Reno Personal Injury Attorney
In the biggest little city in the world, personal injuries can arise from incidents ranging from car accidents to workplace incidents.
A personal injury can leave you and your family facing significant medical bills, lost income, emotional hurdles, and a lessened quality of life. Depending on the type and severity of your injuries, these accidents can have immediate, as well as long-term or even lifelong, consequences.
Navigating the legal process that follows an accident like this generally often requires the expertise of a seasoned personal injury attorney.
If you or a loved one was injured in an accident involving negligence or recklessness of another person or entity, a Reno personal injury lawyer is here to help. He will guide you through the entire process – from filing an insurance claim or injury lawsuit to handling any insurance disputes that may arise.
Contact us at the Law Office of Matthew L. Sharp to schedule a free consultation with a legal counsel to learn more about filing a possible personal injury claim.
Injuries Can Occur Anywhere And At Any Time
When you hear the phrase “personal injury,” it may bring to mind someone getting hurt in a wide range of accidents, including some of the ones we mentioned above as well as slip and fall incidents. But personal injuries can happen at any time and in any place for any number of reasons.
What counts is who is responsible for the injury. If you have been injured but are not at fault for the injury, you may have a claim. In the Reno area, there is a higher likelihood for the following types of personal injuries to occur:
- Pedestrian injuries: With a pedestrian fatality rate that is twice the national average, Nevada residents around Reno are no strangers to the risks of personal injury as a result of daily transportation activities, from driving to biking, and even walking. The bottom line is–you deserve to safely commute by foot, day or night. Whether due to the negligence of a driver, or that of a municipality responsible for providing safe conditions, such as adequate lighting and traffic controls, injuries caused by these scenarios come with costs. And whoever is responsible for those injuries should bear the responsibility for those costs.
- Distracted driving injuries: Over a thousand injuries occur daily across the United States as a result of distracted driving, which is the leading cause of car accidents today. Distracted driving includes any form of visual, cognitive, and/or manual distraction. In recent years, texting while driving has become a growing cause of personal injury as a result of distracted driving. Texting combines all three forms of distracted driving and demands the attention of the driver for a period that allows for significant distance covered with eyes off the road. If you have been injured in a car accident as a result of a driver taking their eyes off of the road, their hands off the wheel, or their mind was on something other than the critical task of driving, you are a victim of distracted driving and may have a pursuable Nevada personal injury claim.
Reno attorney Matthew L. Sharp helps the victims of personal injury accidents obtain maximum financial recovery. He focuses on handling the legal aspect of a personal injury claim so that the injured party can focus on their physical and emotional recovery.
How People Get Hurt in Washoe County
Personal injuries can occur at any time, in any place, and without warning. Some personal injuries occur and, at the moment, there doesn’t appear to be a clear party at fault.
Examples of these types of injuries include:
- Those sustained by participating in civic activities. This includes law enforcement personnel, protesters, and mere bystanders to civil unrest.
- Personal injuries caused by environmental disasters such as wildfires. These natural disasters can affect both firefighters working to suppress the fires, as well as homeowners dealing with structural damage to their homes.
- Auto accidents that occur on neglected or poorly constructed roads, and may have little to do with driver negligence.
- Traumatic brain injuries, the most common cause of which include being struck in the head (such as on a car dashboard), sudden deceleration, and accidents involving motor vehicles. Injuries may not be immediately apparent, which makes it even more critical to pursue medical and legal expertise.
No matter what the injury, if possible, take pictures of the scene where the injuries or damages occurred. This type of evidence will help your Reno personal injury lawyer evaluate the strength of your claim.
What Is a Personal Injury Claim in Nevada?
Personal injury, or tort, law is a legal principle that governs claims of negligence or recklessness that result in injury or death. Personal injury lawsuits can happen in many settings and situations, but the following are some of the most common personal injury accidents, such as:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Auto accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Trucking accidents
- Nursing home abuse
- Medical malpractice, such as birth injuries and unsafe pharmaceuticals
- Defective products
- Premises liability, including slip and fall accidents
- Negligent security
- Wrongful death
- Workplace accidents
- Mesothelioma
- Complex litigation claims, such as those required for class action lawsuits
What Should You Do If Offered a Settlement by an Insurance Company?
In some situations, you may be offered a settlement by an insurance company (whether your own insurance company or the negligent party’s insurer). Before negotiating or settling a claim with an adjuster, it is critical to get the expertise of an injury lawyer with your interests in mind.
The value of your case depends on a variety of factors, including which parties are at fault, the severity of your injuries and damages sustained, your medical bills (immediate and future), loss of work or financial security, emotional strain and trauma, and other economic and noneconomic losses.
It’s also important to carefully consider whether to accept the insurance settlement or to pursue a personal injury lawsuit, which means you’ll have to head to trial in a Washoe County courtroom. Insurance companies often seek to settle personal injury claims as quickly as possible and for as little money as possible, so an insurance settlement offer may not offer adequate compensation for the injuries and other damages.
Pursuing a claim for your injuries isn’t something you have to do alone. A personal injury attorney in Reno can help you understand your legal rights and options, negotiate on your behalf with the insurer, and fight to get you maximum financial compensation in a court of law, if necessary.
What Compensation Can I Recover by Filing a Personal Injury Claim?
Personal injury victims are entitled to recover monetary damages for all losses and costs they incur due to a defendant’s negligent or reckless conduct. Personal injury damages may include money for the following:
- Medical bills (past and future)
- Lost wages (past and future)
- Pain and suffering
- Physical disability
- Rehabilitation costs
- Emotional trauma
- Disfigurement
- Property damages
How Our Reno Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You Seek Justice If You’re Injured
If you or a loved one was injured in a personal injury accident involving negligence or recklessness, don’t delay. You may be able to recover financial compensation, but there are time limitations on when you can file a personal injury claim.
Reno personal injury lawyer Matthew L. Sharp can help you learn more about your rights to take legal action to recover a settlement for your losses.
Contact us today for a free consultation.