Do I Need a Lawyer?
The hope and expectation is that you will have a long, safe, enjoyable and prosperous life and working career. Unfortunately, experience has shown that the moment you are seriously injured due to the negligent act of another when you least expect it, your life gets turned upside down. Your goal is to protect yourself and your family and to collect fair compensation under the law for all harms and losses you have and will sustain in the future. You have become a liability in the eyes of the financially responsible institution that now has an interest in managing that risk and reducing its financial exposure.
To protect and advance its interests in defending your claim, insurance companies and large businesses such as railroads and insurance companies have unlimited resources, including teams of claims agents and lawyers who are expertly trained to gather evidence to defend against your claim. Insurance companies and large businesses will hire outside firms to conduct a thorough background check, search for past medical treatment and records, conduct internet and social media surveillance, and perform video surveillance. They may request a recorded statement from you with the goal of having you accept responsibility for how you were injured. Quite simply, these institutions seek to obtain one piece of damaging evidence against you to significantly harm your rights of recovery under the law.
How can you best protect yourself and your family given this harsh reality? Chances are you have never needed to speak with or retain a lawyer. Similar to how mechanics can specialize in a certain craft of work and doctors specialize in certain areas of medicine, lawyers also have specialized areas of legal practice. You would not treat with an orthopedic surgeon for chest pains and likewise, you should not seek advice from a tax attorney for a claim involving serious injuries or the death of a loved one.
Thus, to best protect your rights, you should contact a lawyer who has years of experience handling serious personal injury matters, including specialized experience in representing railroad workers under the FELA and FRSA. There is no good reason not to call a lawyer because (1) the advice and insight is free; (2) there is no obligation to retain a lawyer; and (3) if you need to retain a lawyer, it will cost you nothing as attorneys handling injury claims work on a contingency fee basis and only get paid if financial compensation is recovered on your behalf.
