How to Find the Best Motorcycle Accident Attorney
In 2022, there were 9,270 motorcycle crashes in Florida. These collisions resulted in 631 fatalities and 1,999 incapacitating injuries according to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle Department.
When a motorcycle crash happens, riders are more likely than those in passenger vehicles to suffer serious or fatal injuries due to limited safety features on motorcycles. It’s critical for those who are harmed to understand their legal rights, which means they must hire a skilled motorcycle accident attorney.
This guide will explain how to find a legal advocate who can represent your interests and fight for you to get full compensation available under Florida laws following a motorcycle collision.
What Does a Motorcycle Accident Attorney Do?
Motorcycle accident attorneys offer assistance and representation to those harmed in motorcycle accidents. This includes motorcyclists who suffered injuries, family members of those who died in a collision, and drivers and passengers in vehicles who may also have sustained injury in a crash with a motorcycle.
Motorcycle riders face unique challenges when they are injured in a collision. In the state of Florida, motorcycle riders are not required to purchase Personal Injury Protection (PIP), nor does personal injury protection provide them with coverage. PIP pays for costs associated with minor auto accident injuries for drivers of passenger cars, other vehicle occupants and pedestrians.
With motorcyclists not able to take advantage of PIP, they’ll need to explore other options for getting their losses covered. If they were at-fault and have MedPay coverage, their own insurer may pay for medical care. If another driver was wholly or partly to blame, however, motorcyclists may be able to pursue a claim against that motorist.
Florida even allows motorcycle riders to pursue a case against a driver who is only partly to blame, but there are specific regulations that limit when this is an option. These rules are called comparative fault rules.
Under HB 837, Florida changed the rules on comparative negligence. Previously, a crash victim who shared responsibility for an accident could always recover partial damages even if they were mostly to blame for the accident. Under the new rule, motorcyclists who are more than 50% responsible for their accident will not be allowed to pursue a case. This is called modified comparative fault.
A motorcycle accident attorney can help you to understand if you have the right to pursue a damage claim and can assist you in proving another motorist bore the majority of responsibility for your accident so you can recover compensation.
How to Find the Best Motorcycle Accident Attorney Near You
Finding the right motorcycle accident lawyer can be complicated because you need a legal advocate who meets specific criteria if you want to maximize the likelihood your claim will be a successful one.
Start by identifying a short-list of attorneys who you’ll interview to see if they might be a good fit. Do this by tapping into your network, asking friends, family, and social media connections, if they know an attorney with experience representing motorcycle crash victims. If you’ve worked with an attorney on other issues, such as estate planning, real estate, or family law, your past attorney can also help you with referrals.
Once you have have a list of legal professionals who you might be interested in connecting with, look for the following criteria to ensure you’re selecting the right advocate to guide you through your claim.
Motorcycle Accident Experience
Motorcycle accidents are different from regular car accident claims. Drivers often have difficulty seeing motorcycle riders due to the smaller size of their vehicle, and motorists often face challenges estimating how fast motorcycles are traveling. It’s imperative to be represented by an attorney with a deep understanding of these factors involved and the laws that apply to determine fault.
Before hiring an attorney, ask about their past experience with representing clients injured in motorcycle accidents. If the lawyer doesn’t focus on motorcycle crashes, you may wish to look elsewhere for an advocate.
Contingency Fee Structure
The best motorcycle accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. This means that their fee is contingent upon, or conditioned upon, winning your case. If you do not recover compensation, they do not receive legal fees. If you do prevail in your claim and are awarded damages, they take a percentage of your compensation to cover their fee. When discussing fees with your potential attorney, ask them what percentage of your damage award they will receive.
A contingent fee structure eliminates risk for you and ensures your attorney is fully invested in helping you get the largest compensation possible. Research has shown that injured victims recover more money even after fees are deducted than they would if they had no lawyer, so a contingency fee structure typically means you have nothing to lose.
Motorcycle Accident Settlements and Verdicts
When you speak with potential attorneys, find out about past settlements and verdicts they have helped their clients to recover. Their past case outcomes are not a guarantee of future performance since your ability to recover compensation depends on the merits of your case and the extent of your damages. Still, you want a lawyer who has had previous success with clients.
Solid Communication Skills
You’ll be communicating with your attorney throughout your motorcycle accident claim. You want to feel they are listening and truly understand the harm you’ve endured and the goals that you have in pursuing your claim. You also want to know they’ll communicate with you regularly and keep you updated on important case developments.
You can assess their listening and communication skills in an initial consultation. Be sure to ask if they will be your point of contact or if associates or paralegals, will be the people who you correspond with most frequently throughout your case.
Courtroom Experience
Just 3% of personal injury claims are resolved in courtroom litigation, according to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The most likely outcome of your claim is that you will settle.
However, this is not always the case. If you don’t get a fair settlement offer, you’ll need to go to court to protect your rights and ensure you are fairly compensated. You don’t want to work with a lawyer who has no courtroom experience. That would make them more likely to settle even if it wasn’t in your best interests and it would mean they can’t go the distance with you if your case winds up in court.
Ask about past litigation experience and make sure your motorcycle accident attorney has had success making a compelling case to win favorable court verdicts for their clients.
Why Hire a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer
After a motorcycle accident, you may not be sure that you actually need a motorcycle accident attorney. However, there are several important reasons why getting legal help often makes sense. Here are some of the biggest reasons to hire a legal advocate to help with your claim.
Build a Strong Case
You must prove the other driver was mostly responsible for causing your motorcycle accident. The stakes are very high because unless you bought optional MedPay coverage, your own insurer may provide no financial protection for your injury costs. You’ll need to be able to get compensation from the other motorist who harmed you.
An experienced motorcycle accident attorney works with you to build a solid case. Your attorney can help you to obtain evidence from the crash scene, interview witnesses, obtain police reports, and hire experts to demonstrate the cause of the crash and the severity and permanence of your damages.
With help from a legal professional in building a strong case, you’re more likely to get a fair settlement offer from the other driver’s insurer or to be able to prevail in court if a trial becomes necessary.
Show the Extent of Your Injuries
Motorcyclists are often hurt far worse than occupants of passenger vehicles who are harmed in a crash. Common injuries from motorcycle accidents include traumatic brain injury, spinal cord damage, road rash, head and neck injuries, fractures, burns and internal injuries.
Many of these injuries cause substantial damage, resulting in lasting pain, an impaired ability to work and costly medical bills. You should be entitled to compensation for medical care costs, lost income and earning power, pain and suffering, and emotional distress if another driver seriously injured you.
You’ll need to prove the severity of your injury to obtain compensation. A motorcycle accident attorney can help you gather the evidence, including medical testimony, to help you show the extent of your losses.
Negotiate with Insurers
If you are injured by another driver, their insurance company will most likely be the one paying for your damages. Insurance companies are skilled at offering lowball settlements to minimize the money they pay out to crash victims.
When you have an attorney representing you, your attorney can negotiate to help you get a fair settlement. You attorney will be able to send a demand letter to start negotiations on your terms, and working with the insurer to get a reasonable settlement offer that pays you what your case is worth.
Protect Your Right to Make a Claim
Finally, your attorney can assist you in understanding and following the legal rules that impact your ability to recover compensation. For example, under Florida Statute section 95.11, you have just two years to make a claim if it is based on the negligence of another driver on the road.
You don’t want to lose the chance to pursue compensation for a motorcycle accident because of a mistake during the claims process. You should have a knowledgeable legal professional advising you at every step of the way so this doesn’t happen to you.
FAQ
Who is Responsible for Most Motorcycle Accidents?
Car and truck drivers are often responsible for motorcycle accidents because they don’t share the road safely with motorcycle riders or because they don’t exercise reasonable care to protect the rights of motorcycle operators on the roads. You can hold another driver responsible for your crash if you prove they were negligent in violating a road safety law or failing to be as careful as a reasonable driver would have been.
How Much are Most Motorcycle Accident Settlements?
The median motorcycle accident verdict is $73,700, however settlement amounts can vary depending on many factors including the extent of your injuries and the amount of fault attributed to the driver involved in the crash. The best motorcycle accident attorneys can help you to value your claim and maximize the compensation available to you.
What Abilities Should the Best Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Have?
The best motorcycle accident lawyers should have experience with motorcycle accident claims, a track record of successful settlements and court verdicts, solid communication skills and a deep understanding of the law. They should be prepared to negotiate and litigate to help you get the best possible outcome in your motorcycle accident claim.
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This story was originally published July 31, 2024 at 12:00 PM.