours you suffer in pain and then multiplying by a reasonable but modest dollar amount for each hour. How much would someone need to pay you for you to have to experience this pain for an hour?
- Inconvenience: You can also recover personal injury damages in St. Pete courthouses for your inconvenience. Sometimes people have to go back and forth to Doctor offices for medical treatment. This has value.
- Suffering: Recently, a client of ours broke down in tears when she mentioned how badly her marriage had suffered because she was a different person after her auto wreck. Her suffering is recoverable both in the past and the future.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Often people lose the ability to do what they love because of a personal injury. Attorneys rightfully seek damages for the loss of things loved. For example, a person who cannot workout, or exercise, or sleep deserves equal trade for these losses.
- Mental Anguish: A client of ours recently told us about how she dreads driving after she was rear-ended in a car accident. This causes her heart to race. Her driving anxiety rises. And she would just rather not get in a car anymore. This is a real human damage. Mental anguish is recoverable in a personal injury claim for the past and the future.
Non-economic damages are human damages. These are the things that are the most precious. Medical bills are pretty straightforward to calculate. In reality, these do not go to make the injured person whole, but instead go to a third party who provided services. The non-economic damages are the damages that go to help account for what has been taken from a human being.
The best personal injury attorneys will take the time to develop the non-economic damages. Your non-economic assets– the things that you get for free– are priceless. Reasonable compensation must reflect just how valuable these non-economic assets are.
Your non-economic assets are priceless. Fair value for lost non-economic assets is the greatest driver in a personal injury claim.
Personal Injury Settlement Amounts in our St. Petersburg Case Studies
We make sure to put as many client case studies as possible on our website. This way, you can look for other case patterns that look similar to yours when trying to estimate what your case is worth.
For related settlement amounts and values, see:
- GEICO case values and amounts
- Progressive case values and amounts
- USAA case values and settlement amounts.
$100,000 Personal Injury Settlement For Client Hurt in a St. Petersburg Car Wreck
Our client was rear ended in St. Petersburg when driving Westbound on 1st Avenue South.
The bad driver caused the collision by driving negligently. The accident caused injury to our client. Therefore, she worked with personal injury attorney Christian Denmon on her claim.
She was diagnosed with permanent injuries to her neck and back. MRI’s confirmed the injuries. We started the settlement process.
As you can see above, the insurance company n this case made a crappy bullshit offer of a little more than $1,000.00. We filed suit. About a year after the collision, we settled the claim for the full policy limits of $100,000.00.
After paying attorney fees and outstanding medical bills (which we negotiated) the client took home more than $45,000.00. This money was tax free.
What to Expect With Denmon Pearlman’s Personal Injury Lawyer Process
Every case gets assigned a team with the following:
- A dedicated Case Manager as a first point of contact and a primary manager of the case in early stages.
- A dedicated litigation paralegal for those cases that need to be filed in court.
- An attorney for communication, high level negotiation, and courtroom work.
We believe we are the most technology friendly firm in Tampa Bay, making your experience even smoother. This includes:
- Every client gets a group text line to feed pictures, questions, and more directly into your case file.
- Zoom and video conference for every client. Meet in person only when you want. Otherwise, you can participate in every way from the comfort and safety of your own home.
- All documents and transactions can be completed using electronic signature and other electronic means.
Our St. Petersburg Personal Injury Practice Areas
- St. Petersburg Car Accidents
- Medical Malpractice in St. Petersburg Hospitals and Doctor Offices
- Construction Accidents
- Spinal Injuries
- Head Injuries and Brain Injuries
- Slip, Trip, And Falls
- Premises Liability and Restaurant Liability
Why Denmon Pearlman Accident Injury Lawyers
We play to win. We know that for many of our personal injury clients this is their one shot for justice. We know that we need to make the settlement fair and just.
Don’t Settle For Less. We Go For the Win. -Christian Denmon, Founding Partner
Our personal injury attorneys have been recognized as Super Lawyers for the last 6 years. We are also members of the National Trial Lawyers, and we have secured multiple 7 figure verdicts and settlements.
Most importantly we are located in downtown St. Petersburg on 2nd Ave South, just minutes from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and the Tropicana Field.
