If you or someone you know was recently hurt in an accident, you might be in need of serious legal help. As the bills pile up, you might be unable to continue working because of your injuries. Meanwhile, the person who hurt you has not been held accountable for their behavior. Our legal team can help you take legal action to get justice and financial compensation.
You might be dealing with a lot in the aftermath of a car accident, but you must make time to talk to an attorney soon. Plaintiffs usually have about 3 years to file a civil case after an accident, and if time runs out, they might be unable to take legal action at all. We should begin by hunting for evidence to support your claims. While much evidence comes from the scene of the accident, we might find other evidence in other places, and no stone should be left unturned. The evidence should prove how the defendant’s negligent actions directly caused the accident.
Please speak to our personal injury attorneys about a free, private case review to begin by calling Rice Law at (803) 219-4906.
When to Speak to an Attorney About Your Beaufort Personal Injury Claim
You might resist the idea of starting a civil case with a lawyer. After all, taking legal action is a big and often expensive endeavor. The idea of legal fees and lengthy courtroom battles sometimes turns people off. However, if you do not speak to an attorney, you might never be able to recover financial compensation for your damages, and your financial future might be in jeopardy. Our personal injury lawyers will work with you to come to an affordable agreement regarding legal fees and prepare your case while you recover from your injuries.
It is smart to talk to a lawyer as soon as you can after an accident. The statute of limitations under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530(5) holds that a plaintiff filing a personal injury case has only 3 years from the date of their accident to file. If no case is filed during that time, the plaintiff may lose their right to bring the cause of action to court, and they might never recover fair compensation.
This is why it is so important to get started as soon as possible. The sooner you take action with a lawyer, the less likely that evidence will disappear. If evidence is not gathered quickly, it might be lost or end up destroyed. You can also maximize your time to prepare within the limitation period. This gives you more time to explore various legal options, including settlement negotiations.
Evidence and Information You Need to Support Your Beaufort Personal Injury Case
No personal injury case can succeed without evidence. Where evidence comes from and how we gather it will vary based on the situation. Some cases are full of evidence, while others might only have a few pieces of evidence available. It can take time to find what we need, so getting started as soon as possible is key.
Much important evidence will likely come directly from the accident scene. For example, after a car crash, you might step out of the vehicle and take pictures and videos of the accident scene. This is pretty common, as people often need these photos and videos to send to insurance companies. However, they may also be useful in a courtroom if they contain details that can help us prove how the defendant is responsible.
We should also talk to witnesses who were at the accident. If they saw anything important, their eyewitness testimony may be invaluable. Perhaps they saw the defendant cause the accident and could explain everything that happened. Even if they did not, they might have observed information that the defendant is now disputing. Maybe the defendant claims they were not drunk when the accident happened, but a witness saw them stumbling around and slurring their speech, classic signs of intoxication.
In many cases, physical evidence is important. For example, if you were hurt by a faulty product that malfunctioned when you used it, we need the product as physical evidence. We can have it analyzed so we know exactly what went wrong and how the defendant might be involved. In cases like these, the defendant is often the manufacturer of the product.
How to Prove Fault in a Beaufort Personal Injury Case
Personal injury claims are very commonly based on negligence. Defendants often do not mean to cause harm, but their careless, negligent behavior leads to serious accidents and injuries to others. Negligence is a legal term that encompasses four key elements, each of which must be proven in order for your case to succeed. However, we should also be prepared for the defendant to attempt to flip the script by claiming you contributed to the accident.
Negligence
The first element of negligence is the defendant’s duty. This refers to the legal obligation they owed you when the accident happened. Even strangers may owe a duty of care. For example, in vehicle accidents, the duty of care is to drive with reasonable safety under the current conditions while obeying the traffic laws.
The next element is the breach, or how the defendant violated their legal duty. This is whatever they did or failed to do that directly violated whatever legal obligation they had. Continuing with the car accident example, a breach might be running a red light, driving while drunk, or texting while driving.
The third element is causation, which refers to how the accident and the defendant’s breach of duty are linked. In short, the breach must be the direct cause of the accident. If it is not, the case may not succeed.
Finally, the last element is your damages. We must have evidence of how the accident injured you. Your damages might include bodily harm, damaged property, pain, suffering, and more. Whatever they are, we must have evidence.
Comparative Negligence
If the defendant argues that you did something to contribute to the accident, the court may consider their claims in light of South Carolina’s modified comparative negligence rule. According to S.C. Code Ann. § 15-38-15, if a plaintiff is determined by the trier of fact (i.e., the judge or jury) to have contributed to the accident, their damages may be minimized in proportion to their fault. If you are 15% responsible, your damages may be reduced by 15%. If the trier of fact determines a plaintiff to be more than 50% responsible for the accident and their injuries, they may be barred from recovering any damages.
Talk to Our Beaufort Personal Injury Attorneys About Your Legal Claims
Please speak to our personal injury attorneys about a free, private case review to begin by calling Rice Law at (803) 219-4906.