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If you have a personal injury from a recent accident in Portland, Oregon, you might wonder about your rights. You may have the legal option of bringing an insurance claim or personal injury action against an individual or entity for causing your injury. A successful claim could pay for your damages and help you move forward. At Tillmann Law, we help injured accident victims in Portland fight for fair compensation for their losses. We may be able to assist you in negotiating a claim. Call (503) 272-8986 today to arrange a free consultation with our Portland personal injury attorneys near you.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer in Portland is a smart decision if you were recently in an accident that left you or a loved one with serious injuries, such as broken bones, burns, lacerations, brain injuries or spine injuries. The civil justice system in Oregon may make you eligible for financial recovery for your damages. The insurance companies are not always on your side, which is what makes it so important to seek legal representation. It’s important to know where you can turn for help. A Portland injury lawyer can help you understand your rights, as well as take steps toward achieving fair recompense.
The right Portland personal injury lawyer can benefit you during a civil claim. Our team will be on your side – not that of an insurance company or bill collector. It will be your lawyer’s goal to maximize your financial recovery through any means possible. You can rest and focus on your personal recovery after you hire an attorney to take care of legal processes for you.
In general, you will need a few elements to establish a valid personal injury claim. First, you will need to show that the person you are naming as the defendant (at-fault party) in your case owed you a duty to exercise reasonable care. Different parties will owe you different duties of care according to the circumstances. A property owner, for example, may owe you the duty to maintain reasonably safe premises. Then, you will need proof that the defendant breached his or her duties of care to you. A breach can be careless, negligent, malicious, or intentional.
Next, you or your experienced Portland attorney will need to draw a connection for a judge or jury between the defendant’s negligence and your personal injury. The main cause of your accident, as the injury victim, must be the defendant’s failure to fulfill his or her duties of care. Finally, you will need evidence of damages: compensable losses you or your family suffered because of the defendant. Damages can include medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and property repairs. A conversation with the lawyers at Tillmann Law can help you understand whether you have grounds for a personal injury claim in Portland.
You can sustain multiple types of injuries in a Portland accident. Depending on the cause of your accident, these injuries can range from mild to severe, often requiring immediate medical attention. As a result, many personal injury victims incur thousands of dollars in medical expenses and need specialized treatments, such as rehabilitation and physical therapy. Mobility equipment, live-in caregivers, and other disability accommodations may also be necessary.
Some of the most common types of injuries in Portland personal injury claims include the following.
To secure compensation in an Oregon personal injury claim, you will need to prove that the at-fault party’s actions caused your accident and subsequent injuries. In particular, you and your lawyer will need to gather enough evidence to support the four elements of negligence: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
For example, say that you are injured when you slip and fall on a puddle of vegetable oil in a grocery store. The store’s owner owes each visitor a duty to maintain safe premises, respond to hazards within a reasonable timeframe, and take steps to warn of any potential dangers. In situations involving spills, store employees have a duty to clean the spill and place a hazard sign around the area.
However, surveillance footage reveals that store employees walked by the spill and left it unattended for two hours before your slip and fall. This is a clear breach of the store’s duty of care. You can use this evidence to prove that, if the store’s employees upheld the duty of care, you would not have sustained your injuries. You can also use witness statements, medical records, and store reports to prove your claim.
To prove damages, you will need to gather important records like medical bills, paystubs, receipts, and correspondence with your employer. For intangible or long-term costs, expert witness testimony and journal entries can help prove your right to compensation.
An attorney from Tillmann Law can help you gather the evidence you need to prove each of these damages and establish the at-fault party’s liability. Your Portland personal injury lawyer will conduct a full investigation into your accident, consult with expert witnesses, and leverage the full power of our firm’s resources to craft a compelling case for your right to damages.
Through a Portland personal injury lawsuit, you have the right to recover compensation for the economic and non-economic losses you sustained in your accident. Economic damages refer to the financial expenses you sustained due to your injuries. Non-economic damages, on the hand, involve the physical and emotional pain and suffering you experienced.
Common types of damages in personal injury lawsuits include the following.
Every case is different and there is no one answer to this question. All personal injury lawsuits vary from case to case, this is because injuries are different as well as the economic damages each person may have. If you have minor injuries after an accident, the case may be work a few thousand dollars, this will cover medical costs, and income lost during your recovery. When someone is seriously injured or suffered a catastrophic injury like an amputation, recovery can quickly rise to the millions in medical bills. This is due to the economic impact and medical expenses impact that those type of injuries carry.
If you have any questions regarding how much your case might be worth, give our injury lawyers at Tillmann Law a call. We can talk you through the lawsuit process and look into your options regarding possible damages, and how much a settlement could possibly result in.
Although you may be able to prove the at-fault party’s liability for your injuries, your award could be at risk of reduction. If an insurance company discovers that you were partially responsible for your accident, it could use this information as justification to reduce or you’re your award. If a court discovers that you share liability for your accident, Oregon’s comparative negligence rules will apply.
Under this law, the court will reduce your potential settlement by the percentage of fault that you share. If you are 51% or more responsible for your accident, you will be barred from recovering any compensation at all.
For example, say that you are in a car accident and filing a lawsuit against the at-fault driver for $40,000. However, the court discovers that you were taking a heavy prescription medication at the time of the accident and your doctor had recommended that you avoid driving. The at-fault driver’s attorney argues that your medically impaired state contributed to the accident.
In this situation, the court then assigns you 50% of the liability. You will only receive $20,000 out of your original award. If the court had assigned you 60% of the liability, you would not receive any compensation.
To protect yourself against accusations of shared fault, it is important to have a Portland personal injury lawyer on your side. An attorney from Tillmann Law can help defend you against these claims and craft a compelling case for your right to maximum compensation.
To keep the civil justice system just for all parties, lawmakers across all 50 states have enacted statutes of limitations. These are deadlines for filing civil claims. If you have all the elements of a personal injury claim, you must take action within at least two years if you want the Oregon courts to hear your case.
Two years is the maximum time limit on all personal injury suits in the state. In general, this means two years from the date of your accident. However, it could mean two years from the date of injury discovery, if this is different from the date of the accident. The courts will allow some exceptions to the general rule, but they are rare. Contact a lawyer as soon as possible to make sure you file by the deadline.
Choosing your Portland personal injury attorney takes many steps and actions. One is ensuring the lawyer you choose has experience handling claims within your practice area. Ask your prospective attorney about the types of personal injury cases he or she accepts in Portland. Make sure your type of accident is on the list before scheduling an official consultation. At Tillmann Law, we take many types of cases.
This is not a comprehensive list. Contact our firm to discuss your case in further detail. At Tillmann Law, our Portland car accident lawyers have represented clients with bone fractures, head and brain injuries, back and spine injuries, whiplash, burns, permanent disabilities, lacerations, scarring, disfigurement, and many other types of injuries. Our law firm has the power, personnel, and resources to handle all types of injury claims, including catastrophic injury suits in Oregon. As our client, we sincerely want what is best for you. Find out if we can take your case today.
At Tillmann Law, we believe all personal injury claims are serious. Every injured client deserves attention from a dedicated attorney. We provide high-quality representation at no cost upfront. You will only receive a bill for our legal fees if we win your case. Only then will we charge you – in the form of a deduction directly from the settlement or verdict won on your behalf. You do not have to make room in your family’s budget for our personal injury lawyers in Portland. We are here for you in your time of need. Learn more about your individual personal injury claim today. Schedule a free consultation online or request one through our direct line at (503) 272-8986.
“Aaron and his team were incredible to work with. In addition to being extraordinarily thorough on the case and patient with me, they were tireless in ensuring I received the maximum amount possible in order to receive the care I needed. He genuinely cared for my well-being, would call me just to check on the status of my health. He is an all-around stellar person to work with. I highly recommend his services to anyone seeking justice and care for personal injury cases.”
-LAKSHMI
Our Portland Law Office is located at 101 SW Main St #1905, Portland, OR 97204. Click here for driving directions.