Santa Barbara Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury claims come in a wide variety of methods and types of injury. While some injuries suffered at the hands of a negligent party are relatively minor, others can be very serious and even result in fatalities.

Many individuals who receive low-level injuries are often satisfied to file the claim with the appropriate insurance company and accept any approval for medical bill coverage with a small amount of money for the injuries. Individuals who are seriously injured rarely have this experience, especially when the insurance company realizes the long-term medical treatment aspects. And, insurance adjusters are often still reluctant in recognizing the full value of a claim even when the negligence is obvious and the defendant is completely at fault or caused the injury intentionally.

While many accident claims are filed as a result of a car crash, there are also regular claims of premises or product liability for other types of accident injuries. The truth is that all types of personal injury are fully investigated by the affected insurance for any reason to limit or deny a claim. In addition, when individuals with considerable wealth are the negligent party, the respondent themselves will also retain an attorney to help complicate and defend the issue.

Regardless of the material case factors of your personal injury claim, you will always need a solid legal representative like the Santa Barbara personal injury lawyers at The El Dabe Trial Lawyers.

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Santa Barbara

Car Accidents

Being involved in a car accident can be traumatic. In addition to the initial shock of the accident, you may be faced with injuries, hefty car repairs, and lost income. What you do in the moments and days following a car accident will make all of the difference in how you recover both physically and financially from your car wreck.

What To Do After A Car Accident in Santa Barbara

The first thing you should do when you have been involved in an accident is to make sure you and the other people involved are safe. If your car is disabled in the middle of the road, move it to the shoulder or another safe place to avoid further injury. Call emergency services if there are any injuries, even if they only appear to be minor. Many injuries, especially soft tissue ones, do not appear immediately.
Gather information from everyone at the scene, including the other driver, their passengers, and any witnesses. Ask for their insurance information, contact phone numbers, and full names in case you need to get statements from them later. Take photos of the scene and include landmarks, traffic signals, and weather conditions. Car accidents are cleared fairly quickly, so you may not have time to come back to the scene later to get photos.

What Not To Do After An Accident

Do not leave the scene of the accident until law enforcement and emergency service personnel have arrived. If you leave and the other driver stays behind, they will have the opportunity to give law enforcement officials their side of the story without your being there to challenge them on the facts.

They can accuse you of running a red light, failing to signal, or any number of infractions and those facts may be included in a police report.

• Don’t apologize to the other driver or admit fault. Apologizing to the other driver is an admission of fault, and can be used against you in court later. If you are concerned about the other driver or passengers, simply inquire about their condition without admitting fault. Don’t admit to breaking any traffic laws, even if you did. If you were texting and driving and they ran a red light, don’t admit your role in the accident. Let their lawyers prove it in court.
• Don’t skip your doctors’ appointments. Some injuries take time to appear, so it is vital that you stay on top of your appointments and make sure that you are treated for any conditions that are related to your accident.
• Don’t accept a settlement without your attorney present. In many cases, the other driver’s insurance company or attorney may contact you and offer you money for car repairs or medical bills. Do not accept any money or cash any checks from them. If you accept money from the other party, you are essentially forfeiting your right to sue them for the full amount you are owed later. The other party is never going to willingly pay you what you deserve for your injuries and the damage to your car.

Bicycle & Motorcycle Accidents

Cars are less likely to see motorcycles than any other form of transportation, making you particularly vulnerable. Not only that but when you are on a bike and get into an accident, the injuries that you receive tend to be much more severe than an accident at the same speed in a car. This can lead to a very expensive and painful weekend.

If you get into an accident on a motorcycle, then you should call a personal injury lawyer.

Why You Will Need an Attorney for Personal Injury Compensation

Many people do not realize the actual value of their personal injury claim. This is even true when the accident is relatively minor and result in nominal injuries. What is often lost is the fact that minor injuries have a way of turning into serious medical situations later, especially when there are internal injuries that are not detected immediately.

Claims that are settled and eliminated for a low value always include a full release from responsibility for ongoing future medical treatment, which a novice injured claimant rarely recognizes when settling without the benefit of legal counsel. Serious valid injury claims are always defended strongly and investigated fully because insurance company claims adjusters are obligated primarily to their company and protecting the client.

California uses pure comparative negligence law, meaning that even those who are responsible for an accident can still receive some form of compensatory recovery discounted by their percentage of fault. In addition, if the injury involves an auto accident, individuals who have an uninsured and under-insured rider on their auto policy will regularly find themselves at odds with their own insurance company.

All personal injury claims can be complicated, and even your own insurance company will work diligently to protect itself. That is why you too will need your own legal team to ensure that all of your rights to monetary compensation are enforced.

What El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers Can Do For Your Case

The legal professionals at El Dabe Trial Lawyers have a long track record of achieving excellent results for clients who suffer all types of personal injuries. Those cases include:

• Personal premises liability
• Corporate liability
• Dog bite injuries
• Car accident claims

Negligence is the primary factor in any accident injury claim, and the El Dabe Santa Barbara personal injury lawyers are focused on finding as many negligent parties as possible in investigating the accident. This especially applies in auto accidents that include multiple or commercial vehicles or corporate premises liability cases.

Commercial liability can often include both the business operator and the property owner when responsibility for primary causation for the accident was a reasonable duty of care for both negligent parties. Many times the level of insurance coverage is much more significant than the injured plaintiff understands, and these insurance pools can be combined by your El Dade attorney in an effort to make the injured claimant whole in financial compensation appropriate for the seriousness of the injury.

Contact Santa Barbara Personal Injury Attorneys at El Dabe Ritter Trial Lawyers

Anyone in the Santa Barbara area who has suffered a personal injury due to the negligence of another party should contact The El Dabe Trial Lawyers for a full evaluation of the potential value of your claim. We investigate all injury claims thoroughly and there is no fee if we cannot recover any damages.

• CALL NOW: 888-539-6810