Southfield Personal Injury Lawyer

Fighting the Fights Other Law Firms Won’t

After you get into a serious accident, you need and deserve compensation. You also need the help of a Southfield personal injury lawyer. Those responsible for injuries will rarely admit fault, and insurance companies do their best to steer clear of accountability. Some personal injury lawyers in Southfield might even say that your case is too difficult for them to take on.

But our Southfield personal injury lawyers at Goodman Acker are ready to step up to the challenge. We are proud and prepared to take on complex and high-stakes catastrophic injury claims that cause other personal injury attorneys in Oakland County to shy away. Our tenacious and deliberate approach to casework and representation has earned us a long history of incredible success for our clients—and we don’t have any intention of changing our winning methods now.

You need a Southfield personal injury attorney who is resilient, knowledgeable, and wants to do all they can to help you and your case. At Goodman Acker, our Southfield personal injury lawyers are ready to learn more about you and how they can help. Give us a call at (248) 306-8729 and ask for a free consultation today.

We Handle All Types of Personal Injury Claims

Personal Injury Lawyers in Southfield with Vast Experience

No matter how you were injured, our Southfield personal injury lawyers have the experience needed to work with you. With the shared experiences and insight from our team of personal injury lawyers, we can prepare our clients’ cases for anything that the defense might try to use to escape liability. Thanks to our professional connections, we can also call upon experts from various fields — like renowned doctors or accident reconstructionist professionals — to assist with an investigation.

Here’s what you should know about the Southfield personal injury lawyers at Goodman Acker:

• We have 150+ years of combined legal experience.
• We have a success rate of 99% for cases we conclude.
• We are routinely featured by newsgroups, like Fox 2 News and Local 4 Detroit.
• We are available 24/7 for client emergencies.
• We have a growing group of completely satisfied clients.
• We have won millions of dollars for our clients.
• We offer free initial consultations to get you started.

In terms of personal injury cases, we handle car accidents, dog bites, pedestrian accidents, medical malpractice, truck accidents, premises liability cases, traumatic brain injuries, wrongful death cases, and much more. We also have the legal talent and experience needed to assist you with long-term disability and Social Security disability claims. Essentially, if you have been hurt for any reason and deserve compensation, then an Oakland County personal injury lawyer from Goodman Acker can help you obtain the damages that you’re owed.

Why Hire a Southfield Personal Injury Attorney?

If you’ve been injured, you might think that you can handle the insurance companies on your own or that you can even defend yourself in court if need be. However, you’ll be much more likely to recover full compensation by working with a Southfield personal injury attorney. Plus, why tax yourself while you’re injured? Focus on recovery while we fight for your compensation.

Personal injury lawyers in Southfield can help with your case by:

• Negotiating with insurers to make sure that they don’t cut your compensation short
• Handling your claim and administrative tasks and filing the paperwork while you focus on healing
• Investigating your case by reviewing accident reports, medical records, on-site surveillance, and other evidence
• Identifying at-fault parties who may be responsible for an accident and owe you compensation
• Involving expert witnesses such as medical professionals and accident analysis professionals whose expertise can be used to support your case
• Representing you at trial if your case must go to court and there is no other option for obtaining a fair settlement.

By teaming up with personal injury attorneys in Oakland County, you’ll have expertise and experience on your side. At Goodman Acker, we take pride in being able to handle complex and high-stakes injury cases, and we know that our services and resiliency can be used to your benefit.

What Compensation Can Southfield Personal Injury Lawyers Help Me Recover?

Don’t Suffer Financially Because of Someone Else’s Negligence

The person or entity who caused your injuries should be the one who is held financially accountable for your damages—it is as simple as that. However, insurance companies rarely comply so easily. Instead, they will take all steps to deny your claim and to minimize any settlement that’s ultimately offered.

Our Southfield personal injury lawyers don’t stand for such treatment from the responding insurance parties. If you deserve $1 million in damages, then we will fight for $1 million in damages when acting as your legal representatives. We do not slow down or tire until we achieve the optimal case result for you, which is how we’ve won 99% of our cases.

Our Southfield personal injury attorney can help you to obtain damages for:

• Doctors’ bills and medical expenses
• Therapy costs and future medical expenses
• Lost income and lost wages
• Loss of quality of life
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of earning potential if injuries hinder your job performance.

How Does a Southfield Personal Injury Lawyer Prove Negligence?

In order to recover compensation after injury, personal injury lawyers in Southfield must demonstrate that a defendant was negligent. Essentially, if no one is accountable for an accident, compensation cannot be recovered.

A Southfield personal injury attorney looks for four key legal elements used to demonstrate negligence:

• 1. Duty of Care – The defendant owed you a duty of care to not cause harm.
• 2. Breached Duty – The defendant breached this duty by acting negligently.
• 3. Cause – As a result of this negligence, you were injured.
• 4. Damages – You suffered damages (meaning monetary expenses) as a result of your injury.

Personal injury attorneys in Southfield know how to look at the facts of a case in order to identify where a defendant was negligent. After doing so, an Oakland County personal injury attorney can pursue the damages that you’re rightfully owed.

Personal Injury FAQ

Common Questions for Personal Injury Attorneys in Southfield

Below are some of the most common questions and answers that you might have for a Southfield personal injury lawyer. You likely have other questions, as well. So, give our office a call at (248) 306-8729 and ask for a free consultation to learn more about how we can help.

Does filing a claim and working with an attorney mean that I’ll have to go to court?

Working with an Oakland County personal injury attorney and pursuing a claim does not necessarily mean that you will have to go court. Injury cases are taken to trial only if there’s no other way for a plaintiff to obtain a fair settlement and get their deserved compensation. Going to trial is typically a last resort, not a go-to option.

How much is my personal injury case worth?

Establishing an injury claim’s settlement value is one of the most important stages of a case. Basically, a settlement value is like a new car’s sticker price. If the settlement value is too high, the insurance company won’t negotiate. If it’s too low, it’s difficult to obtain maximum compensation.

To determine a settlement value, which is how much a personal injury case is worth, most Southfield personal injury attorneys multiply the economic losses by two, three or four, mostly depending on the facts of the case. When settlement negotiations begin, most lawyers have a floor and a ceiling. They won’t accept settlement offers under a certain dollar amount, and they always say yes to offers above a certain amount.

What should I do after I’ve been injured in an accident?

Frequently, the first few hours after an injury are the most important hours in the entire legal process. Seriously injured victims, especially head injury victims, usually aren’t thinking clearly. Therefore, many people unintentionally do, or don’t do, things that hurt their claims later. After an accident, try to remember a few simple rules:

• Collect as much evidence as possible. Take pictures, get the names and contact information of witnesses, and make a note of nearby surveillance cameras.
• Don’t speak to another party’s insurance company. Telephone adjusters know how to paint a victim into a corner.
• See a doctor, even if you don’t “feel” injured. It’s impossible to know how badly you are hurt, or not hurt, until a doctor examines you.
• Avoid speaking to anyone other than emergency responders. The statements you make, even something like saying “I’m sorry” to another driver, could be used against you later.

Above all, speak with a Southfield personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney immediately starts working for you.

I was partially at fault for my accident. Can I still get compensation?

Comparative fault, a legal doctrine which shifts blame for an injury from one party to another one, is among the most common insurance company defenses. For example, insurance company lawyers might argue that Wendy slipped and fell on a wet spot because she didn’t watch where she was going.

In all states, jurors must listen to the evidence in these cases and divide responsibility 50-50, 80-20, or on some other percentage basis.

From this point, different jurisdictions have different rules. In many states, victims who are partially at fault cannot recover damages. But Michigan is a modified comparative fault state with a 51 percent threshold. Victims who are not more than 50 percent responsible for their injuries can recover a proportionate amount of damages.

What’s my deadline to file a personal injury claim in Michigan?

The Wolverine State has one of the shortest statutes of limitation in the country. Usually, injury victims have only three years to bring legal claims. That amount of time might seem lengthy, but in real terms, it’s not.

A good Southfield personal injury attorney doesn’t run to the courthouse and file legal paperwork. Instead, an attorney puts first things first. Medical attention for your clients and other related matters, like vehicle repair or replacement, are our immediate priorities. Then, our professional team diligently reviews the case and collects evidence to support the claim. Next, we negotiate with insurance companies, so they have a chance to do the right thing. This process sounds lengthy, and frequently it is.

It’s almost impossible to effectively advocate for an injury victim with one eye on the case and one eye on the clock. So, the longer a victim waits to reach out to us, the more challenging the case becomes.

Recommended Reading

• How the Personal Injury Claim Process Works
• Is There a Minimum Value for a Personal Injury Settlement?
• How Long Will My Personal Injury Case Last?

Call a Southfield Personal Injury Attorney at Goodman Acker

For years, Goodman Acker has been helping the people of Southfield seek justice, compensation and a sense of closure after a serious accident. If you want to know more about our law firm and how we can help you with your injury case, feel free to browse our client testimonials or check out some of our best case results.