What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?

A personal injury attorney assists and advocates for injury victims at every stage, from negotiating with insurance companies and assembling a case on your behalf to filing a lawsuit and representing you at trial. Working with a personal injury attorney from the beginning can help you avoid missteps, such as missed deadlines, being misled by an insurance company, or loss of access to evidence.

Personal injuries happen without warning. The aftermath is oftentimes painful and stressful. If you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence or recklessness, don’t let a moment go by without contacting an experienced personal injury attorney. If you or a loved one in Massachusetts or New Hampshire are a victim of a personal injury-related accident, experienced litigator, Kevin P. Broderick, will fight for you. With more than 20 years of experience in the courtroom, Broderick will help you understand your legal rights and seek compensation for your injuries, damages, and recovery. Personal injury cases are taken on a contingency fee basis. There is no fee unless damages are recovered for you.

What is a Personal Injury Case?

A personal injury case may arise from any type of injury you suffer because someone else was careless or didn’t live up to his legal obligations.

Types of Personal Injury

Slip and Fall Injuries

Property owners are required to keep their land, buildings, and surrounding landscape free from conditions that could cause harm. Injuries that occur due to improper care like slip and fall or trip and fall injuries can take place on both public and private property in any place that has the possibility of uneven ground, slippery surfaces, or obstructions. If someone’s negligence has caused you or your loved one bodily harm, it is vital that you speak with Attorney Broderick, no matter how minor or severe your injury, to receive the compensation that is rightfully yours.

Brain Injuries

A brain injury, also known as a traumatic brain injury (TBI), is one of the worst types of physical damage a person can suffer in an accident. A brain injury is sustained when a victim receives a blow to the head that is strong enough to impact the brain and cause injury, swelling, dizziness, nausea, and confusion. Severe cases may include unconsciousness, memory loss, or coma resulting in long-term or permanent effects. Brain injuries can result in, or cause a victim to require, ongoing therapy and treatment to rehabilitate from severe trauma. Contact Attorney Kevin Broderick today if you or your loved one has suffered a brain injury. He will fight for the justice and compensation you seek.

Spinal Injuries

If you or a loved one has suffered a back or spinal cord injury, you need to secure legal representation immediately. Injuries involving the spine have the potential to temporarily or permanently affect body movement and brain function. Victims of life-changing disabilities often require extensive medical care, physical therapy, a caregiver, and experience a lifetime of consequences. When a back or spinal injury is the result of a negligent act, Attorney Kevin Broderick will take legal action and seek justice and full compensation on behalf of the injured person.

Dog Bite Injuries

Numerous individuals in Massachusetts and New Hampshire are bitten by dogs each year and many dog bites are serious enough to require medical attention. Dog owners can be held responsible when bites or attacks occur. If you or a loved one have suffered injuries after being bitten or attacked by a dog, it is important to know your legal rights. Legal issues surrounding dog bites can be complex. While you recover, Attorney Kevin Broderick can fight aggressively for you with his knowledge and experience to ensure you get the compensation you deserve.

Wrongful Death

Nothing compensates for the pain, grief, and sorrow you experience when a loved one is killed in an accident caused by someone else. The responsible party needs to be held accountable for their actions and for your suffering. If you want to pursue compensation for the death of a loved one, you need an aggressive, legal advocate on your side. Contact Attorney Broderick to help you obtain the benefits you deserve for the pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and loss of wages you’ve endured.

Work-Related Injuries

Kevin Broderick has handled all types of claims on behalf of injured workers. He understands how construction accidents or work-related back injuries can turn your life upside-down. Massachusetts Work-related injury attorney Kevin Broderick can help you file your workers’ compensation claim so that all the facts and the law are squarely on your side. He will work directly with doctors and insurance companies on your behalf to get the benefits you are entitled to under the law, quickly, while you recover. If you need representation for a New Hampshire Worker’s Comp case, Kevin is licensed in New Hampshire.

Premises Liability

Poor maintenance of both public and private property are the cause of many serious personal injury accidents. Types of premises liability include:

slip and fall injuries

presence of sharp objects

toxic fumes, and other dangerous environments.

The victim of a premises liability injury deserves to be compensated by the responsible party. Your case needs the personalized attention of an experienced premises liability attorney. Partner with Kevin Broderick to seek justice for the wrongdoing that caused you or your loved one unnecessary pain.

What Should I Do if I’ve Been Injured in an Accident?

First, get checked out by a medical professional. It’s very common for symptoms to appear hours or even days after an accident. One reason for this delay is that many people are in shock immediately following a traumatic event. Seeing a physician will ensure that any injuries sustained are promptly and appropriately treated. A timely medical evaluation will also help preserve the record in case you discover later that your injuries are more extensive than you initially believed.

Other important steps include:

· making a police report in connection with any motor vehicle accident

· documenting as much information as possible under the circumstances

· contacting an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible

Of course, the extent of your injuries and the nature of the situation may impact the information and evidence you are able to gather at the scene. If you can, collect insurance information from the responsible party, contact information for any witnesses, and even photographs of the scene.

Do I Need a Personal Injury Attorney?

You’re not legally required to hire an attorney to handle your personal injury claim. However, if you decide to pursue your claim on your own, you are still expected to know and follow all of the relevant laws and procedures. For example, you must know and meet deadlines, submit pleadings in the required format and include information that is legally sufficient to support your claim, respond appropriately to discovery requests and propagate your own, and otherwise do the job an attorney would do for you.

This can be both risky and daunting, since building a strong personal injury case is time consuming and requires knowledge in a variety of areas beyond the legal process, such as how to establish economic losses, how to prove and quantify the need for ongoing medical care, and how to secure and work with expert witnesses.

Most people who have recently suffered a serious injury do not have the time, energy, knowledge, or funds to effectively pursue a personal injury claim on their own.

What if I Can’t Afford a Personal Injury Lawyer?

Most injury victims can’t afford to pay an attorney up front on an hourly basis. We handle personal injury cases on a “contingency” basis, which means that our fee is a percentage of your award or settlement. We don’t get paid until you do.

In many cases, we will also advance expenses associated with building your case, such as expert witness fees, to ensure that we have the opportunity to put forth the strongest possible case on your behalf, regardless of your financial situation.

How Much is My Personal Injury Case Worth?

The answer to this question is different for every single personal injury victim, and no attorney can tell you exactly how much you can expect to recover. However, an experienced personal injury lawyer will be able to evaluate your damages and the circumstances of the injury and provide an educated estimate.

Some of the factors include:

Whether the other party was wholly at fault or you were partially responsible

The extent of your monetary damages, such as medical bills and damage to your car

Whether your injuries are temporary or permanent, and how serious they are

The impact of your injuries on your future earning capacity

Pain, suffering, and loss of quality of life as a result of the accident

The best way to get a general idea of the value of your claim is to schedule a free consultation with a local personal injury lawyer.

How Long Do I Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

The statute of limitations for filing an injury-related lawsuit varies depending on the state, the type of claim, and sometimes even the responsible party. In addition, the event that starts the clock may differ.

For example, in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the statute of limitations for most injury cases is three years. But, in the case of an event such as a car accident, that three-year period starts to run when the accident occurs. For a medical malpractice claim, the three years doesn’t begin until the injury is discovered, which may be immediately after the malpractice occurs or may be months or years later.

Workers’ compensation claims in both states have much tighter notice requirements, and there may be special procedural requirements and shorter timelines associated with claims against governmental entities.

Consulting a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after your injury will help ensure that you don’t miss critical deadlines and lose the right to compensation.

Contact an Experienced Lowell, Massachusetts and New Hampshire Personal Injury Lawyer

Kevin Broderick is an experienced personal injury lawyer who will fight for you. You don’t have to shoulder the burden of injury-related expenses alone. Give yourself the peace of mind of having someone on your side. Contact the Broderick Law Firm, LLC today or call our office at 978-459-3085 for your free personal consultation.

Kevin can help you get the justice you seek and the compensation you deserve for your personal injury case.