Even a minor accident can have lasting effects that can change your and your family’s lives forever. If someone else’s negligence caused the incident, a personal injury lawyer in Hartford can hold them accountable.
The legal team at Jonathan Perkins Injury Lawyers has over 30 years of experience advocating for injury victims. We know how to make your voice heard. Call today for a free and confidential consultation.
Personal Injury Attorneys in Hartford You Can Trust
Our legal team proudly serves accident victims in Hartford and the surrounding areas with care and dedication. When you choose us to handle your personal injury case, you can trust that we will fight to achieve the best possible results.
From the moment we take on your case, we will provide regular updates and explain what’s happening in clear terms. If you have any questions or concerns along the way, we are always available to provide answers promptly so you never feel left in the dark.
Common Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle
The top-rated lawyers at our Hartford personal injury law firm offer legal representation for injured victims. We can handle a wide range of personal injury matters and help you achieve the best possible outcome for your case.
Our experienced legal team includes:
- Hartford car accident lawyers: The insurance companies will investigate the situation immediately to gather evidence and find information they can use to reduce or deny your claim. We will help you fight against the at-fault party’s insurance company to recover fair compensation.
- Hartford slip and fall accident lawyer: These accidents can happen in places like grocery stores, parking lots, sidewalks, or workplaces. Property owners and managers are responsible for maintaining safe conditions and addressing potential hazards to prevent accidents.
- Hartford bicycle accident lawyers: We help cyclists who have been injured due to someone else’s negligence. Our attorneys understand the specific laws that protect cyclists and work to hold negligent drivers or other responsible parties accountable.
- Hartford catastrophic injury lawyers: Our team represents individuals who have suffered life-altering injuries, such as spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, severe burns, or amputations. These injuries often require long-term medical care, rehabilitation, and significant lifestyle adjustments.
- Hartford motorcycle accident lawyers: Motorcycle crashes can result in serious injuries due to the lack of protection riders have compared to other motorists. Common causes of these accidents include distracted driving, speeding, failure to yield, and unsafe road conditions.
- Hartford pedestrian accident lawyers: If you’ve been injured in a pedestrian accident due to a driver’s negligence, you may be eligible for compensation. A pedestrian accident lawyer can gather evidence, determine liability, and pursue a fair settlement.
- Hartford truck accident lawyers: Most truck collisions cause serious injuries and even fatalities to those in smaller vehicles. The outcome of these accidents can leave you unsure of what to do or where to turn.
- Hartford Uber accident lawyers: Uber accident cases are more difficult because they involve multiple parties and insurance policies. Unlike a standard car accident, Uber cases may involve the driver’s personal insurance, Uber’s commercial insurance, and the company’s policies on when coverage applies.
- Hartford workers‘ compensation lawyers: Workers’ compensation cases involve employees who are injured or become ill due to their jobs. This system is designed to provide benefits, such as coverage for medical expenses, lost wages, and rehabilitation costs, without the need to prove fault.
- Hartford wrongful death lawyers: Losing a family member is devastating, and the emotional and financial burdens can feel overwhelming. Wrongful death cases can arise from car accidents, medical malpractice, workplace incidents, or other preventable tragedies.
Different types of accidents can lead to a personal injury case if someone else’s negligence or wrongful actions caused the injury. Our attorneys will review the unique details of your incident and determine if you have a valid claim.
You Can Recover All Your Accident-Related Losses
When someone else’s careless actions cause you harm, you have the right to claim compensation. A personal injury attorney in Hartford will work closely with you to understand the accident’s long-term financial impact on your life.
We will gather evidence, such as medical records, accident reports, and witness statements, to calculate current damages. Our team estimates future financial losses, such as ongoing medical treatment, by working with experts from different fields.
Types of economic and non-economic damages you can recover include:
- Medical bills: They include the cost of emergency care, hospital stays, surgeries, doctor visits, medications, physical therapy, and any other necessary treatments related to your injury.
- The cost of future medical care: These damages cover the cost of ongoing or long-term care needed due to your injury. To estimate these costs, your attorney may work with medical experts who can assess your condition and predict the necessary treatments.
- The cost of medical devices: If your injury requires medical equipment such as wheelchairs, crutches, prosthetics, braces, or mobility aids, these expenses should be included in your claim.
- Property damage: This type of compensation covers the cost of repairing or replacing personal belongings damaged in an accident. It commonly includes vehicles in car accidents but can also extend to bicycles, phones, clothing, or other valuable items.
- Lost wages: If your severe injuries prevent you from working temporarily or permanently, you may be entitled to recover the wages you missed. To prove lost wages, your attorney may use pay stubs, tax returns, employer statements, and medical records showing work restrictions.
- Lost earning potential: This includes losses due to reduced work hours, job changes, or an inability to continue in your previous profession. Factors such as your age, skills, career path, and medical condition are considered when calculating lost earning potential.
- Pain and suffering: This compensates for intangible losses like physical pain and emotional suffering caused by injuries. It includes chronic pain, discomfort, anxiety, depression, and the overall impact the injury has on daily life.
- Emotional distress: Typically covering the psychological impact of an injury, such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, or insomnia caused by the accident or trauma, these damages focus on ongoing emotional suffering that affects a person’s daily life and well-being.
- Mental anguish: These are broader and refer to the intense emotional pain and suffering caused by an injury, accident, or loss. This can include fear, grief, humiliation, or distress from a life-altering event, such as losing a loved one in a wrongful death case.
Proving non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, can be challenging because they don’t have a specific dollar amount tied to them. However, your lawyer can help by gathering evidence that shows how the injury has affected your life.
We may include medical records, testimony from healthcare providers, and statements from friends or family about how your physical or emotional well-being has changed. Depending on the case, we may also use expert witnesses to explain the long-term impact of your injury.
Possible Punitive Damages
This type of damage punishes the wrongdoer and discourages reckless or harmful behavior. Unlike compensatory damages, which cover losses like medical bills and lost wages, punitive damages are awarded in cases where the defendant acted with extreme negligence, malice, or intentional misconduct.
Connecticut law limits punitive damages, but regardless of the amount, this will be in addition to recovering your losses (like medical expenses and even emotional distress).
Since these damages are not automatic, the injured party must prove that the defendant’s actions were especially reckless or harmful. An experienced attorney can help determine if punitive damages apply to your case.
The Right Attorneys to Recover Maximum Compensation for You
Clients often come to our personal injury firm after other personal injury lawyers declined to represent them because their case was too difficult or unlikely to result in a quick settlement. If you have a viable claim, we will never turn you down.
Some of the strategies we use to build winning claims include:
- Gathering different types of evidence (photos, witness statements, medical records)
- Consulting with expert witnesses
- Investigating the scene of the accident
- Analyzing the full extent of injuries and future needs
- Negotiating with insurance companies
- Documenting all medical treatments and expenses
- Identifying all liable parties
- Preparing for trial if necessary
Our attorneys will help you recover the maximum compensation possible for you. We will gather all the necessary evidence, handle negotiations with insurance companies, and fight for your rights.
Don’t Trust the Insurance Company
Insurance companies are profit-driven businesses, which means their main goal is to minimize the amount they pay out in claims. While they may seem friendly and helpful, they are ultimately focused on protecting their bottom line, not your best interests.
After an accident, insurance companies know you are in a vulnerable position, dealing with physical pain, emotional stress, and financial concerns. Since you’re focused on recovering and managing your daily life, they might pressure you into accepting an offer that is much lower than what you deserve.
Common strategies used by insurance adjusters to devalue or deny claims include:
- Offering a quick, lowball settlement
- Disputing liability for the accident
- Downplaying your severe injuries
- Arguing that injuries were pre-existing
- Requesting unnecessary delays in processing claims
- Misinterpreting policy terms to limit payouts
- Pressuring victims to give recorded statements
- Using surveillance to challenge injury claims
- Questioning the necessity of medical treatments
- Blaming the victim for the accident
- Claiming a lack of sufficient evidence
- Ignoring or delaying responses to claim inquiries
As your attorneys, we will take over all communication with the insurance company. This way, you don’t have to worry about accidentally saying the wrong thing, which the adjusters will use to diminish the value of your claim.
We are skilled negotiators who know how to present a convincing case before adjusters. If they refuse to cooperate with us, we are willing to continue the battle for fair compensation in court.
The Process of Filing a Personal Injury Claim
Before filing a lawsuit, our legal team will investigate the scene to gather important details about your accident. This step is essential in any personal injury case because evidence is best preserved while it’s still fresh. Over time, physical evidence can be lost or damaged, and witnesses may forget key details.
Once our investigation is complete, we will compile the evidence into a demand package and send it to the at-fault party’s insurance company. This begins the negotiation process to secure a fair settlement. If negotiations don’t lead to a satisfactory outcome, we will take the next step and file a lawsuit on your behalf.
Who Can File a Personal Injury Claim?
Only someone with standing (someone who suffered a legally recognized harm) can file a claim or lawsuit in Hartford. This means that only an accident victim can file a personal injury claim. If a victim sustains fatal injuries or dies, their estate can file a wrongful death claim.
Proving Negligence for the Accident that Resulted in Your Damages
Personal injury lawsuits are handled in civil court, not in criminal court. Civil matters have a different process and burden of proof. It is up to you to provide evidence showing why you deserve compensation.
To ensure your injury claim is successful, you must prove that you sustained an injury caused by someone else’s negligence. You must have evidence to prove how the accident occurred, who was responsible, and how severe your injuries and other losses were.
Your Hartford personal injury attorney will focus on these key points to prove negligence:
- Duty of care: The responsible party had a legal obligation to act in a safe and reasonable manner to prevent harm. For example, drivers must follow traffic laws to keep others safe on the road.
- Breach of duty: The defendant failed to uphold their duty of care. This could mean reckless driving, failing to maintain safe premises, or neglecting safety protocols in a workplace.
- Causation: The breach of duty of care directly caused your injuries. If the liable party had acted properly, the accident would not have happened.
- Damages: You suffered harm as a result of the negligence. This includes both economic and non-economic damages.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer is recommended in these situations. We can collect evidence on your behalf and present a demand package to the at-fault party’s insurance company. Also, by hiring an attorney, you can pursue your injury claim better than if you tried to do this alone.
Understanding Connecticut’s Modified Comparative Negligence
If you are partially at fault for the accident, your compensation may be reduced based on the percentage of your responsibility. However, if you are found to be 51% or more at fault for the accident, you cannot recover any damages.
For example, if you’re found to be 30% at fault in an accident and the total damages amount to $100,000, you would be able to recover 70% of that, or $70,000.
Understanding modified comparative negligence according to Connecticut law Sec. 52-572h is crucial because insurance companies may try to shift some of the blame onto you to reduce their payout. Your lawyer can help ensure that your level of fault is accurately assessed and that you receive the financial compensation you need.
Compassionate Legal Guidance After a Fatal Accident
Losing a loved one in a fatal accident is an incredibly difficult and emotional experience. During this challenging time, you may be facing not only grief but also financial stress and uncertainty about the future. A compassionate lawyer can help you navigate the legal process with understanding and support.
Available wrongful death damages include:
- Expenses for the funeral and burial of the deceased person
- Medical, hospital, and nursing costs incurred due to the deceased person’s final illness or injury
- The deceased person’s diminished ability to earn income
- The loss of the deceased person’s ability to participate in and enjoy everyday activities
- The physical pain and emotional suffering experienced by the deceased before passing
We will handle the legal details while you focus on your family and healing. Having someone on your side who understands the intricacies of wrongful death law can give you peace of mind during this difficult time and get your family fair compensation.
Connecticut Has a Statute of Limitations for Personal Injury Lawsuits
Every state has a statute of limitations that sets the time to file a personal injury claim. According to Connecticut state law Sec. 52-584, you have just two years to file your lawsuit for the accident. You must meet this timeframe to retain the right to seek compensation.
In certain situations, the deadline may be shorter or longer than the standard two years. To learn exactly how much time you have, consult our Hartford personal injury lawyers.
How Long Should You Wait to Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer?
Our legal team has decades of experience fighting for the rights of our clients. We will use our knowledge, resources, and dedication to advocate on your behalf and pursue the best possible outcome for your case. However, taking the first step is up to you; you need to contact our office to get started.
The earlier we can begin investigating, gathering evidence, and building a strong case, the better your chances of winning. Critical evidence can disappear over time, and witnesses may forget key details, so acting quickly can make a significant difference.
How Much does It Cost to Hire a Hartford Personal Injury Attorney?
At Jonathan Perkins Injury Lawyers, our legal team offers services on a contingency fee basis. This means you only pay for our services if your case is successful. Additionally, we receive a percentage of your settlement, so you never have to pay out of pocket.
This arrangement allows clients to obtain legal representation without having to pay upfront costs, making it accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial situation. We will discuss the fee structure before you hire us so you understand exactly how much you will be charged if you win your case.
Our Lawyers Can Help With Your Connecticut Personal Injury Claim
Any injury can feel overwhelming, and recovery may seem like an uphill battle. However, you don’t have to face it alone; we are here to help. Our experienced legal team will carefully review your case and guide you through the process of filing a personal injury claim.
With a deep understanding of personal injury law, our dedicated team knows how to win claims. We handle every case with skill and care. While we take care of the legal details, you can focus on what truly matters: your health.
The first step is contacting our office for a free consultation. During this meeting, we’ll listen to your story, evaluate your case, and develop a strategy to pursue the compensation you deserve. Don’t wait; contact Jonathan Perkins Injury Lawyers today to schedule your initial consultation.
