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If you are injured in a car accident, then you may not know where to turn for the legal help you need and the financial compensation you deserve. The Scottsdale car accident attorneys at Stone Rose Law have the experience as negotiators and litigators to make sure you recover all the damages you are entitled to under Arizona law.
Our legal team of personal injury lawyers is committed to providing high-quality legal representation at affordable rates. Our auto accident lawyers can help you understand and defend your legal rights during a car accident settlement claim as well as fight for maximum financial compensation for your medical bills, vehicle repairs, and other losses.
If you have been a car accident victim in Scottsdale, then contact us today to learn more during a free case consultation or call us at (480) 498-8998 today.
Stone Rose Law is a legal team of experienced Scottsdale car accident injury attorneys who are ready to fight for your rights and the answers you deserve. We have provided top-quality legal representation to many car accident victims throughout Arizona and achieved outstanding results.
Although you are not required to hire an attorney during a car or truck accident case in Scottsdale, having an attorney on your side can make the difference when it comes to receiving everything you deserve in recompense for your losses.
An experienced car accident lawyer has the legal knowledge and experience to help you with the most complicated aspects of your car accident lawsuit. You can focus on healing while your attorney works tirelessly for a fair resolution on your behalf.
An auto accident lawyer can take care of many important steps and processes for you during a car accident case, including:
Most importantly, a car accident attorney can stand by your side and help you through this difficult time by answering your legal questions, giving you referrals to top doctors, and making sure your family has everything it needs.
At Stone Rose Law, we know all the correct steps to take to maximize the odds of achieving a positive outcome for your car accident case. Our Scottsdale car accident lawyers will never leave you in the dark about your case or your rights.
During a car accident insurance claim, it is up to you as an injured victim to prove that the other driver is at fault for your crash. Although an insurance investigation may conclude that the other driver is to blame without requiring further proof from you, it is also possible that you will have to provide evidence to prove the other driver is liable—especially if there is a dispute about fault or if your car accident case goes to trial.
Establishing fault typically means proving negligence. Negligence in a car accident case means that an individual or entity did not exercise reasonable care or a level of care that a prudent party would have used in the same or similar circumstances.
For example, a driver is negligent if he or she ignores traffic signs or fails to yield the right-of-way.
The law requires you to meet some specific elements to prove a claim for injury or property damage in an Arizona court. Basically, they are:
If you can persuade whoever it is that decides the facts of your case—a jury, an arbitrator, or a judge—that it is more likely than not that the other driver’s negligent behavior caused you harm, then you have proven a negligence-based car accident claim. This is an easier standard of proof than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard in criminal trials.
Any breach of the duty of care can place financial responsibility for a car accident on the negligent driver. If a driver’s actions or behaviors reach the level of recklessness or a wanton disregard for the safety of others (e.g., drunk driving or distracted driving, like texting and driving), this may justify an award of exemplary damages (i.e., punitive damages).
Personal injury lawsuits from car accidents can lead to both drivers filing legal claims against each other. Counterclaims and cross-claims are two ways a lawsuit can expand to include more people and more claims for damages.
Counterclaims are claims that the defendant might make against you. They are not defenses the other party raises against your lawsuit claims but are separate, independent claims that can effectively make the defendant into a plaintiff and you a defendant against those cross-claims.
For example, if you claim that the other driver made an unsafe lane change that caused the accident, the other driver might raise a cross-claim that you were driving too fast or following too closely.
Any successful counterclaims are offset against your claims as a plaintiff in comparative damages calculation.
Cross-claims are claims that can arise when there are more than two parties to the dispute and they can all be car accident victims. For example, let’s say there are three people involved in an accident: a driver and a passenger in one car, and a driver alone in the other car. The initial personal injury lawsuit comes from the passenger, against the driver of the other car. The driver of the passenger’s vehicle does not join in the initial lawsuit.
In this case, the driver being sued by the passenger might still involve the other driver in the accident by naming that person as an additional, cross-claim defendant, based on a claim of comparative negligence that he or she contributed to causing the accident.
You do not need to be the driver of a car to be involved in a car accident. If you are a passenger in a car and suffer harm from an accident, the same principles of personal injury law, property damage remedies, and insurance claims will still apply.
This is the case whether you are riding in a personally owned vehicle, or in a taxi, bus, or ride-for-hire service like Uber or Lyft.
In car accident litigation, passengers who file suit for injuries are sometimes called “faultless plaintiffs” because they are generally not subject to counter-claims for contributing to the cause of the crash.
Sometimes a car accident involves people other than the drivers involved. A third party can be any person or company who either contributed to causing the accident, or suffered personal or property harm because of it.
For example, if a two-car collision leads to a third vehicle being struck while parked in a homeowner’s driveway, the owner of that third vehicle could still become involved as a third-party litigant against one or both of the first two drivers even though that person played no role in the original collision.
Another kind of third-party claim can involve claims against companies—including the car manufacturer or its suppliers—that make defective car parts that contribute to the accident or a construction firm that negligently creates conditions on or near the road that made it unsafe and contributed to the crash. These parties can be found responsible for product liability, which is a basis for a legal claim separate from personal injury.
If your car accident is at least partly the result of a violation of Arizona vehicle or traffic laws, you could be subject to a criminal proceeding that a city or county commences separately from any civil lawsuit between you and the other driver.
Although in civil court many counterclaims, cross-claims, and third-party claims can be joined together in a single lawsuit, criminal cases are always tried separately from civil lawsuits.
If the defendant in a civil car accident case is first convicted in a criminal prosecution for the same accident, it can benefit the plaintiff. The criminal conviction prevents the defendant from denying the elements that the plaintiff would otherwise have to prove.
The jury in the criminal case has already effectively proven those elements.
Proving fault requires evidence. Common examples of evidence available in a car accident claim are a pictures from the scene of the accident, video footage, eyewitness statements, crash reconstruction, expert testimony, and medical records.
If your car accident case involves a newer car or commercial vehicle, you may also have a black box—event data recorder—for evidence. You may need a car accident lawyer in Scottsdale to help you preserve evidence, collect it, and prove your case.
Arizona law sets limits on your legal rights after a car accident. The most important of these is the state statute of limitations, which sets the time limit within which you must file a legal claim if you seek compensation for your resulting injuries or property damage. Insurance companies can also impose time limits within which you must file a policy claim.
The Arizona statute of limitations for personal injury and property damage cases is two years from the day of the injury to you or the property damage. However, if you have an injury that does not become apparent right away after the car wreck, then the statute of limitations begins when you discover it.
If your car accident involves a vehicle owned by the city or county in which you live or by the state of Arizona, a different and shorter statute of limitations applies. You have 180 days to file a legal claim against the government and must initiate a lawsuit within one year to keep your right to sue.
No amount of money can make things right if you have suffered a serious injury or the loss of a loved one in a preventable car accident in Scottsdale. Achieving a fair compensatory award can make it easier to pick up the pieces.
A fair settlement or judgment award can bring you justice and greater peace of mind about your future. During a car accident case in Arizona, you may be entitled to financial compensation for the following losses, and more:
Another kind of recovery for car accident injuries is one that you might not want to think about are damages for wrongful death. In the event of your death, or the death of a passenger in your vehicle, wrongful death allows for a lawsuit on behalf of the deceased person in favor of that person’s surviving relatives or personal estate.
A local Scottsdale auto accident lawyer can help you demand fair financial compensation for your economic and noneconomic losses arising from a car accident claim. The experienced auto accident lawyers at Stone Rose Law are devoted to helping car crash victims recover the financial compensation that they need to move forward.
In most cases, it is worth speaking with a Scottsdale car accident lawyer after a crash, no matter how minor the damage may seem. An experienced car accident attorney can help you secure fair compensation for any damages you or your passengers suffered in the accident, from physical damage to your vehicle to assistance with any necessary medical treatments.
The damages incurred in a crash may end up being substantially more costly than you first assume at the scene of the accident. For example, some internal injuries such as whiplash may not display any symptoms for several days. In such a case, a low settlement offer by an insurance company would likely not cover your medical expenses.
Our Scottsdale personal injury lawyers will provide you with the legal counsel you need to recover compensation for your car accident injury claim and ongoing treatments.
When you choose the Stone Rose Law firm, you get exceptional legal services for $0 upfront. We don’t make our clients pay a retainer before beginning a case. Our Scottsdale car accident lawyers work on a contingency fee basis for car accident claims, meaning you won’t pay us anything at all unless we succeed in securing financial compensation for your case.
If we do achieve a settlement or verdict on your behalf, we will take our fees directly out of the award won. That way, your out-of-pocket cost will remain at $0 whether you win or lose.
The percentage that we deduct as our legal fee depends on the specific facts of the case and how much work it takes your car accident lawyer to resolve. You will have total transparency about how much our services cost.
The percentage amount will be discussed and agreed upon before you sign a contract with us. We keep our fees reasonable and make sure that we never receive more in attorney’s fees than you collect for your losses.
Choosing the right car accident lawyer in Scottsdale, Arizona to handle your car accident case requires due diligence. You should research the options in your city to look for a personal injury claim lawyer with the right case experience, legal history, and principles to best serve you.
After you’ve narrowed down your choices to two or three options, arrange free consultations to ask questions and get to know each attorney. Consider bringing the following list of personal injury claims questions with you to the initial consultation:
At Stone Rose Law, you will be our number one priority as a client. Our car accident lawyers represent many car accident victims, but we treat each case as if it is our only case. You will receive the undivided attention of your car accident lawyer—not a paralegal or assistant—during each phase of your case. We are determined to stand by car accident victims and their families when they need us.
Learn more about our personal injury law firm by requesting a free case review today.
If you or a loved one was recently injured in a car accident in Scottsdale or the surrounding areas, don’t hesitate to contact the personal injury attorneys at Stone Rose Law for assistance. You don’t have to handle a car accident lawsuit alone.
If you need a Scottsdale car accident lawyer, our legal team can help you with every step of a car accident case, guiding you and your family through this difficult process.
Find out how our experienced and compassionate auto accident lawyers can help you today. Call (480) 498-8998 or contact us online to request your free case evaluation. We can come to you at your home or hospital, if necessary.