Philip Pendergrass is Atlanta’s Personal Injury Lawyer.

After you’re involved in an accident the first thing you should do is seek medical attention. Injuries may not immediately present themselves and going to see a medical professional could help you to catch an injury that has yet to surface. After seeking medical care it may be in your best interest to call a personal injury attorney in Atlanta GA and set up a free consultation. Next, you’ll want to do all that you can to collaborate with the investigation by providing the officers handling your case and your personal injury attorney with all the precious detail. It’s also a good idea to document everything at the scene of your accident including: Driver’s information including name, driver’s license number, license plate number, and their insurance information Take pictures and videos of the scene Take note of the setting including nearby intersections, shops, and CCTV cameras that may have caught the incident on video Gather information from witnesses and record their testimony whenever possible

Insurance companies have of experience combatting claims and an astute personal injury attorney will be able to use his experience, relationships, and knowledge of the law to win your case or settle in your favor. Severe injuries will affect your quality of life and that’s why it’s important to have a team of super lawyers working for you. So if you’ve suffered severe injuries or property damage and don’t want to be at the mercy of insurance companies then it may beneficial to your case to hire a professional injury lawyer.

An injury lawyer will do all that it can to seek damages for your personal injury. A personal injury lawyer will look to seek economic and non-economic damages in your Atlanta GA accident case. Economic damages are those that are easier to measure because they have a monetary value. Economic damages include medical bills, repairs to your property, rental fees, wages lost from work, and more. Economic damages are real losses that are objectively quantifiable. Non-economic damages are subjective because they aren’t as clear to quantify. Non-economic damages compensate for the pain and suffering a victim experiences due to their personal injury. A personal injury lawyer in Atlanta will help you seek damages for the emotional traumas you’ve faced, distress, suffering, and the loss of quality of life.

Most Atlanta GA attorneys will offer a free consultation to potential clients. Afterward, they’ll decide if they want to charge fees or work contingently. Most personal injury lawyers will work on a contingency basis for a fee between 30-40% of the total amount awarded to their client.

You’ve been involved in an accident and decided to contact a personal injury lawyer to have your free consultation but unsure which questions to ask them and what information you’ll need. Here are some great questions that an Atlanta GA professional injury attorney should be able to answer:

“What practice areas does your law firm specialize in?” The answer to this question is vital because you want a personal injury lawyer with experience winning and settling cases similar to yours in the Atlanta GA community.

“How have cases similar to mine turned out?” Not only do you want a lawyer with experience but you want to go into your case confident that you can win. If cases similar to yours haven’t gone well in the past, then your case may have a similar outcome.

“Who will be handling my case?” You may be wanting to work with a particular attorney at the Atlanta GA personal injury law firm of your choice and end up working with a junior lawyer. This lawyer is probably qualified to handle your case but he isn’t one of the super lawyers you had in mind.

“When will my case be resolved?” No attorney will be able to give you an exact date on when your case will be resolved but they may be able to hypothesize based on their experience with cases similar to yours.

“Will my attorney work on a contingency basis?” Most personal injury attorneys get paid contingently after the plaintiff wins their case or settles. A personal injury lawyer that charges hourly can be very expensive.

“How often does my attorney go to trial versus settling out of court?” Some attorneys work in cahoots with insurance companies to take advantage of their clients by settling as quickly as possible so that they can continue to turn over more clients. This practice is unethical so you need to find a lawyer that is not afraid of taking cases to trial when necessary.

“Does my attorney and I need to agree on a settlement amount before settling my case?” You’ll get the final say in whether or not you’ll accept a settlement and you and your legal defense team need to be on the same page. Your personal injury lawyer may revoke their services if they reach a settlement they find satisfactory and their client does not.

“Does the lawyer representing my case have recommendations from former clients and has the law firm won any prestigious awards or recommendations from other law professionals or the community?” It’s important to get as much background information as you can about your potential personal injury lawyer. These resources will prove invaluable as you compare and contrast different attorneys across the Atlanta GA metropolitan area.

“Has the personal injury lawyer representing my case ever been reprimanded or received any disciplinary censorship by legal or ethics communities?” Law professionals are humans and biases toward your lawyer or firm could hurt your case. Just because a lawyer offers you a free consultation that doesn’t mean you have to trust them with the lump sum of your settlement especially if you find they have been disciplined for similar issues in the past.