Las Vegas Accident Lawyer - Injury Court

Las Vegas Accident Lawyer - Injury Court

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As a Las Vegas accident lawyer, clients will ask me, "I'm coming in to meet with you, what should I bring with me?" I tell clients to bring everything with them that they think might be related to the case. If you've been in a car accident bring copies of any photographs you've taken with a camera or your cell phone (those can usually be uploaded or emailed). Bring anything you got from the police (if the police were called to the scene), or if you went and filled out a report, bring that report. If you got the little ticket stub that you get from the police officer (with the event number) bring that, because if we can get that event number we can get the police report. If you've already taken your vehicle in for repair, bring copies of any appraisals or damage estimates with you. Also, if you wrote down any notes either at the scene or when you got home, bring those. Those can sometimes be very helpful. Simply stated, bring everything with you that you think might be related to the case. It's better to have more information than not enough.

Lastly, I tell all my clients, "Write down any question that you might have for our meeting, and we'll go through them one at a time." That way you're not going to leave the office thinking, "Oh shoot, I forgot to ask two or three things." You'll know that every one of your questions has been answered.

I'm often asked, "If I make a claim with the insurance company, or if I hire an attorney to do so, does that mean, automatically, that I'm going to have to go to court?". The short answer to that question is "no". Much of what we do as Las Vegas court attorneys is help those injured as a result of someone else's fault deal with the insurance company for the at-fault party. Insurance companies are billion-dollar companies that have many people that work for them whose sole job is either to deny claims or pay less that someone's entitled to as a result of being injured by the insured. Part of what we do is help the insurance company to appreciate the gravity of our client's injuries, appreciate the impact those injuries have had on our client's life, and convince the insurance company that it's actually in their best interest as a business to be fair now, as opposed to incurring court costs and being forced to be fair by a judge or a jury down the road.

In a typical personal injury practice, probably less that 2 in 10 cases that start out as claims actually end up in the litigation room or the court process. Just because you hire a lawyer, and just because you make a claim against an insurance company for injuries or other damages you've incurred, certainly does not mean that you'll end up in the court system. It can't be guaranteed that you won't, but most of the time cases as successfully resolved without the need for litigation.

One of the questions that I'm asked all the time is, "How can I afford a Las Vegas injury attorney?". Personal injury attorneys work a little differently than most attorneys. We charge a contingency fee basis as opposed to an hourly rate. If you've ever been to an attorney before, most attorneys charge you $300 - $500 per hour and make you give them a retainer up front and then draw against that retainer. And then when the retainer runs out they ask you to write them another check, and as you can imagine, many people can't afford to do that. Personal injury attorneys work a little differently. We work on what is called a contingency fee basis, and that means that our fee is contingent on getting money for our clients. If I spend 1000 hours on a client's case, but don't get that client any money, the client doesn't owe me anything for my time. We have a strong incentive to get the most money for every client, and we do that anyway, but, obviously, the more money we get for our clients, the higher our fee goes. It's a good situation for most of our clients because they can't afford to write that check up front, and they're generally very pleased with the outcome.

One of the things that I tell all my clients to be aware of are the so-called, "discount firms" that charge a discounted contingency fee. In Las Vegas the standard contingency fee is one-third (33.3%), but there are some firms that advertise less. One of the things you need to watch out for is hidden fees (or hidden charges). Typically those lawyers will charge you for things that other lawyers won't. They'll charge you for a percentage of the property damage that's recovered. Most reputable firms here in Las Vegas don't charge for property damage. They'll also take a percentage of the medical payments coverage that was obtained, and that's money that you would have gotten anyway (even without an attorney). The other thing I always tell me clients is, "If you're dealing with a discounted fee, you're usually going to get discounted service too." So be careful because you get what you pay for.

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If you are interested in learning more about: <a href="http://www.hennessandhaight.com/types-of-cases";>Las Vegas Accident Lawyer</a>, then visit the Henness and Haight Injury Attorneys' site and learn more about these <a href="http://www.hennessandhaight.com";>Las Vegas Injury Attorneys</a> now!



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