Fighting the Fights Other Law Firms Won’t
After you get into a serious accident, you need and deserve compensation. You also need the help of a Livonia personal injury lawyer. Those responsible for injuries will rarely admit fault, and insurance companies do their best to steer clear of accountability. Some personal injury lawyers in Livonia might even say that your case is too difficult for them to take on.
But our Livonia personal injury lawyers at Goodman Acker are ready to step up to the challenge. We are proud and prepared to take on complex and high-stakes catastrophic injury claims that cause other personal injury attorneys in Livonia to shy away. Our tenacious and deliberate approach to casework and representation has earned us a long history of incredible success for our clients—and we don’t have any intention of changing our winning methods now.
For a combined 150+ years, we have been helping our community members throughout the Livonia metropolitan area. We have a 99 percent success rate to show for it.
You need a Livonia personal injury attorney who is resilient, knowledgeable, and wants to do all they can to help you and your case. At Goodman Acker, our Livonia personal injury lawyers are ready to learn more about you and how they can help. Give us a call at 248-286-8100 and ask for a free consultation today.
We Handle All Types of Personal Injury Claims
Experienced Personal Injury Lawyers in Livonia Who Are Here for You
Personal injuries, such as medical malpractice, vehicle collisions, truck accident, falls, traumatic brain injuries, dog bites, and wrongful death cases, touch pretty much every household in Wayne County at one time or another. Through no fault of their own, these victims must deal with high medical bills, severe emotional distress, and other stressors that strain most families to the breaking point. Making matters worse, insurance company adjusters seemingly call constantly with “settlement offers” that only benefit the company.
When things seem darkest, our professional team gets to work for you. We connect victims with doctors who focus on injury-related cases. Usually, these physicians charge nothing upfront for their services. We make similar arrangements for vehicle repair or replacement and other immediate needs.
Then, the real work begins. We diligently collect evidence that supports your claim for damages and refutes insurance company defenses. As a result, we are able to obtain maximum compensation for your serious injuries.
When you partner with Goodman Acker, you are getting more than just a Livonia personal injury lawyer. These are some of the things that separate us from the rest:
- More than 150 years of combined legal experience
- Routinely featured by newsgroups, like Fox 2 News and Local 4 Detroit
- Available 24/7 for client emergencies
- A growing group of completely satisfied clients
- Won millions of dollars for our clients
- Free initial consultations to get you started.
In addition to the claims mentioned above, we also have the legal talent and experience to assist you with long-term disability and Social Security disability claims. So, if you have been hurt for any reason and deserve compensation, a Livonia personal injury lawyer from Goodman Acker can help you obtain the damages that you’re owed.
Why Hire a Livonia Personal Injury Attorney?
TV commercials imply that, if you are hurt, the insurance company is “on your side” and will compassionately and competently handle your claim. The truth is much different. Quite simply, insurance companies make money by collecting premiums; they lose money when they pay claims. No business likes to lose money. Therefore, insurance companies hire a team of lawyers who pull out all the stops to reduce or deny compensation to victims. As a result, victims without legal representatives almost always end up settling for less.
A Livonia personal injury attorney changes everything. As mentioned, attorneys take care of your immediate needs. Furthermore, your lawyer gives you solid legal advice and proactively communicates with you throughout the process, so you make better decisions and you’re never in the dark.
Perhaps more importantly, an attorney levels the playing field, both in court and at the negotiating table. Taking on insurance company lawyers without legal representation is like the Clarenceville Trojans taking on the Michigan Wolverines. It’s simply not a fair fight. Moreover, only a Livonia personal injury attorney accurately determines a claim’s settlement value, so these negotiations are fair as well.
By teaming up with personal injury attorneys in Livonia, you’ll have expertise and experience on your side. At Goodman Acker, we take pride in being able to handle complex and high-stakes injury cases, and we know that our services and resiliency can be used to your benefit.
What Compensation Can Livonia Personal Injury Lawyers Help Me Recover?
Don’t Suffer Financially Because of Someone Else’s Negligence
The person or entity who caused your injuries should be the one who is held financially accountable for your damages—it is as simple as that. However, insurance companies rarely comply so easily. Instead, they will take all steps to deny your claim and to minimize any settlement that’s ultimately offered.
Our Livonia personal injury lawyers don’t stand for such treatment from the responding insurance parties. If you deserve $1 million in damages, then we will fight for $1 million in damages when acting as your legal representatives. We do not slow down or tire until we achieve the optimal case result for you, which is how we’ve won 99 percent of our cases.
Our Livonia personal injury attorney can help you to obtain damages for:
- Doctors’ bills and medical expenses
- Therapy costs and future medical expenses
- Lost income and lost wages
- Loss of quality of life
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of earning potential if injuries hinder your job performance.
How Does a Livonia Personal Injury Lawyer Prove Negligence?
In order to recover compensation after injury, personal injury lawyers in Livonia must demonstrate that a defendant was negligent. Essentially, if no one is accountable for an accident, compensation cannot be recovered.
A Livonia personal injury attorney looks for four key legal elements used to demonstrate negligence:
- Duty of Care – The defendant owed you a duty of care to not cause harm.
- Breached Duty – The defendant breached this duty by acting negligently.
- Cause – As a result of this negligence, you were injured.
- Damages – You suffered damages (meaning monetary expenses) as a result of your injury.
Personal injury attorneys in Livonia know how to look at the facts of a case in order to identify where a defendant was negligent. After doing so, a Livonia personal injury attorney can pursue the damages that you’re rightfully owed.
Personal Injury FAQs
Common Questions for Personal Injury Attorneys in Livonia
Below are some of the most common questions and answers that you might have for a Livonia personal injury lawyer. You likely have other questions, as well. So, give our office a call at 248-286-8100 and ask for a free consultation to learn more about how we can help.
Most personal injury claims settle out of court. These resolutions hasten the outcome of a case, so victims get the compensation they need and deserve much faster than they would otherwise.
These settlements have some non-financial benefits as well. Control is a good example. If a claim goes to trial, a judge, who usually knows little about the case, often dictates all results. Out-of-court settlement gives this control to the victim.
The settlement value usually starts with the economic losses, such as medical bills, property damage, and lost income. To determine the amount of noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering, most Livonia personal injury attorneys multiply the economic losses by two, three, or four, depending on the case. The resulting settlement value is like a new car’s sticker price. The settlement value is the starting point for settlement negotiations.
Many people are not thinking clearly in the immediate wake of an accident, mostly because their injuries cloud their cognitive abilities. So, victims often unintentionally do, or don’t do, things which hurt their claim later. Here are a few quick dos and don’ts:
- DO Collect Evidence: Victims have the burden of proof in negligence cases. Things like taking pictures and getting the names of witnesses gives your Livonia personal injury lawyer a head start on your claim.
- DON’T Say “I’m Sorry”: Many people apologize to express their sympathy. But in court, insurance company lawyers could twist one of these apologies into an admission of liability. So, don’t apologize — or better yet, don’t say anything, if possible.
- DO See a Doctor: Since many victims do not feel hurt after an accident, they refuse medical treatment. That’s bad from a medical and legal perspective. Only a doctor can determine if you are truly injured. Furthermore, refusal to seek immediate medical treatment complicates your claim for damages.
- DON’T Talk to the Other Insurance Company: This advice goes along with the “remain silent” advice given above. Victims have no legal obligation to give a statement to another auto or property insurance company. Granted, these adjusters need to hear your side of the story. But, they don’t need to hear it immediately.
Speaking with a Livonia personal injury attorney as soon as possible is the best way to preserve your legal rights.
Comparative fault, or contributory negligence, is one of the most common insurance company defenses in personal injury claims. Fall claims are a good illustration. Insurance company lawyers often argue that fall victims did not watch where they were going, so they are legally responsible for their own injuries.
If jurors believe both parties were partially at fault, they must divide fault on a percentage basis, such as 80-20, between them.
Michigan is a comparative fault state with a 51 percent recovery bar. Victims are entitled to a proportionate share of damages as long as they are no more than 50 percent responsible for the incident.
From both a legal and practical standpoint, victims have a limited amount of time to act. People eventually lose their legal right to obtain compensation for their injuries in court. Furthermore, the longer you wait, the more the evidence in a case degrades. And, victim/plaintiffs have the burden of proof in negligence cases.
Fortunately, Michigan has one of the longest statutes of limitations in the country. Victims have a minimum of three years to present legal claims.
We say “a minimum of three years” because the Wolverine State also has a very liberal discovery rule. This legal doctrine protects victims who do not immediately recognize their injuries. This issue frequently comes up in toxic exposure personal injury claims. Cancer and other illnesses often take years, or even decades, to develop. If these victims miss the aforementioned three-year deadline, a Livonia personal injury lawyer may still be able to file a claim. The case is simply more complex.
Recommended Reading
- How the Personal Injury Claim Process Works
- Is There a Minimum Value for a Personal Injury Settlement?
- How Long Will My Personal Injury Case Last?
Call a Livonia Personal Injury Attorney at Goodman Acker
For years, Goodman Acker has been helping the people of Livonia and Southfield seek justice, compensation, and a sense of closure after serious accidents occur. If you want to know more about our law firm and how we can help you with your injury case, feel free to browse our client testimonials or check out some of our best case results.
You can call 248-286-8100 to arrange a no-cost, no-obligation case consultation with our team to begin. We look forward to learning more about you and your case and being committed to helping you. Goodman Acker. Good decision.
LEGALLY REVIEWED BY BARRY J. GOODMAN
Barry J. Goodman has devoted his professional life to keeping courthouse doors open for victims seeking justice. Always a tireless advocate for his own clients, Goodman sees his responsibility as a Detroit personal injury attorney in a broader sense as well. [ Attorney Bio ]
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