Maryland Personal Injury Attorney

Being involved in a car accident, slipping and falling, or being injured in any other type of accident is a shocking experience. Not only does an accident result in painful and sometime debilitating injuries, but it can also be financially catastrophic, leaving you with high medical bills, an inability to return to work and earn an income, and other economic losses.

• Car Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Personal Injury FAQs
• Personal Injury Protection
• Truck Accidents
• Workplace Accidents

When you are injured because of the fault of another, filing a personal injury claim is your best route for recovering the compensation that you need to move forward in life. At Frame & Frame, our Maryland personal injury attorneys will fiercely advocate for you.

We Help With All Personal Injury Cases

We know that no two injuries are the same, and that each case we take on takes a unique, personalized, and experienced approach. We want you to know that we have a history of success representing clients who have been involved in many different accident types, including:

• Car Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Workplace Accidents
• Bicycle accidents;
• Motorcycle accidents;
• Pedestrian accidents;
• Bus accidents;
• Slip and fall accidents;
• Boating accidents; and
• Premises liability accidents.

We know how to gather evidence and investigate your case, build your claim, and negotiate on your behalf, regardless of the type of accident you’re involved in. Let an experienced Maryland personal injury attorney represent you when you need an advocate the most.

Understanding Personal Injury Claims and their Related Terms

A personal injury claim’s success is contingent on the claimant’s ability to adequately demonstrate that his or her injury-related damages directly resulted from the negligent party’s actions. Often, this is done via private settlement with the negligent party’s insurance provider, but this process can be completed through litigation. When a personal injury lawsuit is heard in court, the burden of proof for the plaintiff is lower than it is for an individual litigating a criminal case.

Within personal injury law, the term negligence refers to any action that falls short of an individual or group’s duty of care for others. The duty of care one has toward others varies according to the situation they are in. For example, a driver’s duty of care involves driving at or below the posted speed limit and choosing not to drive drunk. A homeowner’s duty of care for authorized guests involves repairing broken steps and securing all wires and carpets throughout the home. A healthcare provider’s duty of care to patients is a bit more complex, and it involves following the standard of care for the patient’s specific condition. When a patient is injured because of a healthcare provider’s negligence, the patient may pursue compensation for his or her related damages through a medical malpractice claim.

Damages is the word used to describe the compensation paid for the victim’s losses related to the injury. In a personal injury claim, a victim can recover compensation for:

• His or her medical expenses;
• His or her lost wages; and
• Pain and suffering damages.

The victim’s lost wages can be more than the wages he or she cannot immediately earn due to being out of work to recover. They can also include missed career advancement opportunities due to having to stop working.

Your Role as a Personal Injury Claimant

As the claimant, your job is to take all the steps necessary to improve your claim’s chance of resulting in the best settlement possible. This starts with getting appropriate medical care for yourself as soon as possible after being injured and following your doctor’s instructions to ensure the best physical recovery possible.

Your next task is to gather all relevant evidence to support your claim, which can include:

• Photographs of the accident scene and your injury;
• Copies of your medical bills;
• A copy of the official police report for your accident;
• Documentation of your lost wages;
• Receipts for all additional costs you incur because of the injury; and
• Documentation showing how the injury reduced your quality of life.

Gathering this evidence and using it to paint an accurate picture of your accident and resulting injury is much easier when you work with an experienced personal injury lawyer. Once you have begun working with a lawyer, your job is to follow his or her guidance through each stage of the personal injury claim process, which may include negotiating with the negligent party’s insurance provider or filing a lawsuit.

Getting the Compensation You Need after an Accident

Filing a personal injury claim is complex process that requires following a number of strict regulations. In addition to ensuring that a claim is filed within Maryland’s personal injury statute of limitations of three years, a claimant must prove all four elements of a personal injury claim in order to recover compensation. These four elements are:

• The existence of a relationship between the defendant and plaintiff that led to a duty of care;
• The breach of the duty of care on the part of the defendant, i.e. an act of negligence;
• The occurrence of the accident as a direct result of the breach of duty of care; and
• Damages incurred by the plaintiff.