One of the first questions that you may ask yourself after being involved in an accident in Hawaii is the question: “Do I need an accident lawyer or can I handle it by myself?”
There is nothing in the law that requires you to hire a lawyer to represent you in your claim for damages after being injured in the islands by someone else. However, in many cases, your biggest hurdle to adequate self-representation is the detailed knowledge you must have about the medical and legal issues that are involved in your accident in order to navigate the system properly.
For car accident cases, you will usually, but not always, be better off with hiring an accident lawyer in Hawaii. In minor accident cases involving limited damage to your car, for example, it may be easier for you to negotiate a repair settlement with the insurance adjuster directly without an attorney. You may want to check your local library or bookstore for written guides about how to represent yourself in a car accident case, if you choose to do so. You should be careful about what you sign and these guides can be useful tools for you to better understand the car accident settlement process.
Why, then, would you want to involve an accident lawyer in Hawaii in your case?
First, attorneys are advocates – which means that they have a professional obligation to represent you and your interests. Sometimes this means that the friendly relationship you have with an insurance adjuster will come to an end and it may mean that your case may not settle as quickly as it might if you handled matters on your own. But, typically, involving an attorney in your accident claim will mean a higher settlement than if you choose to pursue the claims yourself.
In an ideal world, attorneys would not be needed. In car accident cases for example, the other driver would act honestly and admit fault, and his insurance company would offer a fair payment for your car damage and your personal injuries and loss-- you would simply submit information about your accident to the responsible insurance adjuster and a fair payment would be made to you that would cover your present and future medical expenses, lost time from work, as well as the pain and discomfort you have experienced as a result of your accident.
Unfortunately, in the real world, people and companies do not always act honestly or fairly, especially when they have done something wrong. More importantly, insurance companies are in business to make money and their employees are directed to limit payout and to deny liability whenever possible.
Insurance adjusters would much prefer to deal with you directly and not with a lawyer. While many insurance company employees are honest and fair people, the individuals trained to serve as adjusters clearly are advocates for their employer. They may receive bonuses for keeping settlement payouts low. Insurance adjusters are given specific training in the psychology of gaining the trust of an unrepresented injury claimant and convincing that unrepresented person to accept a low settlement, especially when that unrepresented person may not know the value of their claims.
An experienced accident lawyer in Hawaii offers several important benefits:
Many people who have never been injured in an accident before are intimidated by the thought of hiring an attorney. They think, “Maybe it is too difficult to hire an attorney?”, or “Maybe it will just cause more hassle?” That’s not necessarily the case. An experienced, honest, and capable accident lawyer in Hawaii (they do exist!) can offer you several important benefits to help you with you claim in Hawaii (besides freeing up a lot of your time):
Knowledge of the Hawaii system. You may have already figured out that the insurance claim system in Hawaii is a kind of game with its own lingo and rules. When notice of a possible claim by you is received in the office of an insurance company, the assigned adjuster immediately assigns as projected payout figure to your case called a “reserve.” The reserve represents the potential loss to the insurance company’s bank account.
The creation of a reserve for every claim is required by law so that State insurance commissioners can evaluate the financial strength of a particular insurance company. In every State, insurance companies are required to have enough money in cash to pay expected claims. Thus, if adjusters set high reserves on cases, the insurance company will have less cash money available to invest in profitable ventures such as shopping centers, buildings and other real estate.
An experienced accident lawyer in Hawaii knows that your case will be worth more money if they can convinced the adjuster to set a high reserve on your case. If a low reserve is set, the adjuster cannot offer you a settlement that exceeds the reserve without special permission. Your attorney’s written and verbal communication with the insurance company is designed to send a message that your injuries are serious and that the insurance company should be prepared to pay significant damages. Without a doubt, adjusters set higher reserves when attorneys are involved than when individuals attempt to go at it alone. And experienced lawyers make every effort to convince the insurance adjuster that your injuries are serious and that a high reserve is appropriate for your case.
Knowledge of insurance and insurance benefits. Did you know that in Hawaii, drivers are required to have at least $10,000.00 of medical benefit coverage on their automobiles? This is called “Personal Injury Protection” (PIP) coverage. Drivers are also required to purchase at least $20,000 in bodily injury coverage and have the option to purchase excess PIP, and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, in addition to other insurance benefits. Your injury attorneys should know this, should know the various insurance coverages at issue in your claims, and should help you negotiate insurance issues related to your claims.
Perspective about case values. Experienced injury lawyers work within the marketplace of insurance settlements. An experienced lawyer will know which parts of your case are strong and which are weak. He may also subscribe to a jury verdict reporting service so he will know what similar cases in your area have generated in settlement or verdict. Attorneys who negotiate injury cases day in and day out will have a sense of what makes up a fair settlement in your city or town.
Professional detachment. As your hired representative, your lawyer has a professional obligation to represent you zealously and to explore all sources of recovery for you. Your lawyer is also trained to maintain a level of independence from your case. Experienced lawyers know that anger and emotion make it difficult, if not impossible, to conduct serious negotiations. After all, if you are hurt and your life has changed because of your injury, it would be difficult for you to listen quietly while an insurance adjuster minimizes your injuries and offers a lowball settlement figure. A good lawyer can engage in negotiations without taking personally the offers and counter-offers that typically occur.
Ability to litigate. If you have ever been in a courtroom, you know that the court system is its own world – with its own vocabulary, procedures and customs. Because of overburdened dockets, judges expect court litigants to know how to proceed when they appear. Non-attorneys rarely fare well when they appear in court without representation. Even lawyers will hire other lawyers for court appearances – thus the saying “he who represents himself may have a fool for a client.”
Every lawyer understands that taking a case to trial is a risk. The right case with the right judge or jury could result in a huge verdict. On the other hand, a bad judge or unreasonable juror could sink even a strong case. Insurance companies offer to settle cases in order to manage their risk. If the insurance company knows at the beginning of a negotiation that a large jury verdict is not part of the equation, the settlement offers will be low.
Insurance companies realize that unrepresented claimants are not likely to know how file a lawsuit asking for money damages, and that if they did, they would probably not fare well. Logically, insurance companies offer less money to an unrepresented claimant because their risk of a large loss (payment to you) is small.
In sum, you may find that an experienced accident lawyer in Hawaii can benefit you in several ways – he understands the insurance claim system; he has experience and knowledge about what a local jury might award; he is a trained negotiator and will not be influenced by an insurance adjuster’s rhetoric; and he will not be personally offended by statements made in negotiation. Finally, lawyers have the ability to go to court if negotiations break down, whereas non-attorneys do not always have this option.
There is nothing in the law that requires you to hire a lawyer to represent you in your claim for damages after being injured in the islands by someone else. However, in many cases, your biggest hurdle to adequate self-representation is the detailed knowledge you must have about the medical and legal issues that are involved in your accident in order to navigate the system properly.
For car accident cases, you will usually, but not always, be better off with hiring an accident lawyer in Hawaii. In minor accident cases involving limited damage to your car, for example, it may be easier for you to negotiate a repair settlement with the insurance adjuster directly without an attorney. You may want to check your local library or bookstore for written guides about how to represent yourself in a car accident case, if you choose to do so. You should be careful about what you sign and these guides can be useful tools for you to better understand the car accident settlement process.
Why, then, would you want to involve an accident lawyer in Hawaii in your case?
First, attorneys are advocates – which means that they have a professional obligation to represent you and your interests. Sometimes this means that the friendly relationship you have with an insurance adjuster will come to an end and it may mean that your case may not settle as quickly as it might if you handled matters on your own. But, typically, involving an attorney in your accident claim will mean a higher settlement than if you choose to pursue the claims yourself.
In an ideal world, attorneys would not be needed. In car accident cases for example, the other driver would act honestly and admit fault, and his insurance company would offer a fair payment for your car damage and your personal injuries and loss-- you would simply submit information about your accident to the responsible insurance adjuster and a fair payment would be made to you that would cover your present and future medical expenses, lost time from work, as well as the pain and discomfort you have experienced as a result of your accident.
Unfortunately, in the real world, people and companies do not always act honestly or fairly, especially when they have done something wrong. More importantly, insurance companies are in business to make money and their employees are directed to limit payout and to deny liability whenever possible.
Insurance adjusters would much prefer to deal with you directly and not with a lawyer. While many insurance company employees are honest and fair people, the individuals trained to serve as adjusters clearly are advocates for their employer. They may receive bonuses for keeping settlement payouts low. Insurance adjusters are given specific training in the psychology of gaining the trust of an unrepresented injury claimant and convincing that unrepresented person to accept a low settlement, especially when that unrepresented person may not know the value of their claims.
An experienced accident lawyer in Hawaii offers several important benefits:
Many people who have never been injured in an accident before are intimidated by the thought of hiring an attorney. They think, “Maybe it is too difficult to hire an attorney?”, or “Maybe it will just cause more hassle?” That’s not necessarily the case. An experienced, honest, and capable accident lawyer in Hawaii (they do exist!) can offer you several important benefits to help you with you claim in Hawaii (besides freeing up a lot of your time):
Knowledge of the Hawaii system. You may have already figured out that the insurance claim system in Hawaii is a kind of game with its own lingo and rules. When notice of a possible claim by you is received in the office of an insurance company, the assigned adjuster immediately assigns as projected payout figure to your case called a “reserve.” The reserve represents the potential loss to the insurance company’s bank account.
The creation of a reserve for every claim is required by law so that State insurance commissioners can evaluate the financial strength of a particular insurance company. In every State, insurance companies are required to have enough money in cash to pay expected claims. Thus, if adjusters set high reserves on cases, the insurance company will have less cash money available to invest in profitable ventures such as shopping centers, buildings and other real estate.
An experienced accident lawyer in Hawaii knows that your case will be worth more money if they can convinced the adjuster to set a high reserve on your case. If a low reserve is set, the adjuster cannot offer you a settlement that exceeds the reserve without special permission. Your attorney’s written and verbal communication with the insurance company is designed to send a message that your injuries are serious and that the insurance company should be prepared to pay significant damages. Without a doubt, adjusters set higher reserves when attorneys are involved than when individuals attempt to go at it alone. And experienced lawyers make every effort to convince the insurance adjuster that your injuries are serious and that a high reserve is appropriate for your case.
Knowledge of insurance and insurance benefits. Did you know that in Hawaii, drivers are required to have at least $10,000.00 of medical benefit coverage on their automobiles? This is called “Personal Injury Protection” (PIP) coverage. Drivers are also required to purchase at least $20,000 in bodily injury coverage and have the option to purchase excess PIP, and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, in addition to other insurance benefits. Your injury attorneys should know this, should know the various insurance coverages at issue in your claims, and should help you negotiate insurance issues related to your claims.
Perspective about case values. Experienced injury lawyers work within the marketplace of insurance settlements. An experienced lawyer will know which parts of your case are strong and which are weak. He may also subscribe to a jury verdict reporting service so he will know what similar cases in your area have generated in settlement or verdict. Attorneys who negotiate injury cases day in and day out will have a sense of what makes up a fair settlement in your city or town.
Professional detachment. As your hired representative, your lawyer has a professional obligation to represent you zealously and to explore all sources of recovery for you. Your lawyer is also trained to maintain a level of independence from your case. Experienced lawyers know that anger and emotion make it difficult, if not impossible, to conduct serious negotiations. After all, if you are hurt and your life has changed because of your injury, it would be difficult for you to listen quietly while an insurance adjuster minimizes your injuries and offers a lowball settlement figure. A good lawyer can engage in negotiations without taking personally the offers and counter-offers that typically occur.
Ability to litigate. If you have ever been in a courtroom, you know that the court system is its own world – with its own vocabulary, procedures and customs. Because of overburdened dockets, judges expect court litigants to know how to proceed when they appear. Non-attorneys rarely fare well when they appear in court without representation. Even lawyers will hire other lawyers for court appearances – thus the saying “he who represents himself may have a fool for a client.”
Every lawyer understands that taking a case to trial is a risk. The right case with the right judge or jury could result in a huge verdict. On the other hand, a bad judge or unreasonable juror could sink even a strong case. Insurance companies offer to settle cases in order to manage their risk. If the insurance company knows at the beginning of a negotiation that a large jury verdict is not part of the equation, the settlement offers will be low.
Insurance companies realize that unrepresented claimants are not likely to know how file a lawsuit asking for money damages, and that if they did, they would probably not fare well. Logically, insurance companies offer less money to an unrepresented claimant because their risk of a large loss (payment to you) is small.
In sum, you may find that an experienced accident lawyer in Hawaii can benefit you in several ways – he understands the insurance claim system; he has experience and knowledge about what a local jury might award; he is a trained negotiator and will not be influenced by an insurance adjuster’s rhetoric; and he will not be personally offended by statements made in negotiation. Finally, lawyers have the ability to go to court if negotiations break down, whereas non-attorneys do not always have this option.