Personal Injury Frequently Asked Questions

Be honest with your doctor about your injuries. Don't minimize your pain just because you think you can handle it or don't like to complain. Make sure your doctor understands how you feel and takes notes. Get a written work excuse or a list of your restrictions if your injuries affect your ability to work. Avoid long gaps in treatment, try not to miss appointments, and keep a written journal of how you're feeling and healing.

The very first thing to do is take care of yourself. If you've been injured, you need medical attention. Everything else, the insurance company, the forms, even the lawyer, can wait until you've gotten proper medical care and looked after yourself first.

You'll know you have a personal injury case when a good lawyer tells you that you do. But if you've been injured because of someone else's negligence, such as in a car accident or on an icy driveway, it's reasonable to assume you have a potential claim. Whether that claim results in compensation is a question a good lawyer can help you answer.

Bring every piece of paper that might be relevant. If a police officer gave you a slip with the accident report information, bring it. Bring your car and health insurance cards. If the hospital gave you discharge paperwork, bring that too. In short, bring everything, and we'll determine what matters. If you forget something, that's okay. We'll give you an envelope and you can mail it to us later.

Negligence means someone did something they shouldn't have, or failed to do something they should have. We all have a duty to avoid harming others. If I harm you, or fail to help you when I had a duty to, that's negligence. It's a legal term that allows someone to recover from another person when they're harmed by that person's negligence. That's the short version, and it can get much more complicated, so see a good lawyer to help answer your questions.

Wisconsin is a comparative negligence state, which means fault is compared between the parties. If your share of the fault is greater than the other party's, you are not allowed to recover. But if you're equally responsible, or 50/50, you may recover 50% of your damages. Comparative negligence is a complicated principle that a lawyer can explain in the context of your case.

There are other bases for legal responsibility besides negligence, so being unable to prove negligence doesn't necessarily bar your claim. Stricter rules, called strict liability, can apply in cases such as those involving defective products. Seek a lawyer's advice, even by telephone, to get a general idea of whether your claim is based on negligence or another legal principle.

Maybe, but statistically, no. The vast majority of negligence claims are settled before a lawsuit is even filed, through negotiation. Even after a lawsuit is filed, there are many opportunities to settle before trial. But most of the work a lawyer does, in and out of the office, is preparing for trial, because the insurance company will pay you fairly only when you show the ability to make them pay in a court of law.

This is the statute of limitations. In Wisconsin, a lawsuit based on negligence generally must be started within three years of the injury. That’s the general rule for most cases, but there are always exceptions and extensions depending on your facts. For a claim against a governmental agency, the first claim must be filed within 120 days, or a lawsuit can never be brought. Some claims allow more than three years, depending on the facts and legal theory of your case.

In almost all cases, the money comes from an insurance company, though it isn't required to. In an auto accident, the other driver's insurance would usually be the responsible party. If they have no insurance, your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may apply. If there's no insurance to cover the loss, the damages must come from the individual found legally liable, and the likelihood of collecting from an individual depends on the facts of your case.

I hear that question a lot, along with 'when will my case settle?' No one knows the answer at the beginning. The value of your case comes from three basic groups of damages: reimbursement for medical expenses, reimbursement for lost income or wages, and an amount that compensates you for pain and suffering, both past and future. Added together, those are your general damages. At the start of a claim, we can't know how many medical expenses you'll have, how much income you'll lose, or how long your suffering will last. So what your case is worth goes hand in hand with how long it takes for you to recover fully, or as fully as you're going to. Please, do not let anyone, lawyer or otherwise, tell you they know the value of your claim until you are well, or as well as you're going to get.