our of the most common types of injury that we see in our office involve roadwrecks, trip and fall, animal bites and injuries from defective products. This discussion is largely limited to auto collision but has general application to other types of injury as well. Unfortunately, not all claims result in compensation. Consider the following:

Before any discussion takes place on recovery for injuries, you must be able to answer "yes" to two questions:

1. Was I damaged in some way? Bodily injury, pain and suffering arising from that, lost time from work, damage to property, need to pay for treatment of injuries and medication , anything costing money or lessening you in some way may be compensable. Even if insurance covers most of the expense you may be entitled to recover if you can also answer "yes" to the second question.

2. Is someone other than me responsible for what happened to me? Generally, if you drive your car into a tree, your collision insurance and medical payments coverage from your auto policy may pay for what it costs you, less deductible but you cannot sue the tree. There always may be other factors, such as someone forced you off the road by drifting across the centerline while talking on a cell phone but in those cases a "yes" answer is appropriate. You can't recover for injuries if they are caused by your own negligence, as a rule.

Having answered both the above in the affirmative, you must then answer "yes" to two more questions.

3. Do the economics of my case justify hiring a lawyer? Since most attorneys, this firm included, handle bodily injury representation on a contingent fee basis (they get paid only if you do) then getting representation usually isn't a problem unless your injuries are very slight because there is adequate compensation available from the pain and suffering component of your recovery. Hiring a lawyer to litigate a $3000 property loss alone usually doesn't make much financial sense, though.

4. Is there a likely source from which I can be paid for my successful claim? Is the person who caused it financially solvent? Is there liability insurance available? If it involves a vehicle and the other driver has no insurance or minimum limits, do I have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage?

If we've satisfied ourselves as to these considerations (you may wish to have the attorney examine all the facts to look for possible insurance coverage) then we may have a claim for injuries. Go to the next page.

ROADWRECK

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