Fresno Car Accident Lawyer

If you’ve been injured as a result of a car accident, you’re certainly not alone. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 33,600 fatal motor vehicle crashes occurred on U.S. freeways and surface streets during 2018 alone, while an additional 1,894,000 crashes occurred that resulted in reported injuries. Finally, more than 4.8 million crashes occurred in which only property damage was reported.

Motor vehicle crashes happen daily on Fresno County roads and on the freeways that cut through the county and spiderweb off to connect California’s Central Valley with the rest of the state and beyond. Because of Fresno’s unique location, it serves as a travel hub for much of California’s long-haul traffic. As a result, Fresno’s streets – and especially, its freeways – experience a higher-than-average rate of motor vehicle accidents. Both large commercial trucks and passenger vehicles crash in Fresno County on a daily basis.

How Do You Settle an Insurance Claim Without a Lawyer?

The short answer is, you shouldn't. Even though lawyers take a percentage of the settlement, you will get much more by hiring a lawyer, even with the percent taken out, than you would without a lawyer. The Insurance Research Council suggests that victims of accidents receive 3.5x more money for their car accidents with a lawyer than without a car accident lawyer.

If you’ve suffered injuries as a result of a crash in Fresno County, know that you don’t have to navigate insurance claims and/or legal action alone. Our firm has years of experience representing car crash victims and we’d be honored to handle the “legal heavy lifting” so that you can focus on your recovery. Our legal team understands how to advocate for our clients’ rights and for rightful compensation, regardless of whether they’ve suffered injuries in a relatively minor, serious, or catastrophic collision.

We believe that every accident victim - regardless of their insurance coverage, economic challenges, immigration status, age, and other personal circumstances – deserves access to quality, capable legal representation. We aim to treat each of our clients’ cases with the same respect, focus, determination, and care that we’d provide if our loved ones had suffered injuries as a result of an accident.

Call our firm today for a confidential, no-risk case evaluation. Once we learn about the unique circumstances surrounding your case, we’ll be able to advise you of your legal options and explain the relative strengths and potential weaknesses of your case. That way, you’ll be empowered to make an informed decision about your various options. The decision to pursue an insurance settlement, to file legal action, or to cut your losses will always remain with you. It is simply our job to answer your questions, evaluate your situation based on our professional experience, and – should you choose to take any kind of action – represent your interests in insurance matters and/or personal injury claims.

What Should You Do Immediately After Your Car Has Crashed?

If you’re reading this on your phone on the side of the road, you need to make a call, then move your car to the side of the road (if it isn’t already there) to reduce the risk that it will be hit a second time. Then you can come back and continue reading. The first call you need to make is either to 911 for an ambulance to attend to you and/or anyone else who is hurt or – if nobody involved has injuries that are easily identified – you need to call someone who can pick you up and take you to an emergency room or urgent care clinic to get checked out. Too often, car accident victims fail to seek necessary medical attention because they can’t immediately perceive whiplash, traumatic brain injuries, soft tissue damage, and/or internal bleeding while adrenaline courses through their veins. Your health needs to be your first priority. Everything else can wait.

If you’ve called for medical attention and moved your car to the side of the road, consider taking any of the following steps that are possible and that you’re capable of at this time:

·        Take pictures and/or video of the crash scene. Don’t only snapshots of the wreck itself. Film the surrounding location, any debris from the wreck that has been strewn about, and anything else that might be relevant to a future lawsuit.

• Write down the names, contact information, and insurance information for anyone else involved in the crash. If there are other witnesses around, take down their names and contact information as well.
• If you haven’t called 911 for medical assistance, now is the time to call law enforcement so that you can file a report – if possible – at the scene.
• If you’d like legal guidance immediately or you’d like a lawyer present when law enforcement officials arrive, contact our firm as soon as you can.
• If your “fight or flight” response kicks in, this is just your biology talking. Do not - under any circumstances save for immediate physical danger – flee the scene. Doing so may result in criminal consequences. Call us and allow us to protect your rights.
• When you arrive home safely or start to feel good enough to do so while hospitalized, take a few moments to write down or record your memories of the accident. No detail of your situation is too insignificant to take note of. You may benefit later on from having a recording or written account of your experience, as car crashes can do frustrating things to a victim’s memory at times.

Do You Need to Work with a Lawyer if You’ve Been Injured in a Car Wreck?

If your crash was relatively minor, you may be tempted to negotiate with the insurance carriers involved on your own to save money. However, it’s important to avoid being “penny-wise and pound-foolish” when it comes to the aftermath of a crash. Unfortunately, insurance carriers don’t negotiate or offer settlements based on the best interests of the crash victims. Insurance corporations are for-profit businesses that are legally bound to protect their bottom line for the benefit of their shareholders. As a result, if they can get away with paying you a settlement amount that is less than you deserve, they will. Our legal team has years of experience negotiating with insurance providers and we know how to get our clients the compensation to which they’re entitled.

You may or may not be open to the idea of filing a lawsuit against one or more parties responsible for the harm you’ve suffered. If you do choose to file legal action, you’ll need experienced litigators in your corner. Most accident cases settle before the need to go to trial arises. However, your case will benefit from being prepared as if it is going to trial. Approaching negotiations with insurance providers, opposing attorneys, and others affected by your case knowing that your position is as strong as it can possibly be will influence the outcome of your case for the better.

Finally, retaining experienced counsel will help to guard against being taken advantage of by anyone else involved in the accident. Even if others were completely at-fault for the crash, they could try to pin blame on you. Working with an attorney will help to protect your rights no matter how your case evolves over time. 

How Would Being Partially At-Fault for the Accident Affect Your Legal Options?

If you suspect that you may be partially at-fault for the accident that caused you injury, avoid speaking about these suspicions until you’ve contacted us. Too often, accident victims admit to blame that either isn’t founded or isn’t legally relevant. In doing so, they unnecessarily compromise the integrity of their future legal options.

For example, say that you were distracted by your toddler crying in the back of the car. You turned around for an instant to half-throw a container of goldfish crackers into her lap when suddenly, you jerk forward as another vehicle rear-ends yours. You jump out apologizing and saying how sorry you were for causing the accident, unaware of the fact that the driver behind you was not only texting behind the wheel, but was also illegally intoxicated. Things aren’t always as they seem.

If you choose to work with our firm, we’ll work hard to ensure that all relevant information is brought to light before you commit to a plan of action. Ideally, you will allow us to negotiate with any insurance carriers who are contacting you until our investigation and case evaluation are complete. At that point, we’ll outline both your legal options and the relative strengths and weaknesses of your case as compared to each option. We’ll make educated predictions about how much compensation you can expect to receive if you choose one option over another.

Then and only then, will you be in a position to admit fault, if you were indeed at-fault and it’s appropriate for your case to discuss that information with others.

As long as you are less than 50 percent at fault for the harm you’ve suffered as a result of your accident, you should still be able to hold others accountable for their contributions to your crash. Only if you are more than half responsible for the crash will you likely be unable to seek compensation from others for their part(s) in your collision.

How to Get Money From a Car Accident Without a Lawyer?

Depending on your unique circumstances, you may be entitled to seek compensation for medical bills related to your injuries, lost wages, property damage, and other “financial damages” that can be easily traced to an exact dollar amount lost as a result of the accident. If your injuries and other losses meet certain criteria, you may also be able to seek compensation for “emotional damages” such as pain and suffering, which are harder to quantify. In order to to be able to get your maximum payout though, you are going to need an experienced car accident lawyer that can out your case together on your behalf. Referencing the above information, those who have hired a car accident lawyer, receive 3.5x more money than those who do not.

Why Should You Trust Our Legal Team to Represent You During this Challenging Time?

The aftermath of a car accident can be disorienting. You may not yet know whether you want to accept a settlement offer from one or more insurance companies or whether you’d like to file a personal injury lawsuit against those responsible for the harm you’ve suffered. That’s okay. You don’t need to commit to a plan of action before speaking with our legal team. Too often, accident victims hesitate to explore their legal options because they’re under the impression that they need to be ready to sue someone to speak with a lawyer. In truth, speaking with our legal team will help you clarify your options so that you can formulate whatever plan of action makes sense for you and your family at this time.

We take great pride in representing the interests of accident victims. Our legal team treats our clients in the ways in which we’d want our own loved ones treated if they found themselves weathering the aftermath of an injurious accident. Working with our firm means entrusting your case to attorneys who are not only experienced, knowledgeable, and capable, but also to a team that will treat you and your case with respect, care, consideration, and focus. Please call us today for a no-risk, no-obligation, confidential case evaluation. We look forward to speaking with you.