4 Things You Might Do if You're Filing an Injury Claim Against a Business

If you're filing an injury claim against a business, then you're about to learn a great deal about this particular legal process. It's probably not something you want to do. Most people don't want to be litigious.

However, if you hurt yourself on a business's property or one of their products harmed you, you deserve proper compensation. If there's no question in your mind that what happened to you is this company's fault, you need to bring a lawsuit. The money you win can help you pay for hospital or doctor bills, physical or occupational therapy bills, counseling bills, lost wages, rent, food, etc.

The company might try to fight you on this, so you'll need to take the following steps.

Hire a Great Lawyer

The first thing you'll definitely need to do is hire a lawyer. The exception might be if you're an attorney yourself and have had personal experience with these lawsuit types in the past. When you hire a lawyer, make sure:

• You can afford them

• They have excellent credentials

• You get along well with them

You and your lawyer don't need to be best buddies, but you have to at least get along with them since you'll spend time with them working on your lawsuit. You can do some research online to determine whether they might be a good fit for you. You can ask them if they have handled similar lawsuits in the past and what the results were.

Gather Witnesses

You and your lawyer will probably have to gather witnesses to prove to a jury what happened. Those might include:

• Store employees

• Family members

• Doctors, hospital staff, etc.

Your witnesses will depend on the lawsuit's exact nature. If you hurt yourself in a store, for instance, and an employee saw what happened, you might compel them to testify. They must tell the jury, under oath, what happened to you.

If you had to head to the hospital or see your doctor after the accident, you might call on that doctor or hospital staff members. They can testify what your injury looked like, so the jury can tell you're not embellishing your story or misrepresenting what happened.

If a product hurts you in your home, you can call on your family members to testify. However, since they're your relations, they will not be such credible witnesses. They might profit from your lawsuit win.

Negotiate with the Company

Maybe the injury-causing company feels like you have a strong case against them. They may decide that they want to negotiate a settlement before the trial goes any further.

If that happens, you can meet with them, but you should bring your lawyer. They and the company's attorneys can hash out the details.

Your lawyer can tell you if they feel like you should take a settlement offer or if you should ask for more. If they feel like you can get more from the company, they might tell you to continue with the trial.

You'll have to decide whether what the company offers you seems reasonable. If what they offer will not cover your medical bills, lost wages, pain, and suffering, and so forth, you might want to continue the trial in the hopes you can win a higher amount.

Hire and Use Investigators

Your lawyer might also suggest hiring and using an investigator who can help prove the accident happened in the way you say it did. This investigator might dig up medical reports, additional witnesses, and anything else that might make your case stronger and more compelling.

If you do this, though, you should consider whether your lawyer is paying the investigator or you are. Some lawyers keep investigators on retainer. That means they can spring into action whenever the lawyer calls them, and they work for them regularly or semi-regularly.

If you're paying your lawyer on a contingency basis, that is when it makes the most sense to do this. This means you only pay the attorney if they win money for you.

If you're paying the lawyer and investigator regardless of whether you win or lose, proceed cautiously. You could lose the lawsuit and have to pay them, and then you'd be in worse shape than when you started.

These lawsuits can be lengthy and messy, but if you know you're right and the company is wrong, there's no reason not to move forward. You need to hold them accountable.

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