subject: The Auto Accident Attorney - A Look At The Job [print this page] If you've ever wondered what an auto accident attorney actually does, you're probably not alone. Other than seeing them on commercials that play during the afternoon talk shows, most people probably aren't that familiar with their role in today's civil law system. Worse, fiction and spin from the insurance industry has turned these lawyers into greedy villains, assisting unscrupulous crash victims play a form of legal lottery, with big business picking up the tab. None of this bears any resemblance to the truth, of course, but few people care to scratch beneath the surface to find out. Here's a look at the job and all that it entails.
Personal Injury
The auto accident attorney works in a broader field of law known as personal injury. This field encompasses court proceedings that deal with people who have been hurt as the result of someone else's negligence. The "someone else" could be another individual or it could be a company. Personal injury can describe a case where an individual fell off a defective ladder one day and a case where someone slipped on a banana peel the next. Of course, in this instance we're talking about car crashes that result when one party could have -- and should have -- done something to avoid it.
Insurance Companies
In most cases such as these, it is the insurance company that the auto accident attorney goes after. Drivers are insured for a variety of reasons, the primary one being that they don't want to be on the hook for thousands of dollars in property damage and medical bills should something go wrong. But insurance companies don't want to pay out these settlements, either. Often, they will attempt to negotiate directly with the victim in an effort to pay out as little as possible. This is where the wise individual will shut down communication and call a lawyer, as direct negotiations rarely turn out well.
Negotiations and Lawsuits
Contrary to what many people assume, very few personal injury cases actually become lawsuits that are tried in a court of law. No one wants that, if it is at all avoidable. The victim doesn't want it because it could drag proceedings out for years. The insurance company doesn't want it because juries are unpredictable and they could wind up with a judgment against them that is far beyond what they could negotiate in private. For this reason, the auto accident attorney will usually try to find common ground with the insurance company, getting the money their client deserves without going through a lengthy trial.
by: Abraham Avotina
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