What Should I do After Suffering a Personal Injury?

    ORLANDO, FL, March 13, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The very first thing you should do if you have been seriously injured in an accident is receive medical attention. Even if your injuries do not seem obvious, you should get checked out by a medical doctor. Some injuries, such as traumatic brain injury or neck injuries, do not manifest symptoms for days or weeks after the accident. If you have been in an auto accident such as a rear-end collision, you may think you simply suffered a bit of whiplash, but there could actually be damage to your spinal cord that only diagnostic tests performed by a doctor will indicate.

Finding a Personal Injury Lawyer

After you have been seen by a medical doctor, you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer if you have been injured due to someone else's negligence. A personal injury lawyer works on a contingency basis, which means he or she does not get paid unless you get a settlement or a jury determines you are owed an award. If your personal injury lawyer does not "win" your case, then he does not get paid. It's that simple. In the rare cases that a personal injury lawyer will charge certain fees even if your case is not won, this will all be discussed during your initial consultation.

If you have suffered a personal injury, you should research personal injury lawyers in your area and ask around to friends and family regarding lawyers they have had good experiences with in the past. Many legal websites have testimonials pages. Testimonials are short statements by clients attesting to the value of the personal injury lawyer. You can often find reviews of business also on the Internet, and since personal injury law is a business, you may be able to find some reviews of a law firm you are considering.

Most local bar associations have referral services in which the names of lawyers are available, arranged by legal specialty. There is a wide variation in the quality of lawyer referral services, however, even though they are supposed to be approved by the state bar association. Some lawyer referral services carefully screen attorneys and list only those attorneys with particular qualifications and a certain amount of past experience, while other services will list any attorney in good standing with the state bar who maintains liability insurance. Before you choose a lawyer referral service, ask what its qualifications are for including an attorney and how carefully lawyers are screened.

If you live in Orlando, Florida and need an experienced personal injury lawyer, please visit the website of the Law Offices of Michael V. Barszcz, M.D., J.D. today at www.themdjd.com to schedule a confidential consultation.

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