Personal Injury Lawyers in Columbia, SC

Are you looking for a personal injury lawyer in South Carolina or Georgia?

Best and Flatt, Personal Injury Attorneys

The term personal injury, in legal terms refers to physical, mental, emotional and/or financial harm or damages inflicted upon a victim (a plaintiff in a personal injury case or claim). Further, a personal injury claim is considered to be legally warranted when the injury is caused by:

* Carelessness

* Recklessness

* Negligence

* Intentional Harm of Another Person, Company or Entity

We call ourselves personal injury attorneys, interchangeably with accident lawyers, or accident attorneys, and what that means is that we represent clients who have been injured as a result of another party's negligence. Sometimes that other party is a person, such as another driver in a car accident, and sometimes the other party is a corporation, such as a store owner in a slip and fall case. Regardless of who the other party is, our goal is to get fair compensation for our clients.

Generally, the damages recoverable in a personal injury claim include the client's medical bills, even if they've been paid by group health insurance, any lost wages that we can prove are doctor-excused, and an amount of what we call pain and suffering. We can also recover for any future disability or impairment, as well as the cost of future projected medical expenses. Pain and suffering is one of those terms that is used in the legal profession that does not lend itself to any exact calculation. Basically, the goal is to compensate the injured person in an amount of money that will make him whole, that will pay him for the aggravation, discomfort, and inconvenience that the injury has caused him to suffer.

Personal Injury Cases - Insurance Companies and Adjusters

Typically, the claim is presented to the insurance company for the other party. They have trained professionals to handle the claim, known as insurance adjusters, so it is highly advisable for the client to have legal representation. If you were to try to handle the claim on your own against these highly trained professionals on the other side, you would probably live to regret it. There are several reasons why hiring an accident attorney is in your best interest.

Personal Injury Laws and Establishing Negligence

In order to recover anything from the other party or their insurance company, you must establish that the other party was at fault for your injury. Part of what we do as personal injury attorneys is perform an investigation to determine who was responsible for your injury, hopefully the other party. Assuming we can establish liability, most personal injury cases settle out of court, but a certain number of them go to trial, which is something our firm has experience in handling. You want to make sure that whatever personal injury attorney you choose has actual experience in the courtroom, even though most of the time a jury trial is not necessary.

Types of Personal Injuries

Personal injuries include physical injuries which can range from very slight to life-threatening or even fatal. Depending on various factors, the victim of negligence may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit or claim to pursue the recovery of damages.

Types of personal injuries for which you may seek recovery include physical injuries such as:

back and neck injuries;

brain injuries;

disabilities;

on the job injuries (worker's compensation);

loss of wages or benefits;

prescription errors;

spinal cord injuries;

slip and fall injuries;

and wrongful death.

Recovering Compensation for Your Losses

When a personal injury occurs it is not just the hospital and doctor bills that can be a burden. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastation caused by injuries and will work to recover financial compensation for damages including:

* Medical/ doctor bills

* Funeral bills

* Loss of salary

* Loss of ability to work

* Pain and suffering

* Mental anguish

* Long-term treatment programs

* Loss of ability to engage in normal life activities

* Loss of consortium