Roanoke Lawyer for Serious Personal Injury Cases:
Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Dismemberment, Severe Burns
After experience and past successes, the most important characteristic a lawyer can have in the difficult times for his client surrounding a personal injury case is responsiveness to the client and his or her family. A good personal injury lawyer understands instinctively that for victims of the most debilitating injuries – such as brain or spinal cord injury, dismemberment or severe burns – all their hopes for the future rely on how their lawyer performs for them. Based in Roanoke, Virginia, The Krasnow Law Firm takes pride in the efforts it makes to zealously represent their clients and to keep them informed of the progress of their personal injury cases. We tell our clients, “We Make Your Case Our Cause,” and we truly mean it.
Many of the personal injury cases that we handle are the result of motor vehicle crashes in which a person suffers physical, emotional and financial injury as a result of another person’s negligent driving. While many people think motor vehicle cases are “simple” and straightforward; the reality is that these cases can be difficult and there are numerous obstacles to obtaining fair compensation for our injured clients. Insurance companies frequently dispute liability (who is at fault), what injuries were actually suffered and whether the wreck was the cause of the injuries claimed. Even when there is no dispute on any of these issues, big insurance companies such as State Farm (State Farm is not your good neighbor), Allstate (you are not in good hands with Allstate) and Nationwide (Nationwide is not on your side) will almost invariably dispute what fair compensation is for the injuries.
The Initial Investigation for Personal Injury Cases
When we take on a new case for a client who has been injured in a car, motorcycle, truck or tractor trailer crash, the first thing we do is conduct a complete investigation into the circumstances of the crash that caused our client’s injury. Sometimes we conduct the investigation ourselves but where appropriate we arrange for the investigation to be conducted by an experienced outside investigator who is responsible for interviewing the investigating police officers and witnesses including our client to obtain all of the evidence involved in the liability aspect of the case. His investigation may include taking photographs of the accident scene and the vehicles. While he is doing this, one of our firm’s paralegals, who is specifically assigned to the case, will collect all of the available evidence of our client’s injuries and damages. Our paralegals work closely with our clients to make sure we obtain all available medical records, bills and employment information to establish lost income. Throughout this process, we communicate with our clients and their doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists and other healthcare providers to monitor their progress in rehabilitation and to obtain all available information and evidence to prove their injuries.
In Personal Injury Cases, Sometimes We Have to Wait
Until a client’s recovery has progressed to the point where the treating physicians can tell us the full nature, extent, severity and duration or our client’s injury, and the prognosis (future) of the injury any thoughts of settling the case are, in most cases, premature. Until we have this information, which must come from the doctors treating our clients, we cannot determine what fair compensation for our client’s injuries should be. If we cannot make this determination, neither can the insurance company. This sometimes means we have to wait until the doctors can give us the client’s long term prognosis and tell us what the future holds for our client before attempting to settle a case. In many cases we also have to wait until our client reaches maximum medical improvement so a permanent impairment rating can be obtained.
The Personal Injury Settlement Brochure
Once a client has reached maximum medical improvement and we have compiled all the necessary information pertaining to our client’s damages and injuries, we prepare a settlement brochure. The settlement brochure will be sent to the insurance company that is responsible for paying our client’s claim. It tells them about our client, how the wreck occurred, why the defendant, their insured, was negligent and why the insurance company is responsible for our client’s injuries. The settlement brochure also informs the insurance company of our client’s injuries, describes the medical treatment that our client received and includes a detailed breakdown of medical bill, wage loss, and any other elements of financial loss or human damages. It concludes with a description of how the injuries have effected and continue to effect our client and concludes with a demand for settlement of the case. Before we send the settlement brochure to the insurance company we send a draft to our client to review it very carefully to make sure we haven’t left anything out, and that everything we have said is accurate. Once the client has approved the settlement brochure it is sent to the insurance company along with copies of all of the supporting documents needed for the insurance company to evaluate the case.
Negotiations with the Insurance Company
Once the insurance company has reviewed the settlement brochure and supporting documents they usually make a settlement offer, which is almost invariably well below our demand. When we receive a settlement offer, a call is placed to the client. In this conversation we explain the status of the case and the offer, and give our client all of the information and advice needed to decide how to respond to the offer. While the attorney will provide all of the necessary information and advice, it is the client’s case and the final decision belongs to the client.
Most Personal Injury Cases Settle
We are able to settle most of our clients’ personal injury cases through negotiations. But while most cases settle, there is no way we can know which will settle and which go to trial. For that reason we prepare every single case we accept for a trial, for the day we begin our representation right up to the day it settles. The process of preparing for trial also prepares us to negotiate a fair settlement. Sometimes the insurance company will not make a fair offer and we have to file suit and begin the litigation process. If the insurance company is still not willing to make a fair offer, The Krasnow Law Firm is prepared to take our clients’ cases to trial. Jeff Krasnow is one of Virginia's top trial lawyers. At The Krasnow Law Firm, we really do make your case our cause.