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After suffering severe injuries in an accident, the last thing you want is to be dealing with the challenges of a difficult litigation process. But when you have a powerful legal advocate on your side, you could bring the at-fault party to justice. Continue reading to learn the top 5 ways a Columbus personal injury lawyer could help you with your civil claim. 

We Figure Out Who Is At Fault

One of the most important elements of any personal injury claim is being able to determine who is at fault for the accident. This is the party who will be responsible for compensating you if you win your case. Your lawyer has the resources to open a complete investigation and determine who is culpable for your injuries.

We Gather Evidence to Support Your Case

Through the course of our investigation, we will gather the evidence needed to support your case. We might need to hire experts to testify on your behalf, obtain witness statements and video footage, and get other evidence to build a powerful case against the at-fault party.

We Calculate the Value of Your Claim

You might think you know what your claim is worth— but what if we told you we could get you more? Your lawyer knows all the different ways you can be compensated after an accident, and can help you make sure you’ve maximized your injury settlement. 

We Negotiate with the Insurance Company

Dealing with the insurance company is a necessary evil in most personal injury claims. The insurer is always trying to avoid fairly paying out claims, and you’re too overwhelmed and intimidated to know you’re about to be taken advantage of. Instead, your lawyer will handle the negotiations for you to protect your injury settlement and your future. 

We Bring Your Case to Court

Insurance settlements don’t always cut it. We sometimes need to bring your case to court if we hope to get the most out of your claim. You need a lawyer who isn’t going to let you settle for less than you deserve just so they can avoid going to court. We’ll always bring your case to trial if it’s what is in your best interests. 

Meet With a Personal Injury Lawyer in Columbus

Hiring a Columbus personal injury lawyer with Rafidi, Pallante & Melewski LLC could make all the difference in the outcome of your case. When you want an attorney you can count on, schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. Call us today at. 1-866-494-5387 or fill out the quick contact form below so we can get started on your case.

Medical malpractice lawsuits can be some of the more difficult types of personal injury claims. This is partly because many victims aren’t sure whether they have a case or even realize they’ve been victimized by a negligent healthcare provider. In fact, some patients will even just chalk up their injury or illness as being a risk or side effect of the treatment they received. 

Confusion surrounding informed consent is not uncommon and if more patients understood what informed consent was and how it worked, they may have a more clear understanding of whether their healthcare provider is liable for their injuries. Read on to learn more about what informed consent is, its significance to your potential medical malpractice lawsuit and how a Columbus personal injury lawyer can help. 

What Is Informed Consent?

When you are receiving treatment of any kind, it is up to your healthcare provider to ensure you know what to expect from your treatment. They should have gone over how the treatment works, what physical side effects you might experience, what the risks of the treatment are, your recovery plan, and other pertinent details.

Then, before you actually receive treatment, you need to authorize the healthcare provider to treat you. This authorization, after having been fully informed, is called your informed consent. The trouble is, when a healthcare provider fails to fully inform the patient of the risks, the patient’s informed consent is now void. 

How Informed Consent Impacts Medical Malpractice Cases

After you’ve been injured or fallen ill due to your treatment, you may just assume this was a risk or side effect associated with the medication, surgery, or other treatment you underwent. While this may be true, there are many cases in which it was later discovered that a healthcare provider’s negligence was the true cause of the injury. 

It can be difficult to know whether your healthcare provider made a mistake or you experienced natural complications—and you can’t necessarily trust you’re being given all of the facts. But when you have a medical malpractice lawyer representing your interests, you can be sure we’ll uncover the truth and hold the at-fault party responsible.

Meet with a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Ohio

Filing a lawsuit may be overwhelming, but doing so could be the best way for you to hold the liable healthcare provider accountable for their negligence and obtain fair compensation for your suffering. 

Contact a dedicated Ohio medical malpractice lawyer at Rafidi, Pallante & Melewski LLC to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation. Complete the quick contact form below or give our office a call at 1-866-494-5387 when you are ready to get started on your case. 

Slip-and-fall accidents are known for resulting in devastating injuries. Individuals who have been injured in a slip-and-fall have reported traumatic brain damage, broken and fractured bones, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, neck injuries, and other severe injuries. 

If you’ve been injured in a slip-and-fall accident, you may have the option of pursuing a premises liability claim depending on the circumstances of your case. Continue reading to learn more about when you and your Columbus personal injury lawyer might pursue a slip-and-fall claim and who might be found liable for the injuries you sustained. 

How to Know Whether You Have Grounds For a Civil Claim

At first glance, you might assume the injuries you suffered were accidental. That very well may be the case. However, there is a difference between an innocent accident and negligence. 

In order for a slip-and-fall claim to be successful, your premises liability lawyer must prove the accused party had an obligation to you (the victim) and their negligent actions caused the fall and your resulting injuries. 

When you’re sitting at home, going over what happened, wondering whether you should contact a lawyer to discuss your case, consider these two questions:

• Has my life been seriously impacted by the accident?
• Could someone else be responsible for my slip-and-fall?

If the answer to both questions is “Yes,” then you need to get on the phone and call an attorney to discuss the possibility of a civil claim. Only after having examined the details of your case will your lawyer be able to determine whether your slip-and-fall case has merit. 

Who Is Liable for Your Slip-and-Fall injuries?

Once you move forward with your case, one of the top priorities of your lawyer will be to figure out who is responsible for causing your slip-and-fall. 

For premises liability cases like these, the owner of the property where the fall occurred is almost always the at-fault party. This is because property owners have an obligation to ensure their premises are safe for all invited guests and patrons.

For example, if your favorite coffee shop didn’t put up a wet floor sign, warning the public of the hazard, or clean up the spill in a timely manner and someone was injured, the owner of the coffee shop would likely be found liable for your injuries.

It should be noted this only applies to people who have the right to be on the premises. People who are committing a crime or trespassing at the time of their fall may not be entitled to compensation from the property owner. 

Contact an Experienced Slip-and-Fall Lawyer

If you have been injured in a slip-and-fall accident and aren’t sure where to turn for help, reach out to a qualified personal injury lawyer at Rafidi, Pallante & Melewski LLC. 

Call us at 1-866-494-5387 or through the convenient contact form included below when you are ready to schedule your free, no-obligation case evaluation. 

One of the first things that people who have been involved in a car accident know to do afterward is to exchange insurance information with the other involved party. Because Ohio is a fault state regarding car accidents, you need the other involved party’s insurance information in order to file a claim with their auto insurer. 

Unfortunately, knowing who to file the claim with is only the first step in the claims process. Continue reading to learn more about what happens after you file the claim and what you can expect from not only the insurance company, but also from your claim as a whole. 

What You Can Expect from the Insurance Company

You may be surprised to learn that the insurance company probably isn’t on your side, and they may not care about getting you the justice you deserve. In fact, many insurance companies only have one thing in mind—protecting their profits. 

When you file your claim, if the insurer settles, they’ll be losing money. The insurance adjuster may try to make you admit fault or twist your word. They could even try to trick you into accepting an offer for significantly less compensation than your case is worth. 

If you hope to avoid being taken advantage of by the insurance company, it may be in your best interests to have legal counsel on your side as you navigate the negotiations with the insurer. 

What You Can Expect from Your Car Accident Claim

The insurance company may be obligated to settle your claim up to the maximum limits of the insured’s policy. But this can create a lot of confusion if your losses exceed this limit. 

For example, let’s say that your losses were valued at $100,000 but the liable party’s insurance policy is only valued at $25,000 in bodily injury liability coverage. Since the insurance company is only required to compensate a victim up to the limits of the policy, in this case, $25,000 is their legal obligation. 

But how do you go about obtaining compensation for the other $75,000 in losses? The answer to that will vary on a case-by-case basis. Some people may choose to move forward with a civil lawsuit against the liable party, while others may give up and just try to forget the accident, working themselves even harder to try to pay for their losses themselves. 

Your accident lawyer can help you explore all avenues of financial recovery so you can go on to rebuild your life and put this traumatic experience behind you. 

Reach Out to an Accident Lawyer

When you have been involved in a serious car accident and are unsure what is going to happen next, contact a respected lawyer at Rafidi, Pallante & Melewski LLC for help. 

When you are ready to get started on your case, simply complete the convenient contact form on our website or call our office at 1-866-494-5387 to schedule your free, no-obligation consultation.

You may be surprised to learn just how many accident survivors fail to get the compensation they would have otherwise been entitled to. But we aren’t talking about injury victims who get the legal help they need and fight for restitution. The accident survivors who end up with lost opportunities are often those who don’t move forward with a claim because they share fault. 

Sharing fault for an accident in Ohio does not prevent you from being awarded compensation for your suffering. Read on to learn more about what shared fault is and how it works in the state of Ohio. 

What Is Shared Fault?

When you have been accused of sharing fault for an accident, the other involved party is claiming that your actions have contributed to the cause of the accident in some way. However, under Ohio law, even if you are partially responsible for causing your injuries, you can still be awarded compensation for your losses. This is known as comparative fault. 

In states that practice contributory fault, injury victims who share fault are not entitled to compensation, no matter how minimal their portion of fault may be. Ohio operates under a modified comparative fault system, allowing an injury victim to share up to fifty percent of the fault for an accident. If you are more than fifty percent responsible for the accident, you will not be able to recover compensation.

It should also be noted that if you do share fault for an accident, this portion of fault will also be deducted from your injury settlement. Check out the example below to learn more about how modified comparative fault could impact your personal injury claim. 

How Comparative Fault Works in Ohio

Ohio has a modified comparative fault system, so if you are more than fifty percent liable for an accident, you can’t be awarded compensation. Those who are forty-nine percent or less liable can pursue a claim. Let’s take a closer look at a fictional example of modified comparative negligence in action:

Kim was driving down Main Street when she was suddenly struck by a speeding driver. Throughout the course of the investigation, the court discovers that Kim was not wearing her seatbelt at the time of the accident. The judge therefore finds her to be twenty percent liable for her injuries. When the jury awards her $250,000, her injury settlement is reduced by twenty percent, and her case is resolved at a final injury settlement of $200,000.

If you share fault for your accident, you can reach out to a Columbus personal injury lawyer to learn more about how much your case could be affected. 

Get Help from a Columbus Personal Injury Lawyer 

If you have additional questions about how comparative negligence could have an impact on your Ohio lawsuit, schedule a free claim review with a respected Columbus personal injury lawyer at Rafidi, Pallante & Melewski LLC. You can fill out our quick contact form or give our office a call at 1-866-494-5387 when you are ready to move forward with your claim.