A serious injury case is one where there are broken bones, surgery required, or long-term functional disability. A catastrophic personal injury is usually defined as over one million dollars. It results in a severe injury that causes a long-term loss of function in the injured person.

A severe injury case almost always involves surgery and hospitalization and interferes with the client’s ability to earn a living. Serious injuries include accidents involving traumatic brain injuries, burn injuries, broken bones, or injuries to the spinal cord. Serious injuries include amputation injuries and accidents resulting in blindness, paraplegia, and/or quadriplegia.

We have been Sacramento Serious Injury Attorneys since 1982. Our website, www.AutoAccident.com, is the most authoritative site in California on motor vehicle accidents. Our firm has the highest rating from Avvo, Yelp, and Google. Over the years, our firm has developed an innovative and proven method of achieving high verdicts and settlements in matters involving serious injuries.

In this article:

• Is There Enough Insurance?
• The Traditional Method of Settling Cases Involving Serious Injuries
• Better Ways to Select and Handle Cases Involving Serious Injuries
• Matching the Client with the Most Knowledgeable Trial Attorney
• But What About the Cases that Were Lost?
• Another Advantage of Working with Our Team
• Our History of Verdicts and Settlements
• Dealing with Your Expenses While a Serious Injury Case is Pending
• Lawsuit Loans and Advances Against Settlement
• Financial Assistance from Your Serious Injury Lawyer

As discussed above, a case can be catastrophic, but if there isn’t enough insurance to cover the serious injury, there’s little any lawyer can do to obtain a just recovery. Serious injury claims are costly to litigate.

Many doctors are involved, and economists, accident reconstructionists, biomechanics, vocational rehabilitation experts, life care planners, etc. All of these experts charge for their time, and when all is said and done, a trial can rarely go forward without an investment of from $150,000 to as much as several million in costs advanced by the attorney.

One of the first tasks of a serious injury lawyer is to find out if there is enough insurance to cover serious injuries and the costs necessary to present them. Experienced injury lawyers will have financial investigators, insurance experts, and other tools to determine if the at-fault party has enough insurance coverage to proceed with the claim.

Sometimes, there are large corporate defendants, such as Federal Express or public entity defendants. Often there is insurance for millions of dollars, and an experienced injury lawyer discovers how much insurance is available at the onset.

There’s no need to spend money developing a large case if no one can ultimately pay. If there isn’t enough insurance and the liability is clear, the serious injury attorney will try to bring the case to a quick settlement without a lawsuit.

However, if there is enough insurance, the next step is to understand who the client is, what they have stood for in life, what they and their family members have lost due to the injury, and how to best obtain a fair recovery.

In most cases, the person handling the injury case from start to finish is the lawyer with long experience in the trenches and proven results at trial.

While the lawyer is often excellent in front of a jury, all too often, they lack the skills and time to know the actual losses suffered by the client as they simply do not have the time it takes to really understand the client, their family, and the extensive personal and financial losses the client has suffered. In other words, the trial lawyer tries cases. That is his strength. He spends his time in court, not necessarily with the client and his family beforehand. Not spending time with the client and the client’s family puts the injury lawyer at a disadvantage.

Moreover, they usually try and are familiar with only certain cases. A lawyer who handles malpractice cases with extraordinary skill may be over-matched in a products liability case. A lawyer who is excellent at handling product liability or trucking accidents may not be the best at handling helicopter crashes.

Our legal team has developed a better way of handling serious injury cases. At our office, countless hours are spent knowing our catastrophically injured clients and their families. We spend whatever time is necessary getting to know you and your family members. We want to find out what life was like before the accident and compare that to how your family functions now.

We work with multiple specialists who give us insight into who you are, what you’ve lost, and how this injury has affected and can be expected to affect you and your family in the future.

Some trial lawyers get to know their clients and have a good rapport, translating into a good verdict before a jury. But many times, it’s the luck of the draw.

Sometimes, the trial attorney likes and bonds with the client and can present the case skillfully and successfully. But what if the trial lawyer and client don’t bond well or the attorney has not tried that particular type of case before. The chances of success are then far less likely.

The sad thing is, the client doesn’t understand that a past large verdict may be because the trial attorney had tried that type of case before and was familiar with trying that case to a jury. Or, the trial lawyer selected had done well with that type of case before because he had bonded well with the client and his family.

Without a personal bond, exuding the confidence and emotion that persuades a jury is challenging. 

What about the cases where there was a mismatch between attorney and client or where the particular attorney had not had enough experience with that case before? Those are the cases you never hear about. The cases result in poor settlements or verdicts or even losing cases.

Since 1982, our law offices have developed a proprietary database of attorneys in California (and indeed throughout the United States) that have successfully attained million and multi-million dollar verdicts in hundreds of serious injury cases.

This information is often impossible for anyone to find by a search on the Internet as jury verdicts are not reported more often than not. Our office continuously scans legal newspapers, and we subscribe to many legal list services, such as those on Trialsmith. We collect e-mails that discuss large verdicts or settlements and then index every word in those e-mails through our database search program, DTSearch. We know if someone has successfully handled a helicopter crash. This is what you need if you’ve been injured in a helicopter accident. You don’t have to hire an untested attorney.

We know who to partner with to help you obtain a fair and just recovery. We know the type of case that they’ve been successful in. We often know them on a first-name basis and understand their personality and who they would most likely connect well with.

In every serious injury case, the element of surprise can work for the client. Attorneys typically have several years to get to know their opponents, strengths, and weaknesses and devise a compensation strategy. With our team approach, the insurance attorneys lose that advantage.

Our office works with you exclusively as the case moves through the legal process. As the case moves toward trial, we are there for depositions, arbitrations, and other legal procedures.

We only reveal our trial attorneys after the party’s mandatory exchange of expert disclosure, due 50 days before trial. Having a short time to deal with the trial attorney we jointly select for your case always has the defense playing catch-up.

Here are just some of the verdicts and settlements we have achieved.

• $185 Million Wrongful Discharge Case
• $167 Million Sexual Harassment
• $120 Million Back Pay for Overtime case
• $49 Million Catastrophic Brain Injury
• $39 Million Verdict Auto accident
• $31 Million Motorcycle Accident with Brain and Spinal Injuries
• $26 Million Medical Malpractice, Brain injury
• $22 Million Catastrophic Brain Injury
• $20 Million Settlement Multiple Transvaginal Mesh Cases
• $16.1 Million Wrongful Death
• $16 Million Verdict Wrongful death
• $15 Million Verdict Motorcycle accident
• $12 Million Settlement Auto v. Bicycle accident
• $10 Million Auto Products Liability
• $10 Million Big Rig Back and Neck Injuries
• $9 Million Sexual Molestation
• $7.8 Million Verdict Auto v. Pedestrian accident
• $7 Million Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Case
• $7 Million Teenager on Cell Phone
• $6.5 Million Settlement Electrocution death
• $6.25 Million Auto v Pedestrian
• $6.12 Million Settlement Smoke inhalation injury
• $6 Million Wrongful Discharge
• $6 Million Smoke Injury
• $6 Million Electrocution
• $6 Million Settlement Auto v. Pedestrian accident
• $5.3 Million Settlement Auto accident
• $5 Million Big Rig Accident Verdict
• $4.75 Million Construction Accident
• $4.2 Million Burn Injury
• $4 Million Verdict Wrongful death
• $3.5 Million Highway Design
• $3 Million Settlement Wrongful death
• $3 Million Trucking Accident
• $2.95 Million Settlement Truck accident
• $2.9 Million Slip and Fall Injury
• $2.9 Million Settlement Auto accident
• $2.7 Million Settlement Motorcycle accident
• $2.1 Million Back surgery with minimal property damage
• $2.1 Million Epidural Abscess Medical Malpractice case
• $1.7 Million Verdict Truck accident
• $1.33 Million Verdict Trip and fall
• $1.1 Million Injured Construction Worker

We take the guesswork from selecting the right trial attorney for your case. And the best part is it doesn’t cost you a cent more to have our firm involved in getting to know you and your family in-depth and matching you with the best trial attorney to present your case.  We invite you to compare our fees in taking a case to trial with any other experienced attorney, and we know you’ll find them comparable.

We split the attorney fees with the trial lawyer and help finance the hefty financial costs to bring you a fair and just verdict.

Bottom line: When your case is presented, the trial lawyer knows and understands you and your losses due to our office’s long and intensive effort in getting to know you and your family.

Our team approach gives you the best chance of success in your case.

If you have been involved in a catastrophic accident, your life can be turned upside-down instantly. You have been injured in all areas of your life: physical, mental, emotional, and financial. While a skilled personal injury attorney can handle the legal aspects of your case, not all attorneys can help you deal with the unique individual economic challenges involved.

Unfortunately, when you are in an accident, the rest of the world doesn’t stop to give you a chance to recover and heal. Serious injuries can have a substantial financial impact on victims and their families. The Law Offices of Edward A. Smith understands that when you have been in an accident resulting in a catastrophic injury such as a  traumatic brain injury, other neurological injuries, multiple bone fractures, a spinal cord injury,  a limb amputation, or burns of a severe nature, your ability to function in your day-to-day activities, work and take care of your family may be significantly impaired. The interference can be temporary or permanent, putting a heavy emotional burden on you and a tremendous financial burden.

Most serious injury lawyers are not equipped to provide financial assistance or resources to their clients. While the skilled attorneys at our office are working hard on your claim to provide you with the highest quality legal representation to get you the compensation you deserve, we recognize and understand the immediate need to provide our clients and their families with additional help and assistance.

Under certain circumstances, when a case has adequate insurance coverage, we can provide financial assistance that would not otherwise be available to you.

While your case is pending, waiting to settle, or going to court, insurance may cover some or all of your medical expenses. But if you have experienced a loss of income, you may be unable to pay your everyday living expenses such as your mortgage, rent, utilities such as gas and electricity, phone, and food. Your serious injury can also interfere with your ability to pay other bills, like car loans, credit cards, and student loans.

You certainly don’t need your credit negatively affected in addition to all the other injuries you have sustained. It’s not just about getting the compensation you deserve. It’s about surviving between the time of your accident and the time your case is resolved. You shouldn’t have to suffer financially while your body is healing. You shouldn’t be forced to settle your case for less than it’s worth to save yourself from financial ruin. So the question is, in the aftermath of an accident, how do you survive while undergoing treatment while preserving your credit and without ruining your financial life?

Insurance, personal resources, friends, and family can only help you so far in dealing with the financial effects of an accident. When you run out of resources, where do you turn? Some states may have options for funding serious injury claims or settlement cash advances. This may involve a “lawsuit loan” or a “lawsuit cash advance.”

Third-party lenders may provide financial assistance in the form of a loan against the potential settlement proceeds of your case. The loan or cash advance may have variable terms. Like any other arrangement, you must know interest rates and terms. Whether the loan is “recourse” or “non-recourse,” i.e., whether you have to pay it back when your case is adjudicated, even if it is settled, there is no recovery.

In California, funding for lawsuit loans is available from third-party lenders. The potential client should know the various types of loans, the interest rate, and the terms. Each arrangement should be thoroughly examined and evaluated for potential risks and benefits. Typically, the interest rates do not make these loans a realistic option.

Very few attorneys have the experience, desire, or wherewithal to assist their clients. With over 40 years of experience, our legal team at AutoAccident.com recognize the financial hardship some clients experience following an accident. Unlike most other attorneys, when you choose to hire our firm to represent you in a case involving severe injuries, we go the extra mile to attempt to provide you with options and resources other firms cannot or will not offer you.

We have the financial resources available to help our clients in appropriate cases. We can help you through what might be one of the most challenging times of your life. Not every case will qualify, but to find out more about how this unique service would work in your case, please contact the Law Offices of Edward A. Smith today at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 to speak to one of our experienced injury attorneys. We always offer free, friendly, and compassionate advice.

We are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the National Association of Distinguished Counsel.

See our client reviews on Avvo, Google, Yelp, and our past cases on our Verdicts and Settlements page.

^{Editor’s Note: updated for accuracy and relevancy [cha 4.21.23]
Photo by ab [cs 2700]}

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