Will I Be Required to Appear in Court for My Orange County Personal Injury Accident Case?

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Will I Be Required to Appear in Court for My Orange County Personal Injury Accident Case?

One of the biggest misperceptions that many people have about the legal system is that the average civil case ends up in court in front of a jury. It’s not hard to form such an impression when every case depicted on television legal dramas ends up in court. The reality, however, is quite different. In fact, approximately 95% of the Orange County personal injury accident cases handled by Ledger & Associates are settled without the need to step foot in a courtroom. Of course each situation presents a different set of circumstances and therefore it is impossible to know with certainty whether your case will require a trial or not until the team at Ledger & Associates has evaluated your specific case. Take comfort, however, in the knowledge that there is a good chance that your case can be resolved to your satisfaction without every appearing in court.Orange County personal injury accident cases are generally based on the tort of negligence. What that means is that in order for your to be entitled to compensation for any injuries you have suffered, the defendant must have been “negligent”. Negligence is a legal term that is loosely used to mean “fault”. In order to prove that the defendant was negligent, you must prove four elements. You must first show that the defendant owed a duty of care to the victim. The duty of care element is considered on a case by case basis, but in some situations the duty of care has been well established. For instance, courts have long held that the operator of a motor vehicle on a public roadway has a duty of care to the other people on the roadway.

Once you have established that the defendant owed a duty of care, you must prove that he breached the duty of care. Again, facts are important but in general if the defendant did not use reasonable care under the circumstances to prevent harm to the victim then he likely breached his duty of care.

The last two elements are causation and damages. As the name implies, causation requires the victim to show that the defendant’s breach of his duty of care was the cause of her injuries. Damages is a legal term that refers to injuries-both economic and non-economic.

When the team at Ledger & Associates-Orange County evaluates your personal injury accident case they will carefully consider whether they feel that all four elements can be met in order to obtain compensation for your injuries. With over a decade of experience handling Orange County personal injury cases, the team at Ledger & Associates have the knowledge and expertise to determine whether your case can be won. As a result, most cases that are handled by Ledger & Associates are able to be resolved by an out of court settlement saving victims the time, expense and stress of having to endure a lengthy court battle. If however, your case is not able to be settled out of court, rest assured that you will have a nationally recognized personal injury accident attorney at your side and fighting for the compensation that you rightly deserve.

If you would like to schedule your free and detailed evaluation with Ledger & Associates-Orange County, please contact the team by calling 949-442-4333 or 800-300-0001. The Orange County office of Ledger & Associates is located at 100 Bayview Circle, Suite 315,Newport Beach, CA 92660

ORANGE COUNTY

100 Bayview Circle, Suite 315

Newport Beach, CA 92660

(949) 442-4333

What Are The Advantages to Hiring An Attorney For An Orange County Accident? If you have recently suffered injuries as the result of an Orange County, California personal injury accident you may be in the process of making the difficult decision to hire an attorney or handle the matter yourself. Each victim arrives at a decision regarding legal representation in her own manner and based on factors that are important to her. There is no legal requirement that you hire an attorney nor is there a magic formula that can help you decide whether you need one or not. Hiring an attorney is a very personal decision and one that only you can make after weighing the pros and cons. There are, however, a number of advantages to hiring an Orange County personal injury accident firm to represent you in your case that you should consider before making your decision.

The first advantage to hiring an attorney is that you will not need to communicate at all with the defendant or his insurance company from the moment you retain counsel. Many victims think that talking to the insurance adjuster is harmless. After all, you are just telling your story as it happened right? Unfortunately that is not always the case. Remember that the job of the insurance adjuster is to save the insurance company money – not to pay you money. Having an attorney on your side means that you will not need to communicate at all with the insurance company and therefore you don’t have to worry about what you say or how you say it.

If there is any question at all about negligence (fault) then having an experienced Orange County personal injury attorney handle your case can be the difference between recovering compensation for your injuries or recovering nothing. In some accidents, negligence is clear and the defendant readily admits that he was completely at fault. A large percentage of the time, however, the defendant is not willing to admit fault, or at least not complete fault, for the accident. When negligence is an issue, the knowledge and experience of an attorney becomes necessary.

When it’s time to negotiate a settlement having an attorney becomes a huge advantage. Studies have shown that victims overwhelmingly receive more compensation from a personal injury accident settlement when they are represented by an attorney than when they represent themselves. An experienced personal injury attorney knows how to value your case giving you a better chance of receiving a compensation amount that truly reflects the extent of your injuries. Additionally, when a victim is not represented by an attorney, the defendant may offer less compensation feeling secure that the victim cannot proceed to trial without an attorney and therefore has no other choice but to accept the offer. When you have a nationally recognized attorney like Emery Ledger on your side the defendant knows that you can, and will, take the matter to trial if the compensation offered is inadequate.