Oftentimes, the damages of the victim of the traffic accident are very important and certain positions must be carefully controlled, verified, and negotiated by the pair, with specialized lawyers and specialized doctors, assisting the victim. If the determination of the damages belongs to the medical adviser, the compensatory translation of the bodily injury belongs to the lawyer.
The Third Party
The “third-party assistance” injury item is one of the most disputed and debatable items and, for good reason, it will depend essentially on the assessment of the expert as to the needs of the victim with a disability by the hour per day, for a determined cost.
The Assessment of Injury
The role of the lawyer for victims of bodily injury is essential in the evaluation of the injury and therefore the control of this type of injury. Indeed, he will intervene within the framework of the medico-legal discussion where he can, for example, ask to raise the hourly cost fixed for human aid. Instead of 10 dollars per hour, he would be able to negotiate the raising of this cost to set it between 15 dollars and 18 dollars per hour, to take social charges into account. This is only an example.
The Victim’s Lawyer
The lawyer of the victim of the accident can also negotiate the duration of this human assistance according to the tasks necessary to accomplish for the victim in a situation of handicap. The compensation for the victim will be made item by item. Thus, all damage suffered by the victim as a result of his accident must be taken into account, whether of a financial nature such as:
- Loss of salary
- Health costs
- Costs of specific equipment
Or, if it is of an extra-patrimonial nature, such as:
- The suffering endured
- Consequences related to performing intimately in a relationship
- On family life
- On the leisure activities practiced and the final rate of incapacity remaining to be borne by the victim before and after consolidation
Severe Disability
In the event of a severe disability, obviously, the final amount of compensation will be high for the purpose of the compensation of the disability on the environment of the victim. The degree of disability suffered by the victim after his consolidation will be the subject of an in-depth analysis.
The Negotiations
In order to best optimize the compensation of his client, the lawyer intervening in bodily injury will first enter into negotiations with the insurance companies. Thanks to his mastery of the law and case law, he will be able to argue with the investigators appointed by the companies in order to vary the amount of compensation initially proposed.
The Judge and Lawyer
In the event of persistent disagreement on the amount of compensation, the lawyer may summon the insurance company for interim measures in order to bring the procedure to justice. In this case, the parties will rely on the sovereign assessment of a judge who will act with complete impartiality and independence, even if it must be noted that in practice the judicialization of the procedure is almost always favorable to the victim. The lawyer may ask the judge to order new legal expertise on the person of the victim. Pending the final outcome of the proceedings, the car accident lawyer may request the allocation of a provision for his client to claim against the final amount of compensation.