There is a problem in America today, and it has to do with the assumption that most people when injured are not going to do anything about it. It’s a callous view, not just on how to do business but about fellow neighbors, community members and consumers. The assumption sees them as expendable, as damage that can be offset by a pool of sales, a pool of premiums, or a universe of offsetting revenue. Rather than being a concern about one’s fellow neighbor, people are reduced to a risk cost and whether that risk is affordable or not in the bigger scheme of a desired goal.

However, people don’t have to settle for being a statistic. They don’t have to accept that their own health insurance or car insurance is the only resort for recovery and after that they’re on their own. There is another option available in the form of personal injury legal representation.

Don't Mix Up Hype With Reality

Personal injury lawyers frequently get a bad rap. The media, the news, poorly designed commercials and few less than stellar players have done quite a bit to shape the public perspective on injury attorneys. As a result, attorneys are often labeled ambulance-chasers and bottom feeders on people’s misery. They are also lambasted by politicians looking to scapegoat the reason why jobs are lost or companies fail, supposedly buckling under the weight of lawsuits and class action cases. In reality, very few companies have actually failed due to a singular lawsuit, and the high majority of them that did were well on their way already with bad management making bad decisions. The lawsuit that occurred ended up being the final straw that broke the camel’s back in their situations.

In reality, companies and bad community players with big organizations have a vested interested in seeing lawsuits go away. It means they can continue to do the harmful activities they participate it, enjoying cost savings and profits that should never have occurred if they had acted ethically. Simply look at the vehicle airbag scandal in the automotive industry. Had it not been for a number of painful lawsuits, most the auto makers would have continued to use fault airbag ejectors that have a risk of throwing shrapnel into a driver’s face and neck. It took people dying and their families suing to get these companies to change their behavior. Exactly how American is it to make a product a company knows is faulty and dangerous and to do so intentionally because the sales outweigh a few unlucky injuries?

Doing the Right Thing Doesn't Mean Hurt Yourself

Again and again, people trying to the do the right thing and not be seen as opportunists with a bad situation have themselves been short-changed by the very system that was marketed to help and protect them. The companies that market their products as trustworthy often cut corners with safety to make revenue targets. The insurance companies that are contracts to provide health and property coverage fight and downplay claims to lower their obligated responsibilities to restore someone back to their status quo. And statistically those who actually take the proactive step to hire an advocate and personal injury attorney are, case by case and dollar for dollar, the ones who come out better in the end than those who “follow the rules” and don’t make a lot of noise about their injury.

There is no justification why someone has to take on or absorb an injury when it is avoidable and preventable, especially when the party responsible has a known duty of care to make sure an injury doesn’t happen. And that’s one of the primary purposes of personal injury litigation. Along with ensuring the means for a client to receive full recovery, an injury lawsuit is also intended to remind those with a responsibility to protect that they will be held accountable when intentionally avoiding that duty.

Take the case of David Williams. He was a landscape service worker doing his job every day, rain or shine, and relying on his employer to provide the tools needed to do his job. The problem was, his employer decided to save a few bucks and not maintain the truck used for the work. When one of the bald tires finally blew out due to lack of maintenance and replacement, David's truck rolled over and he barely survived the accident. Now, David is a quadriplegic, and still has a family with a wife and three kids that need to be raised. Had it not been for a personal injury attorney and representation, David's family would likely have gone bankrupt and become another number in the national welfare rolls. Instead, he will have the funds to cover his medical bills, and his family will have a future again. David won't be able to walk or function normally for the rest of his life, but he will know his family will be okay.

Legal Changes Have Made Injury Recovery Far More Technical

It’s also important for people to understand that a number of changes have occurred in the law designed to curtail and restrict injury lawsuits from demanding the full recovery deserved. This has been done through multiple changes in the law, tweaking legal definitions and rules about what companies and organizations are responsible for in their normal course of business. As a result, anyone who tries to go it alone looking for a recovery for an injury is more than likely to get lost in the current rule set or make a critical mistake, oftentimes settling for a far less of a recovery than what is really due in a given case. This happens easily, especially when a person is facing a growing mountain of medical bills, they’re injured and hurt, and anxiety is producing bad decisions and fears of losing a job, losing immediate healthcare, or even being permanently limited for life afterwards.

Improve Your Life and Take Control

There are multiple benefits a personal injury lawyer can provide aside from just pursuing a financial recovery. By shifting the weight of the argument to an attorney, the victim in an injury can focus again on getting healthy, putting his or her life back together, and healing. When a person is distracted with medical bills and arguments, healing gets impaired and oftentimes takes longer. Instead, a hired attorney can deal with the negotiations, the paperwork, the insurance company back and forth, and still provide a client the best information possible for making the right decisions on how to go forward with a recovery.

You’re not alone and out in the cold in a personal injury situation. A qualified personal injury attorney is your best way to even the playing field and potentially produce the best results possible. Even where the worst has occurred, families can still achieve some level of stability with representation. Yes, you can try to go it alone, but statistically self-representation is often short lived and produced very poor recovery results. There’s no reason for someone else to enjoy making a profit and a big paycheck at your life’s expense. Do the right thing and protect yourself properly, and hold those responsible accountable for what they let happen in the form of an injury.