Why Do I Need an Injury Lawyer for Broken Bones? - The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani (2024)

• July 31, 2024

If you were in an accident and suffered broken bones, an injury lawyer can prove someone is at fault and pursue monetary damages. A broken bone is one of the most serious injuries in a personal injury case. It requires prompt medical attention to avoid permanent damage and protect nearby organs, blood vessels, and tissues. You also need a personal injury attorney to gather evidence and build a strong case, so you’re fairly compensated for accident-related expenses and losses.

Proving a Broken Bone Injury

Fair compensation can cover your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. However, you can’t simply say you’re injured and be guaranteed compensation. You must have the evidence to prove another party’s negligence or intentional actions directly caused the accident, which in turn caused you harm. Otherwise, they can’t be held accountable.

To prove negligence caused your broken bones, an injury lawyer must gather evidence such as:

• Photographs and Videos: Photos and videos of the injury, accident scene, and hazards that contributed to the incident provide a detailed look at what happened and how it impacted you.
• Eyewitness Accounts: People at the scene can provide a detailed account from a perspective other than those directly involved in the accident.
• Police Reports: A copy of a police report includes an accurate account by law enforcement and witnesses that is difficult to refute
• Medical Records: Receipts from medical bills and documentation recording your diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis reveal costs and the long-term impact of injuries on your life.
• Medical Expert Opinions: A medical expert’s testimony can provide objective opinions and insights into the cause, extent, and long-term effects of your injuries

Proving a defendant is at fault is another challenge. From a legal perspective, the following requirements must be met:

• Establish a Duty of Care: Your personal injury lawyer will show the defendant had a legal duty to act with reasonable care to prevent you from being injured, whether on-premises or at a work site.
• A Breach of Duty Occurred: It must be proven the defendant failed to fulfill their duty of care by, for example, driving recklessly or failing to maintain their premises.
• Causation: The defendant’s breach of duty was a direct cause of your injuries. Medical evidence, expert opinions, and witness testimonies can link your broken bone injury to the defendant’s negligence or wrongful actions.
• The Accident Caused Damages: Your bone injury must have directly imposed economic damages such as medical bills, rehabilitation, and lost wages or non-economic damages like pain and suffering and emotional distress.

Why Do I Need a Broken Bone Injury Expert?

Your attorney has the resources and connections to find experts who can testify regarding your injuries. Bone breaks and fractures involve certain mechanics. Various causes and risk factors are involved. A bone forensic expert can help reconstruct the accident and explain how the injury occurred.

The nature of the injury is important to know. Different types of bone fractures can occur, and broken bones can happen anywhere in the body (the most serious of which involve the back or neck). The most common broken bone injuries include:

• Single Fracture: A bone is broken in one place.
• Complete Fracture: The bone separates into two pieces.
• Incomplete Fracture: Otherwise known as a hairline fracture, it does not involve a complete break of the bone.
• Compression Fracture: Damage to thinner, softer material compresses the bone; this often involves the spinal vertebrae.
• Linear Fracture: A break along the long axis of the bone with no displacement.
• Spiral Fracture: This is caused by a twisting force on a long bone.
• Comminuted Fracture: A bone fragments into more than two pieces.

A broken bone can also be classified as open or closed, simple or multi-fragmentary. Therefore, an expert opinion helps understand the medical terms that apply to the victim’s condition.

Why Do I Need a Personal Injury Lawyer Right Away?

You need a personal injury attorney immediately for several reasons. One is the limited time you have to file a claim. A statute of limitations of two years from the date of the accident prevents you from filing a lawsuit beyond that time. If your accident involved a government vehicle, the suit must be filed within six months. You must also factor in other deadlines and how long the legal process takes.

Losing the right to sue and obtain compensation is unfortunate in a personal injury case. You need a broken bones injury lawyer to fight for your rights. They collect and preserve evidence, such as details of your medical treatment. A lawyer can also find forensic experts to reconstruct the scene and events leading up to the accident. Any delays can result in losing key evidence, missing important deadlines, and not receiving compensation.

Having a personal injury lawyer on your side also avoids delays in medical treatment. Knowing your care will be covered by a future settlement is reassuring. It also avoids the following in some of the most serious situations:

• Infected wounds
• Offset bones
• Impaired movement
• Long-term pain
• Nerve/muscle/organ damage
• Internal bleeding

What Types of Accidents Cause Broken Bones?

It’s essential to have a legal expert familiar with various situations and causes of broken bone injuries. Some of the most common causes of bone fractures include:

• Car accidents
• Slip and falls
• Heavy lifting
• Defective machinery
• Sports-related mishaps

In the case of a car accident, someone else’s negligence, such as speeding or distracted driving, can be the cause of your injuries. An employer’s failure to provide a safe environment can also be cited as a factor, depending on your claim.

How Does My Attorney Determine What My Broken Bone Claim Is Worth?

To determine the value of your broken bones claim, your injury lawyer will consider the nature of your injury and its effects on your life. A broken leg claim is typically worth more than one for a broken finger. However, that depends on your occupation. Leg fractures tend to limit mobility and require more rehabilitation. But if you’re a mail carrier, writer, or another professional who uses their hands often at work, a broken finger case may have a higher value. Similarly, an athlete with a broken leg may be eligible for higher compensation than someone who doesn’t require the same level of mobility to work professionally and earn a salary.

Insurance companies often complicate the valuation of broken bones claims. They may assign a value to an injury such as a broken arm, foot, collar bone, or pelvic bone and the type of fracture and its symptoms. Predetermined values don’t often account for an accident victim’s hardship. Also, insurers and defense teams often try to argue a plaintiff’s previous injury caused them to get hurt again, which can limit or relieve the defendant’s liability.

Only with an experienced personal injury attorney and objective medical expert can you prove a prior injury had nothing to do with the pain and hardship you’re experiencing now.

How Does a Personal Injury Attorney Maximize Compensation?

A lawyer has effective tools for adding up your medical costs and the money you’ve lost from being out of work. They also know how insurance companies calculate non-economic damages. This knowledge, combined with effective evidence-gathering and legal representation, helps you get more compensation than you would alone. To maximize the payout, an attorney will do the following:

• Evaluate every detail of the accident and your injury to determine a fair amount of compensation to pursue.
• Obtain and preserve the required evidence to support and strengthen your claim.
• Communicate with insurance companies, defense attorneys, and other parties on your behalf.
• Negotiate with insurance companies and other parties until they reach a fair settlement.
• If necessary, represent you in court and explain to a judge or jury why you deserve maximum compensation.

Why Do I Need a Broken Bones Injury Lawyer?

Not every lawyer can properly handle a personal injury case involving broken bones. An attorney skilled in this area can determine the best legal pathway for approaching the case. For clients injured at work, they can use their understanding of employment and workers’ compensation laws. Or, if you were injured in a store, your attorney can apply their expertise in premises liability law to fight for maximum compensation.

Contact The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani

When you call Jacob, an experienced broken bone injury attorney can fight for the compensation you need and deserve. It can cover emergency care, surgery, and long-term rehabilitation not to mention lost wages and pain and suffering. We prevent insurance companies from making lowball offers and do what it takes to negotiate a fair settlement. Our team can take your case to trial if necessary. To request a free consultation, call (888) 952-2952.