Phoenix Car Accident Attorney Blog

Arizona school accidents happen a lot more than people think. There are swimming accidents, playground accidents, slip and fall accidents, bus accidents and many other accidents that happen in Arizona while children are at school.

Many times it is lack of school policies that contribute to the child or student being injuries. Many times on the playground it is lack of supervision, design defects for playground equipment, schools choosing the wrong school equipment , lack of supervision for the students, lack of policy procedures that keep in mind the safety of the children.

Playground accidents happen many times where the teachers allow younger kids to play on older children’s equipment. This many times ends up in children being hurt. Swimming accidents happen where there is lack of supervision. For instance too many students compared to supervision. Many times at the high school level a teacher may assume that the student can swim when they cannot. There are many teachers out there who are always looking out for the safety of the children. There are other teachers who do not realize that the safety for the children is what has to be first and foremost.

When it comes to accidents that happen at school it is important to know that there is a 180 statute of limitations. There are some arguments that it can be longer when a minor is involved but generally we go by the 180 statute of limitation when dealing with a school. This is assuming that the school is a public entity. If the school is a private school the statute is likely to be two years. Statute of limitations for public school entities are much different compared to private school entities. Besides a 180 statute of limitation for a notice of claim. There is also a one year statute of limitations for settling the claim or filing a lawsuit again the adverse party. These statutes are very important to be aware of if you have a claim for a child who was hurt or fatally killed by the negligence of school staff.

Of course, there are many other ways students are injured. Currently, there is much legislation trying to go through for buses to have seatbelts since many times students are hurt or fatally injured in bus accidents. These are all still pending and currently school buses do not have seatbelts.

This is general information on statute of limitations and deadlines for students who are injured or fatally killed due to the negligence of a member of a school. If you have specific questions on an accident in Arizona regarding a student feel free to call us anytime Valleywide at 602-267-1280. We have offices in the west valley, east valley, central phoenix. If you are unable to come to our office and we can help you, we will come to your home or visit you at the hospital. We understand that these are difficult times for families and we are here to help you.

Mesa car accidents happen every day but they do not happen every day where they are intentional. Today I got a call from a man who sits on a homeowners association board and a homeowner ran him over with his vehicle. This type of behavior is astonishing. The caller wanted to know what was the best way that he could proceed.

Under motor vehicle law in Arizona, there is a big difference between intentional acts and criminal acts. In fact this is probably true with most civil cases in terms of whether or not insurance will cover. Of course, you can pursue the negligent person whether or not there is insurance, but typically when an Arizona lawyer is involved it is because they are going after an insurance policy.

A lot of what an attorney does is find different policies when someone is seriously injured from a motor vehicle accident in Arizona. Above that, attorneys also negotiates liens, talks with doctors, requests specific reports, preserves evidence, and deals with insurance companies who treat people unfairly.

Many people do not realize as well that the prosecutor actually has the say so in whether or not a person gets pursued criminally. The victim has no say in whether or not the prosecutor initiates criminal charges against the perpetrator. With that being said, we still always recommend that the injured person call the prosecutor to let the prosecutor know that they were injured.

You do have to remember though as a victim person if the person who hurt you is found to be criminally negligent that may void out any liability on the part of their insurance company paying. Most insurance policies say that they will only pay for negligent acts not purposeful and intentional acts. Therefore, when you are injured you will have to decide whether their act was negligent or whether it was intentional. Typically the cases that we deal with, the acts are negligent and therefore we can recover the monies from the insurance. Even when it has to do with an assault many times, the act is still negligent even though the person might have swung a fist or something like that. The reason it is still considered negligent under the law is that someone might swing a fist to hit another person, for example, but they do not intend to hurt the person seriously. That is, it is all about the person’s intent.

In this particular case it does appear that the person who hit the man with their vehicle was doing so with intent to hurt but even then it is hard to say without getting more evidence.
Our office serves all of Arizona.

We are known as The Husband And Wife Law team and we handle car accidents in Mesa and are motor vehicle accident attorneys in Arizona. We also handle motorcycle accidents throughout the Valley as well. We have an office located in Mesa for motor vehicle auto accident victims so that they have easy access to come to our office.

We also have an office located in the east valley in the Chandler, Ahwatukee, Tempe, area that is closer for people who have been in an accident in these areas in the easy valley, such as Ahwatukee, Chandler, Tempe, Maricopa. We started as Ahwatukee car accident lawyers in 1996. Our first office was in Ahwatukee.

We still have an office currently in Ahwatukee as well. Insurance adjusters know that we are car accident lawyers in Chandler and car accident lawyers in Tempe as well. Our Ahwatukee office is just a few minutes from Chandler and Tempe Arizona. If one of our offices is not close to you or near you and you are seriously injured, we are able to visit you in the hospital or come to your home as we understand that when you are seriously injured because of an accident it is difficult to come see a lawyer.

Many of the cases we accept are in the Glendale area as well. As Glendale car accident lawyers, we receive many calls each day from people on the west side who have been injured. As lawyers in Avondale who handle car accidents in Avondale Arizona we have help a lot of people in this part of the west side as well. We do have an office in Avondale Arizona and can meet people there if they live close to this area and this is more convenient. Peoria car accident lawyers and Sun City car accident lawyers we are available as well to help people who live in this area of Arizona. Recognized through out the Valley as Arizona car accident lawyers, we also help people in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Paradise Valley and Fountain Hills.

Although there are a lot of Arizona car accident lawyers, Mark has received recognition for Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Arizona and has received top ranking from Martindale-Hubbell which is a renowned legal source for more than 100 years. There are also many Scottsdale car accident lawyers and we are available to help those who have been injured in an auto accident in Scottsdale as well as all the other cities listed above. We are not near Bullhead City, but we still consider ourselves Bullhead City car accident lawyers, as we have clients who have been injured in Bullhead City.

Many clients who are injured in Bullhead city are brought to Vegas Hospitals. We have visited clients in the Vegas hospitals before. If you believe that you need an accident attorney to protect you, give us a call even if you have been hurt in Bullhead City. Do not let the distance from Phoenix scare you as we can still come to you. There are many car accidents in Gilbert as well. Our Mesa office is located near Gilbert so as Gilbert car accident lawyers we are still able to help protect your rights as well.

Remember when you are looking for an attorney, you are not going to spend a lot of time in your attorney’s office regarding your car accident claim. The most time you will spend is the initial visit and then after that you will mostly have telephone appointments. Certainly, for our office we encourage clients to call and come by but it is not necessary.

It is most important you pick an excellent lawyer that you have trust in and know that those Arizona injury lawyers will do a great job for you rather than pick an auto accident attorney just because they are a few minutes from your house. The outcome of a personal injury claim can be life changing so it is very important that you feel very comfortable with your injury lawyer and that you trust that you have made a great decision when you hire the attorney.

Mesa car accidents often result in drivers and passengers being seriously injured in auto accidents. Many car crashes often result in the wrongful death of an innocent person by the negligent of another driver.

When you or your loved one is involved in a serious car accident in Mesa Arizona it is important to consult with an experienced lawyer. Mark Breyer has top rating by Martindale-Hubbell, a renowned lawyer source for more than 100 years. He also has top ranking from AVVO, a legal ranking company. Mark has recently received an award by ATLA for Top Trial Lawyers In Arizona. Mark also is an expert in injury and wrongful death law as certified by the State Bar of Arizona.

The State Bar of Arizona has certified less than 2% of attorneys in the Valley, including auto accident lawyers in Mesa, Arizona. To be certified as an expert in injury and wrongful death law by the State Bar of Arizona you must show high qualifications, pass an exam, receive ratings by Judges and other attorneys in Arizona, as well as show the requisite amount of trial experience and cases handled in injury and wrongful death law.

As The Husband And Wife Law Team and car accident lawyers in Mesa, Arizona, we pride ourselves as giving our clients the Breyer Law Experience. All our clients receive top notch legal service as you would expect from a certified specialist as well as the client service that they deserve. We offer a no fee guarantee for all cases that we accept. We only handle serious injury and wrongful death claims but can help you if you call and set you in the right direction.

Unlike most law offices, even if we cannot help you we will try to find an attorney that can help you or give you a free consultation on your claim. We also have an injury book that we offer free to all Arizona residents. We do not charge a fee unless we settled your claim and we advance all costs. We have the resources necessary to hire the best experts and process all of our cases to the fullest to receive the best settlement. Call us anytime. We are here to help. Call Now!

Mesa auto accidents and motorcycle accidents happen every day. We currently have an office in Mesa, Arizona but we also have offices throughout Arizona. We serve clients Statewide. As Accident lawyers in Mesa and in Arizona, we began our law practice in 1996. We originally began our office in Ahwatukee, Arizona. Our office has grown because of our successes. We however still stay true to our original concept when beginning our office, which is to give the best client service with the best legal service as well.

Whether you are involved in a car accident in Mesa, Arizona or anywhere throughout the Valley, we are able to help you. We do not just hand off your automobile or motorcycle case to an associate or a paralegal, we take the lead in the case and always speak with our clients. Of course, we have excellent experienced paralegals that we work with but when you need to talk to a lawyer, you will speak to us and not have trouble reaching us.

As attorneys who practice injury and wrongful death law in Arizona, Mark Breyer is a certified specialist by the State Bar of Arizona. This signifies that the State Bar of Arizona has certified him as a specialist and expert in Arizona injury and wrongful death law. Auto accident lawyers in Mesa Arizona can help injured victims get their fair compensation. Less than 2% of attorneys in all of Arizona, not just car accident lawyers in Mesa, Arizona are certified specialists in injury and wrongful death law. Therefore, this is an amazing accomplishment by Mark. It shows the success that we have had but more than that it is a testament by Judges and other attorneys around the Valley that Mark is a competent lawyer who has the trial experience and experience to handle injury and wrongful death claims.

If you have been injured in an accident in Mesa, Arizona or just have questions please do not hesitate to give us a call. Although we are selective in the injury and wrongful death cases that we are able to handle, we will give you advice and point you in the right direction.

We serve all of Mesa Arizona and all cities statewide in Arizona. We handle car accident claims in Mesa and if you are unable to come to our office in Mesa we can come to your hospital or to your home. We recognize that when you are seriously injured it is difficult to come to an attorney’s office.

We offer a no fee guarantee and you can reach us 24/7. Feel free to call anytime. We are here to help and you can rely on the "Husband And Wife Law Team."

After an Arizona car accident, whether it be in Mesa, Chandler, Tempe, Maricopa, Apache Junction, Scottsdale, Glendale, Sun City or any other place in Arizona you must file a claim with the adverse party, and I (Alexis) recommend that you file a claim with your own insurance as well.

I have had many people through the years call me after their statute of limitations has run for their Arizona car accident only to learn that filing a claim is not the same as filing a lawsuit. Filing a claim for an auto accident means that you talk to the insurance company, given them all the information, and let them know that you were injured in the auto accident. Usually, the insurance adjuster will call you for status of your medical care or they may discuss your claim with you. As I always say, it is important to remember that the insurance adjuster is not your friend. This is an adversarial relationship. You want what is best for you and the insurance company wants what is best for them. What is best for the insurance company? To settle a case for as little as possible.

Filing a claim is just that – talking to the insurance company. There are many different statutes of limitations. The statute depends on the type of claim. Some car accidents have a 180 day statute of limitation, some a 1 year statute of limitation and some a 2 year statute of limitation. For other injuries the statutes can vary as well. When a minor is involved the statutes can differ also. It is important to always consult with a lawyer to make sure you at least get an evaluation of your deadlines for your case.

If you are simply negotiating with the insurance adjuster and the statute is arising, it does not matter. You have to file a lawsuit or settle the claim before the statute of limitations. If you are negotiating and the statute is coming up, it does not matter. Negotiating with an insurance adjuster on a car accident claim does not stop your obligations from dealing with the statute of limitations.

Under the law, a person who makes an injury claim in Arizona is held to the standard of knowing all the laws. It is not enough to say as someone recently did when they called me that they were not aware of it. The person who called said no one warned her of the statute and she didn’t know. Unfortunately, this is not a defense to missing a statute of limitations.

Technically based on the Department of Insurance, an insurance adjuster is supposed to tell you the statute of limitations, but many times they tell you in a letter immediately following the auto accident in Arizona so people do not really understand what this letter means. Also, the problem is that even if the adjuster or insurance company does not tell the person who was injured in the car accident in Arizona, there really is no recourse against the insurance company as there is no legal punishment for the adjuster. Therefore, the bottom line is do not rely on the insurance adjuster to tell you what your statute of limitations are for your case. The truth is many times the adjusters don’t even know so once they hand the file over to an attorney, the attorney might make a legal argument that the adjuster did not even know about.

Filing a lawsuit is where you actually have papers that are filed with the Court. This is the only way to preserve and protect your claim in regards to the statute of limitations. You can file a lawsuit and not continue with it, but it is necessary to continue negotiations to show the adjuster that you have filed the lawsuit. When filing a lawsuit, it requires a fee, a cover sheet, a summons, and what is called a certificate of compulsory arbitration. These documents all need to be filed with the clerk and when filed the clerk will stamp them and give the case a number. This is the number an adjuster will be looking for once the statute of limitations date passes.

If you have any questions about your statute of limitations and want a deadline review of your case, feel free to call our office.

Mesa Car Accident Lawyers is part of what we are. We actually serve the entire Valley. I focus on Mesa in this blog because I received several calls today asking where our law office was in Arizona. So there you go. The above is our address. We have other offices through out the Valley so if you have any questions just let us know.

Do you know what a certified specialist in injury and wrongful death law means? In short, the State Bar of Arizona awards certain lawyers as being a certified specialist in the area of injury and wrongful death law when they have proven that they have had ample trial experience, recommendations from Judges and other lawyers in Arizona, as well as passing a specialist exam. Also, certified specialists do not maintain there specialist certification forever. They have to reapply and continuously show that they are litigating cases and have an active practice in personal injury law. To find about more about the qualifications of a lawyer being awarded a certified specialist distinction visit the Arizona State Bar. There are only about 2% of Arizona attorneys who are considered specialists by the State Bar of Arizona. In fact, if you are not a specialist you are not considered an expert by the State Bar.

Mark Breyer of the Husband and Wife Law Team is a certified specialist in injury and wrongful death law. It is a great accomplishment and a testament to our successes! If you have been involved in an auto accident in Mesa or anywhere in Arizona do not hesitate to give us a call. We help injured victims and are injury lawyers in Mesa and we also help individuals throughout the State of Arizona. To find out more about our office, call for a free consultation or visit our website.

Mesa car accidents lawyers receive calls from car accident victims every day. After an auto accident in Arizona it is best to have the police come to the scene of the accident. Someone called my office today who was rear ended in a car accident in Mesa Arizona on Monday. She had her son in the vehicle. Her car was only worth a couple of thousand dollars so she chose not have collision coverage. The car was towed from the scene of the accident and the mom and son were transported by ambulance. Did you know if a mom and son go in an ambulance ride together and both need treatment the ambulance company will generally charge each person for the full amount of the trip charge? Just interesting to note as many of our clients complain about this because there was only one ride in the ambulance however these are still considered by the ambulance to be customary charges. Arizona billing from ambulance companies is also regulated by the state. However many times ambulance companies accept a reduced amount, especially when dealing with health insurance companies. Still, the adverse insurance is responsible for paying the full amount of the medical bill. The adverse car insurance does not get the benefit of paying the reduced amount.

So putting all that tangents aside about ambulance billing in Arizona and adverse insurance companies having to pay the full amount of a medical bill not the reduced amount of the bill, let’s get back to this mom and son and the Mesa car accident they were in on Monday.

The woman was calling because the police told her that the woman who hit her said she has insurance through her mom but did not have the information on her. The mom called the woman who rear ended her on the night of the accident and the woman said she could not speak to her or give her the insurance information because she was not feeling well. The mom called her own insurance company and asked them if they knew if the woman had insurance. The insurance said she was trying to get in touch with the woman but had no luck either.

Tuesday the mom called the woman again and this time she did not answer. Wednesday she called again and the woman did not answer either. Thursday she got a call from her insurance company that said they spoke to the woman and she had no insurance and the woman had hired a lawyer.

So what do you do when you are in a Mesa car accident and are hit by someone who has no insurance and you have no collision coverage? Call an attorney – Mesa car accident lawyers. Unfortunately, there is no good answer under this scenario. Generally, a person who has no insurance does not have any money to pay – that is why they had no insurance to begin with!

The first thing that this woman should try to do although many times it is very difficult is to get the vehicle out of storage. Under Arizona law, the injured person has a duty to mitigate. This means you have to try to get the vehicle out of storage. Once you have done everything you can then you have mitigated your damages. If you ever have a car in storage depending on the circumstances and the vehicle type, make, model, etc you may be able to find an auto body shop to take the vehicle out of storage. Sometimes the auto body shop does it and sometimes they do not. You can also see if you can have the vehicle towed to an insurance lot but this presents a lot of problems as well because the vehicle would first have to be photographed and a repair estimate done on it. This will require the vehicle to remain in storage a lot longer. Sometimes injured victims when they do not have auto insurance and their vehicle is in a tow yard can ask friends and relatives. Bottom line though there are many times when there is no insurance at all that the car may just sit in storage if the injured victim has no means of getting the vehicle out of storage. This is not fair but this is the legal system for you. It is very frustrating for the person who is hurt in the accident and their family as they are the ones who have to deal with the car issues.

Other things can be done as well such as sending a certified letter asking the adverse driver to pay for the damages or asking if they have any other sources of insurance. Arizona car accident lawyers spend a lot of time researching insurance coverages and uncovering insurance information from adverse parties.

Lastly, a lawsuit could be initiated. When filing a lawsuit the person will have to weigh the costs of filing a lawsuit with the ability to collect. Getting a judgment is part of the legal battle for Arizona lawyers the other battle is finding out what sources of payment there are for each case. In this case, definitely it has to be looked into if this adverse driver has any money or assets, or if there are other sources of insurance coverage that could apply. Whenever you do not have collision coverage and the other side is either denying liability or has no coverage, it is always a bad position to be in. We recommend everyone carry collision coverage unless you can afford to buy another vehicle and if you considered this scenario discussed that you would be able to get yourself another car.

Any questions on insurance coverage, asset checks, etc please give us a call!

An Arizona car accident occurred in 2006. It involved a young girl who had just turned 18 years old and another driver, who had run a read light. As car accident lawyers in Mesa, Chandler, Avondale, Peoria, Tempe, Ahwatukee, Scottsdale, Glendale, Sun City, Phoenix, and as you know we serve injured victims through out the Valley - many of the claims we handle deal are with drivers running a red light. Running a red light causes many car accidents in Arizona. In fact I have never done the statistics of our own cases in terms of what types of car accidents cause the most claims in our office, but off the top of my head I would probably say running red lights and failure to yields. Of course, car accidents in Arizona come in all sorts of ways.

So back to the story. A young girl is driving. An innocent driver when all of a sudden she is stuck by a driver who has not only run a red light but is totally drunk. The police come to the scene of the accident. Luckily some witnesses stay, but most of the people who witnessed the car accident in Arizona left the scene. As a side note, if you ever do witness a car accident it is so vital to stop and let the police know. We have had many cases where the driver says he had a green light or did not fail to yield, whatever the case may be, basically where the driver at fault denied liability, and if it were not for a witness the police would not deem anyone at fault. Regardless of what the police determine, as personal injury lawyers in Arizona, it is a lot harder to prove fault when a driver does not admit they are at fault and there are no witnesses. At that point sometimes, it can become a he said-she said dispute in proving who is at fault for the auto accident. That is when accident reconstructionist experts and other experts come into play to prove to a jury or judge that our client was not at fault.

The police are at the scene of the auto crash in Arizona and the young girl is seriously injured. She cannot get out of the vehicle. She is trapped in the vehicle. She is in serious pain. She will face many surgeries and as much as physical pain she will undergo just as much, if not more, emotional pain, from dealing with all the physical injuries. Meanwhile, the drunk driver gets taken away from the scene. He at least admits fault, of course, he is drunk. He is taken into custody. Both vehicles are towed from the scene and the young girl gets taken by ambulance to the hospital to face all her surgeries while the drunk gets taken to prison. Prison, a place he had already been and should have stayed from causing other car accidents in Arizona.

The injured girl’s vehicle is taken care of. Her parents called the insurance company and ultimately the vehicle was totaled. It didn’t really matter because the girl would not be able to walk for many months but at least the vehicle was not sitting in storage and accumulating charges against the injured victim.

The parents talk to their daughter and tell her to hire a lawyer. They explain to her that she needs to be protected. She has a high amount of medical bills and had no surgery. The daughter tells her parents that she is not ready to file a claim. She tells them emotionally it is all just too much and she doesn’t want to deal with it. The parents do everything they can to convince her to hire an injury attorney but since the daughter is 18 it is ultimately her decision as she is not a minor. The daughter says she doesn’t want to talk to an accident lawyer in Arizona because she has already talked to the prosecutor and it is all taken care of so she is set. The parents again plead to have her just consult a lawyer but she refused. Eventually, the parents give up and all through the while they have continued to support their daughter.

Fast forward four years. The girl still cannot walk like she used to. She has been through multiple surgeries. Emotionally she is a mess but much better than she was at the time of the car accident. It just took her a long time to get back to her emotionally stable point. Now she is ready to consult with an Arizona personal injury lawyer. Now she wants justice.

She decides to call an injury and wrongful death lawyer in Phoenix and guess what she reaches our office. She asks can she pursue a claim. She is crying through out the conversation because it is still emotional for her, as would be expected. When I tell her that it is too late she is shocked. How can it be too late? She tells me the prosecutor told her that the prosecutor was pursuing her claim for her. I go over the statute of limitations for car accidents in Arizona with her and try to see if there is any way that the statute could not have passed. There is simply no way. She could have hired a lawyer. She could have got to the Court house to file a claim. She was not a minor. She herself had no insurance so it was not a matter of underinsured just the claim against the adverse driver for causing the collision in Arizona. Such sad news to tell someone that now when they are ready to pursue justice, they cannot because they waited too long. That her parents were right – nothing a daughter wants to hear. I know as a parent myself those are the last words kids want to hear – that their parents were right!

Anyways, as an injury lawyer in Arizona, I bring this scenario to everyone’s attention because it is a perfect example why all injury victims should consult with Arizona personal injury lawyers. This girl has been misled or mistakenly understood that the prosecutor was filing the claim for her. She was unaware of the statute of limitations and now sits with thousands and thousands of dollars of medical bills because she did not simply talk to an injury lawyer. I do commend her for focusing on her emotional pain and doing everything she could to heal and not having that feeling of running out to get a lawyer. The thing is because of the adversary relationship with injured victims and insurance companies, in order to protect yourself as an injured victim of a car crash in Arizona it is necessary to seek a consultation with an injury lawyer. This is my attempt at letting everyone know the important of just consulting with a lawyer, especially after a serious car accident. Also, for all those claimants out there that think the prosecutor is filing your claim – almost always that is not correct. Prosecutors handle criminal investigations and matters, and yes it is true that they will prosecute the drunk driver for the injured victim. When it comes to a civil case against the driver though for pain and suffering that is what a personal injury lawyer in Arizona handles.

Mesa car accidents are very common and we have an office in Mesa but we also have offices all over the Valley. As Personal Injury Lawyers in Mesa and through out the Valley, we actually began our practice in Ahwatukee. We began our office in 1996. Since that time, although our office has grown a lot, as the lawyers, Mark and I (Alexis) meet with all the clients and discuss each claim.

We do not simply hand off your case to another lawyer. We handle all of the cases, of course, with our paralegals help, but we remain involved and heading the charge of all the cases. This is very important to us and why we have become so successful. We understand that client service is very important, but we offer both necessities for personal injury victims. We offer the client service one would expect from a husband and wife law team with top notch legal service you need from a lawyer when you are hiring an attorney to help protect your rights.

Mark is a certified specialist in injury and wrongful death law which only 2% of all attorneys have been certified by the State Bar of Arizona as being a specialist in this area of law. For that reason, we are very selective in the cases that we handle as we help people who are serious injured or family members of loved ones who have been killed in a car accident in Arizona.

Unfortunately, we cannot help everyone who calls our office. For those who are less seriously injured, we work with other lawyers and associate with them. So if you are seriously injured or have a loved one who has been killed by the negligence of another individual we may be able to help you. If you have a soft tissue injury, please still call our office and we can refer you to a great attorney. We also encourage all accident victims in Arizona to call our office, no matter what your injury case is, big or small, so we can inform you of your case deadlines so you do not miss a statute of limitations.

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Arizona car accidents often cause people to be unable to return to work. This blog post focuses on getting lost wages paid for when you have been hurt in an accident in Arizona.

Some people are able to return light duty, some people cannot return for a long time to their original occupation, and some will never be able to return to their occupation at the time of the accident. So what happens when you have a situation where you have been injured from a car accident, motorcycle accident, trucking accident, or maybe even as a bicyclists or pedestrian. How do you make sure that you get your lost wages paid for and how does it work with the legal system in Arizona?

Many times after an auto accident if a person is in the hospital obviously they cannot work. There are different levels of injuries and different levels of not being able to work. Although we only handle seriously injury and wrongful death claims in Arizona, we still like to inform everyone if their rights and how to make sure they are protecting themselves. As a reminder, if any one at any time ever has questions on any type of claim, even if it doesn’t have to do with a car accident or motor vehicle accident injury, still feel free to call our office.

If you are in the hospital and are discharged make sure that the doctor gives you a note to remain off of work. The note should indicate that because of the accident you are unable to work and also should indicate what date you can return to work. Once you get discharged from the hospital, you should follow up with your family doctor and if that doctor also thinks you cannot work, have that doctor write another note. If the doctor thinks you have to stay out of work longer, then the doctor should write a new note with new dates to remain off of work.

At the same time, you will need to get a note from your employer that indicates your job responsibility, your job position, hw long you have been employed, and how many days you were out of work. Also, should be included your pay rate and number of hours worked each week. This scenario is for someone who is hurt but can go back to their job responsibilities. For however long if you are able to go back to your job responsibilities you must get continued note. Of course, if you have an Arizona personal injury lawyer they would get these documents for you.

If you get discharged from the hospital and can return light duty, a different type of note is necessary but still a note from the doctor and your employer. The note from the doctor will indicate you can return to work light duty and what limitations you have when working. The note from the employer will indicate what job responsibilities you could not do or at the very least that you were on light duty.

If you get discharged from the hospital and your injuries are such that you will never be able to do your job then as injury lawyers in Arizona we look to different things. I should say that the reason an injury victim needs to get all of this lost wage documentation is not because lawyers want it, it is because of the auto insurance carriers. If a victim does not have all of this information, the insurance adjuster will deny the lost wages. Also, many times a Judge will not let certain evidence into trial if the lawyer does not have the documentation to show the jury.

If it were up to Arizona injury lawyers, we would just have the doctor testify or the injured victim testify with maybe a note from work, but unfortunately that is not an option with insurance companies, and if a case cannot settle, not an option with a Judge and the rules of evidence in an Arizona court of law. I (Alexis) tell many people when we meet with them that in many cases it is like getting a permission slip as if you were in high school. I mean do you really need a lost wage note from a doctor when you are on crutches and you are say a truck driver and can’t drive. One would not think so but our legal system and the adversarial system with insurance companies makes this the case.

Back to the scenarios, if you are never able to return to your job occupation again, then a vocation expert will be required to be hired to prove what your lost wages will be over the course of your life time. When someone is killed because of a motor vehicle accident, a similar expert and lost wage evaluation would be completed. For people who cannot return to their job may be able to get reeducated in a different field. Some people may be able to find another occupation but will make less money in which case a different kind of expert could calculate the difference in lost wages. Some people may never be able to work again at any job in which case the calculations would be based on total loss of earnings.

No matter what the case all along it is necessary to get specific documentation from the doctor and employer. There are cases when an injury case is in litigation that instead of having this documentation a doctor could testify to the lost wage claim and the employer could testify to the loss of hours and wages or inability to perform the job responsibilities. Many times however in order to collect on the claim, as lawyers we need this documentation – again, all because of the adversarial position.

Some of the time this makes sense. Other times I think it makes not sense at all. If an injured person is in the hospital clearly they cannot work. What about doctor’s appointments, clearly you have to take time off from work and lost out on wages. Even if you get vacation pay this is still time off from work or benefits that the insurance company is responsible to pay.

This is a small glimpse into the documentation that one needs when proving a lost wages claim. An accident lawyer spends much time just making sure that all of the documentation is in the file and that as the months go by supplemental documentation is added as that is what is necessary to show the insurance company and jury maybe one day. Of course, there are some adjuster and some juries who do put all the pieces together but most of the time especially when the defense counsel is arguing that the plaintiff does not have the evidence, it is most beneficial and most successful for a case to have the documentation.

Arizona car accidents hurt innocent people every day. Our Arizona Accident Book details the legal system for people who have injury claims in Arizona. As Arizona personal injury lawyers and since our practice is limited to only very serious injury and wrongful death claims we thought we would put information in a book to help others. Even those who need a lawyer, the book helps them understand more about the legal system, the adversarial relationship with the insurance adjuster, and the 13 biggest mistakes that can destroy your Arizona Accident Claim.

Arizona Injury Book - FREE

The reason I bring up our Arizona Injury Book is because I got a call this week from a man who was very seriously injured in a car accident. The car accident had happened about a month ago. Nothing had been done with his vehicle. He was self employed and was unable to go back to work. The adverse insurance company was not calling him back. His daughter had ordered him a copy of our book and had given it to him. It was obvious that he never read it though because he had already given a recorded statement to the adverse insurance company, which is something you shouldn’t do! He had not got a lost wage statement from his doctor, which is necessary to collect lost wages! He had left the car at the tow yard and an abandoned title had been applied for by the tow yard and the tow yard was requesting almost a thousand dollars in storage fees.

If you don't know the answers to these questions think what this means

I asked him some further questions about his own insurance. Did he know if he had medical coverage? Did he know how to handle Medicare? He was on Medicare and with Medicare you need to get a conditional lien amount – and then a final lien amount – to settle your claim. He had no idea about this – Of course, he didn’t he’s not a lawyer. He didn’t know that he could use his underinsured from his two different automobile policies. He had another separate auto policy that did not have underinsured on it and he didn’t know that the insurance company is required to have a person sign off on different documents and that he might be able to get more underinsured coverage. Of course, he didn’t know this either because he’s not a lawyer and knows nothing about insurance coverage.

Lawyers know how to look for additional coverage

Most importantly, the adverse driver was in on a cell phone for what appeared to be a work related call. This means that the company insurance may apply even if the adverse driver was not in his own vehicle.

At the end of the conversation, the man was still convinced that he could handle the Arizona car accident claim on his own. This is what I don’t understand. This man had a life changing very serious injury. He should be protected and will have no idea how to protect himself. Maybe it is that some people still feel bad hiring an attorney for a car accident claim. Maybe that is it. I have talked to some people who have said that they felt bad hiring a lawyer or that it was something that they did not feel comfortable doing. Some people have told me that for religious reasons they felt like they could not file a claim against someone who caused the accident.

I respect everyone’s opinions and it is an individual choice for each auto accident, motorcycle accident, pedestrian accident, trucking accident, whatever the motor vehicle accident or any other injury victim for that matter – it is their individual decision what to do. I just think that when you are seriously injured or have a loved one who has been killed by the negligence of another individual that it is necessary to consult a lawyer in depth to find out all your rights. Some car accident cases do not require a lawyer. But other cases do require a lawyer. We all pay for car insurance. Many of us pay thousands of dollars each year for car insurance. So shouldn’t we all be protected if we are injured to make sure that the car insurance company pays the most that they have to. Why should as a victim if you lose wages you want to give the insurance company an advantage to not have to pay everything that they are entitled to?

As I got off the phone with this man who was confident that he could handle his case on his own, I reminded him to go read the book. At least if he was not going to hire a lawyer, he could get some pointers on what not to do. His son was smart to order the book and his son understands that there are a lot of dynamics to an injury claim that lay people do not know. If you are in a small car crash and the injuries are not too significant then even though you may do better with a lawyer, ultimately it is not a life changing amount of money so it does not have as big of an impact.

Serious injuries from a motor vehicle accident

When you are seriously injured from a car accident though and have injuries that are permanent, or excessive lost wages, or excessive medical bills, there is simply too much to lose by trying to handle a claim on your own. At least that is my opinion. Of course, I see insurance companies day in and day out deny claims to people who tried to handle it on their own so I come from a completely different perspective. I know that insurance adjusters on not on the injured victims side and we try to get this point across to victims, but at least on a positive note many people still have trust in others. I guess in that way these people are to be commended because they trust that others will look out for them and do the right thing even when it is an adversarial position.

Insurance adjusters are not your friend

The simple fact is an insurance adjuster is not going to point out that they have more coverage, is not going to tell you to get a lost wage note, is not going to tell you the ramifications of leaving your car in storage, is not going to tell you that you may have additional underinsured coverage, is not going to inform you that the person driving might have a company policy because they were on the phone and the list goes on. Bottom line, when you are in a car accident it is an adversarial situation and as a victim it is in your best interest to be protected.