Government Reports Recommend Arizona Injury Victims Retain Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys

People often call us and ask why they should hire a personal injury lawyer in Arizona regarding their accident. Many people are concerned that an attorney will charge too much and that they are better off handling the claim themselves. The thought process of most people seems to be that since they do not want to go to trial and the insurance adjuster is cooperating with them, they will not have a problem settling the case themselves. In short, sometimes injury victims do not think that there is any advantage to hiring a lawyer.

If you have ever been involved in a serious car accident and handle these claims on your own, you will see that a fair settlement from the insurance company when it comes to a serious injury claim or a wrongful death claim in Arizona requires a top experienced personal injury and wrongful death lawyer. According to the United States Department of Justice, 90% of all trials in personal injury cases are brought before a jury, not a judge. The likelihood of being able to rely on a jury while you are your own lawyer is very slim. Insurance adjusters know that injury victims are not likely to go to trial themselves and know that it is less likely that an injury attorney will accept an injury victim's case once it is deeper in the process. Either party in the state can ask for a jury trial. In the state, the law requires that you must ask for a jury trial in a timely manner according to the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. Having an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side tells the insurance company that you are willing to fight your injury case and bring it to trial. Even if for some reason, you do not want to go to trial, the lawyer's representation still tells the insurance company that you have hired someone that is willing to fight for your case.

For those who think that settling avoids the issue of going to trial, this is usually not accurate. At least, if the hope is that a fair settlement can be reached while avoiding trial without a lawyer, that hope not only is not well founded, it flies in the face of logic when considering the roles of the parties involved. If the insurance company or corporate defendant who will be negotiating against you after a serious injury or wrongful death case knows that you are negotiating your case on your own, they know that you are probably not going to go to trial without a lawyer. They have no reason to make a fair settlement offer, and you cannot force a fair settlement offer to be made. The threat of being forced to face a jury is virtually non-existent if you do not have the best injury lawyer you can find working for you. If the insurance company or corporate defendant sees that you do not have an experienced attorney on your side, they are not likely to offer you as fair a settlement as if you had an attorney fighting for you. In fact, the insurance companies own studies show they pay out far more to those that are represented by a lawyer, not to mention the advantage of a specialist attorney in injury claims.

Remember the defendants have a job to do. With all due respect, their job is not to be fair to injury and wrongful death victims. In reality, the job of the corporate defendant or the insurance adjuster is to pay as little as possible to the injury victim. Unless the injury victim or family of the wrongful death victim can level the playing field with the other insurance company with a realistic threat of taking the case to a jury trial, a threat which is inherent by being represented by an attorney, there is little incentive for the insurance company or corporate defendant to offer a fair settlement. To make matters worse, the insurance company knows that if they can delay the injury victim's hiring of a lawyer, there will be missed opportunities that can sometimes permanently damage a serious personal injury case or wrongful death claim. Many times, witnesses disappear when people wait to conduct an investigation as an experienced lawyer would conduct, if needed, when retained by an injury victim in a case involving life-changing injuries or disabilities.

There is only one chance to settle your personal injury claim or wrongful death claim. Make sure that you have an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side. Mark is a certified specialist in injury and wrongful death litigation by the State Bar of Arizona. There are less than 2% of all Arizona lawyers that are certified specialists in this area of law. Alexis Breyer and Mark Breyer, together knows as "The Husband & Wife Law Team" have been practicing personal injury and wrongful death law, exclusively, since 1996. We have earned our reputation with the insurance companies and other defendants that we face on a daily basis. We offer consultations at no-cost to anyone who has a personal injury case or thinks that they have questions on personal injury matters. We welcome any questions that injury victims or families of wrongful death claims have regarding their injury claims. We will review your case with you and give you a fair assessment of your claim. Even if time has passed and you have tried to handle the case on your own, don't be afraid to give us a call at (602) 457-6222 so that we can give you an honest, straight-forward evaluation of your claim.