Our Birmingham Personal Injury Lawyers at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC are Ready To Fight for You
While it may be hard to imagine until it happens to you, a personal injury can derail your life in a variety of hard-to-manage ways. From missing work for weeks to the possibility of lifelong physical pain, a personal injury due to someone else’s fault is a difficult experience. Our Birmingham personal injury attorneys at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC guide our injured clients through the complex legal system and handle the insurance companies, seeking full and fair compensation to support their recovery.
If you have been injured due to the fault of someone else, you have options to seek justice for your suffering. Our Birmingham personal injury attorneys can help you fight back and pursue financial compensation. Call us at (205) 521-7378(205) 521-7378 or complete our confidential online form to schedule your consultation that includes a free case evaluation with our team in Birmingham. We are ready to fight for you.
Key Takeaways
- The Birmingham personal injury lawyers at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC pursue personal injury claims to pursue maximum compensation under the law for victims of injuries caused by negligent parties in Birmingham, Alabama
- Birmingham personal injury claims range from motor vehicle collisions like car accidents or truck accidents to slip and fall incidents, dog bite incidents, catastrophic injuries like traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord injuries, and even wrongful death claims.
- Serious injuries may not be immediately apparent, so accident victims should seek medical attention both for medical diagnosis and to provide documentation to support a personal injury claim
- The potential financial compensation an injury victim can claim to account for injuries and losses are called damages, and these are further classified into economic damages and non-economic damages
- Alabama has a pure contributory negligence rule for personal injury claims, which means someone found partially at fault is not eligible to claim compensation
- The statute of limitations (deadline) for filing a personal injury claim in Birmingham, Alabama is usually two years, but injury victims or their families should consult with a Birmingham personal injury attorney to check for exceptions to this rule
- The case evaluator at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC can provide a free case evaluation for injury victims after they schedule a consultation with the Birmingham, Alabama personal injury firm
Types of Personal Injury Cases in Birmingham, Alabama
At The Hazzard law Firm, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama, we handle personal injury cases for injury victims that have suffered harms or losses in any of the following types of injury scenarios:
- Auto Accidents
- Car Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Rideshare Accidents (Uber or Lyft Accidents)
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Commercial Vehicle Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Bicycle Accidents
- Hit and Run Accidents
- Drunk Driving Accidents (DUI Accidents)
- Dog Bites
- Slip and Fall Injuries
- Product Liability Claims
- Nursing Home Negligence or Nursing Home Abuse
- Premises Liability
- Negligent Security
- Catastrophic Injuries
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
- Burn Injury
- Fracture Injuries (Broken Bones)
- Loss of Limb (Amputation Injuries)
- Medical Malpractice
- Construction Injury
- Workplace Accidents
- Daycare Injury
- Playground Injury
- Fatal Injury to a Family Member (Wrongful Death Claims)
If you have suffered any of the above types of injuries due to someone else’s carelessness, schedule a consultation today so our case evaluator at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC can conduct a free case evaluation. Our personal injury attorneys are committed to guiding injury victims in the Birmingham, Alabama community to seek the monetary compensation they need in the aftermath of a personal injury incident.
When Should I Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer?
When you have been injured, it can be hard to know where to start. Many personal injury victims doubt whether they even have a case. Our case evaluator at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC can collect the information surrounding the accident or the injury and make that determination. Given the specifics of your case, our skilled personal injury lawyers can then fight for you to pursue the maximum compensation under the law.
Once you have been injured, you should make it a priority to seek an experienced personal injury lawyer. Our experienced personal injury attorneys in Birmingham, AL can come in at any stage of a personal injury lawsuit, but it is beneficial to pursue legal help as early as possible in the legal process.
If an injury allows the victim to seek legal counsel the same day or a few days later, it can be useful in gathering information while the events of the injury are still fresh.
What Counts as a Personal Injury?
If you have suffered harms and losses from an accident involving another party, you need to find out whether you have a personal injury claim to seek compensation due to the other party’s negligence. You could have a valid injury claim if someone else has created or encouraged the conditions that led to the injury. For example, a slip and fall accident is a type of personal injury that may happen because someone did not maintain reasonably safe conditions of their property.
Personal injuries can range from minor to severe in nature, such as cuts, sprains, burns, broken bones, and even wrongful death. Aside from the injury being due to someone else’s negligence, the following circumstances are also strong indicators that you need to pursue a personal injury case in Birmingham, Alabama:
- Medical Care and Expenses: You have suffered an injury that requires medical treatment at the fault of someone else.
- Permanent or Ongoing Impact: You have suffered an injury due to someone else’s negligence that caused long-term or permanent injuries or disability.
- Insurance Company Delays: The insurance company is stalling on agreement of payment related to your personal injury case in hopes of a statute of limitations.
If you are unsure whether your injury falls under these circumstances, contact an experienced lawyer. Our legal team at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC can help you determine whether you have a case and estimate how much compensation you may be eligible to pursue as a consequence of your injury during your free case evaluation.
Proving Fault and Seeking Compensation for Auto Accidents in Birmingham, Alabama
Alabama is a fault-based insurance state for motor vehicle accidents, which means the negligent driver that caused an accident (or their insurance company) is responsible for paying compensation for harms and losses due to their carelessness. Alabama is also a contributory negligence state, which means a driver that is partially responsible for causing an auto accident is not eligible to seek any compensation from the other driver.
Under these rules, the parties involved in an auto accident case have great financial incentive to prove that they did not cause or contribute to the collision. Motorcycle accidents and truck accidents tend to be more complicated than other car accidents, and they usually involve more serious injuries due to riders’ exposure to the environment in motorcycle accidents and to the extreme mass of the vehicles involved in commercial truck collisions.
Truck accidents and commercial vehicle accidents also often tend to involve multiple parties with strong legal teams, which can require complex litigation. At The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC, our accident claims lawyers are prepared to represent you in court, and we provide legal services to support car accident insurance claims and claims seeking compensation for the serious injuries sustained in these accidents.
What Types of Compensation Can an Injury Victim Seek in a Personal Injury Settlement in Birmingham, Alabama?
Under Alabama law, a victim of personal injury due to negligence is eligible to fight for compensation in the form of damages, which are specific monetary amounts accounting for the injuries, expenses, or other losses a victim suffers as a consequence of a personal injury.
Economic Damages
Straightforward monetary expenses like medical bills are classified as economic damages. For example, an Alabama personal injury case could potentially ask for economic damages that may include lost wages from being unable to work, hospital and other medical bills incurred due to the injury itself, damages accounting for the reduction in future earning capacity (in the case of a severe long-term or permanent injury), and other monetary losses due to the injury or incident.
Non-economic Damages
A victim of personal injury may also be able to claim non-economic damages to account for subjective losses that significantly impact their life but are not directly tied to a monetary expense. Non-economic damages include matters such as physical pain and suffering, emotional suffering, emotional distress, permanent disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment in life due to the injury and its impacts.
Our skilled and experienced attorneys at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC can identify appropriate monetary values for non-economic damages, accounting for the long-term effects on a victim’s future.
Punitive Damages
In some rare cases involving egregious carelessness or harm, an injury victim may be able to pursue punitive damages intended to punish the defendant’s negligent actions rather than compensate for specific losses. Punitive damages occur when the victim can prove that the person responsible for their injuries did so intentionally through oppression, malice, or fraud.
Should You Answer Questions from the Other Party’s Insurance Company?
Injury victims need to take care to avoid speaking with the insurance company of the liable party without legal representation present, and many victims of personal injury do not seek legal counsel soon enough. They wrongly believe that being as cooperative as possible with the insurance company of the person responsible for their injury will help them seek the right financial compensation. Mistakes when communicating with insurance companies can destroy a victim’s personal injury claim.
Insurance companies also do not have the victim’s best interest at heart and would rather pay little to nothing at all whenever possible. For example, insurance companies may be intentionally stalling in hopes that the statute of limitations will pass, making the case ineligible. If you give a recorded statement to the insurance company, they may use your words against you later against you to dismiss your case or settle an offer that is considerably less than you need.
An experienced lawyer at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC can handle these conversations, anticipating and avoiding the insurance companies’ tactics of manipulation while protecting your interests. The right approach is to speak with a lawyer and let them deal with the insurance company on your behalf. The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC offers a free consultation for personal injury cases in Birmingham, Alabama.
Personal Injury Laws Specific to Alabama
The laws in Alabama include many requirements to make a valid claim seeking compensation for personal injuries. Essentially, you and your personal injury attorney must demonstrate that you did not contribute to your injury and that the injuries and losses you suffered were caused due to the careless actions of the other party or parties when they had a responsibility to avoid causing you harm. Furthermore, you must prove this before the statute of limitations deadline.
We will address each of these components below:
- Alabama’s Pure Contributory Negligence rule
- The four required elements to prove liability in an Alabama injury claim
- Alabama’s Statute of Limitations for filing a personal injury claim
The Pure Contributory Negligence Rule in Alabama
Alabama follows the pure contributory negligence doctrine. If the injured party is found even 1% at fault for the accident, they are barred from eligibility to claim any damages. This strict rule makes it a requirement to demonstrate that the defendant was entirely at fault. Our skilled attorneys at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC work carefully to protect clients’ interests in light of this rule.
Elements Necessary to Prove Liability
To establish negligence and liability in a personal injury claim, you and your attorney must prove the following four elements are present in your case:
- Duty of Care: The defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff to act reasonably under the circumstances. For example, drivers owe a duty to follow traffic laws, and property owners must maintain safe premises.
- Breach of Duty: The defendant failed to meet their duty of care through actions or omissions. Examples include running a red light or failing to clean up a spill.
- Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty directly caused the plaintiff’s injuries. This includes both actual cause (the direct link) and proximate cause (foreseeable consequences).
- Damages: The plaintiff suffered actual harm, such as physical injuries, financial losses, or emotional distress. Without damages, there is no basis for a claim.
The Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Claims in Alabama
The statute of limitations is the deadline to file a personal injury claim. The time limit can vary, depending on the nature of the claim and the details surrounding the injury and when it was discovered.
The statute of limitations deadline is usually two years for personal injury claims in Alabama, but the rules vary slightly by the type of claim and relevant case details:
- General Personal Injury Claims: The statute of limitations is two years from the date of the injury. This applies to car accidents, slip-and-falls, and other negligence-based claims.
- Wrongful Death Claims: Survivors have two years from the date of death to file a claim.
- Medical Malpractice: Claims must be filed within two years of the injury or its discovery.
A four-year statute of repose applies, barring claims after this period regardless of discovery. Our case evaluator at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC can conduct a free case evaluation when you schedule a consultation.
Our attorneys work on behalf of injury victims to file injury claims in a timely manner. Promptly consult an experienced personal injury attorney to protect your rights if you have suffered an injury due to someone else’s carelessness.
Exceptions to the Standard Two-Year Statue of Limitations in Alabama
Factors such as claims involving government entities, minors, or individuals lacking mental capacity may affect the deadlines and processes for a Birmingham, Alabama personal injury claim in the following ways:
- Claims Against Government Entities: Claims must be filed within six months for municipalities and 180 days for state entities. A formal notice of claim is required.
- Minors: The statute of limitations begins when the minor turns 19.
- Mental Incapacity: The clock pauses until the individual regains capacity.
Act quickly to protect your legal rights by seeking legal guidance from an experienced personal injury lawyer if you have suffered an injury in Birmingham, Alabama.
How a Personal Injury Lawyer at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC Can Help You in Birmingham
The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC helps injury victims throughout a Birmingham, Alabama personal injury case:
- Assessment of the Claim During a Consultation: Our case evaluator conducts a free case evaluation to determine the validity of the claim, identifying next steps and building a case strategy.
- Investigating the Accident: Our injury lawyers gather evidence, such as police reports, medical records, and witness statements, in order to build a strong case. We may consult with experts to reconstruct the accident or assess long-term impacts.
- Identifying Responsible Parties: Our lawyers determine who is legally liable for the injury, whether it’s an individual, a business, or a government entity. During this process, we identify the applicable insurance policies.
- Managing Communication: Our lawyers handle the interactions with insurance companies and creditors, preventing our clients from being pressured into unfair settlements.
- Calculating and Documenting Losses: Our Birmingham injury lawyers assess the full extent of damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and future care needs. Especially when dealing with serious injuries or long-lasting expenses, you need to seek enough compensation to cover your losses. This step accounts for each of the specific losses in the claim.
- Protecting Against Contributory Negligence Claims: In Alabama, even 1% fault can prevent your financial recovery from a personal injury. Our lawyers at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC work to refute suggestions that our client contributed to the accident.
- Meeting Deadlines: Our attorneys prepare and file claims within Alabama’s two-year statute of limitations for personal injury cases, avoiding dismissal.
- Providing Legal Guidance: Our attorneys at The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC explain the legal process, answer questions, and offer legal direction at each stage of the case. This helps our clients make informed decisions throughout an injury case.
- Negotiating Settlements: Our Birmingham injury lawyers negotiate with insurance companies to pursue fair compensation, drawing upon evidence and documentation to support your case and compensation demands.
- Representing Clients in Court: If we do not reach a settlement with the defendant and their insurance company during negotiation, we represent our clients in court, presenting evidence and arguing the case before a judge or jury.
Our Birmingham personal injury lawyers can work on a contingency fee basis, and we start by conducting a free case evaluation to review and assess the details of your injury case.
Take Action Today and Schedule Your Consultation with The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC in Birmingham, Alabama
If you have been injured by someone else’s negligence in Birmingham, Alabama, you are likely feeling overwhelmed by medical expenses, lost wages, emotional distress, and pain and suffering. At The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC, we pursue the maximum compensation under Alabama Law to help you recover and put your life back in order. We are ready to fight for you.
Whether you have been arguing with the insurance company to reach a settlement on a recent injury or you have recently been injured and need to take the first steps, we are here to help you fight for the money you need to support your physical, emotional, and financial recovery. We can begin by evaluating your case at no cost to you when you request a consultation.
Contact The Hazzard Law Firm, LLC today at (205) 521-7378(205) 521-7378 or complete our confidential contact form to schedule your consultation, which includes a free case evaluation with our team.
Navigating the Legal Hazards with Experience You Can Trust
