Legal Question in Personal Injury in Alabama

Re: Should I hire a lawyer for a motorcycle accident?

Yes. Even though (thankfully) your son's injuries were minor, you can typically get more from the one who caused it if you have a lawyer. This seems a rather simple case, I would be happy to handle it for you.

Go ahead and request your son's medical records, and any witnesses to the accident,if any.

If the insurance company contacts you further, let them know that you are probably going to get a lawyer, and that you will keep them posted.

Please contact my office at your convenience if you would like me to handle this for you.

I am in Birmingham, and even though you aren't close by, no court should be necessary, and we could do the whole thing by mail and phone calls, most likely.

Thanks!

Re: Should I hire a lawyer for a motorcycle accident?

I need more information before providing you with an answer. Please give me a call toll-free at my office to further discuss your situation. (866) 347-2889. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Re: Should I hire a lawyer for a motorcycle accident?

Should you get a lawyer? Maybe. There's no sense paying a lawyer for something you can do yourself. As I understand it, your primary concern here is recovering a fair value for the bike since your son's injuries were minor. Unfortunately, insurance companies like paying book value and not custom value. Thus, how do you overcome this gap? Use your son's medical claim and claim loss of use.

Gather all of your son's medical expenses from the accident, total them, remit them to the insurance company, and demand a bodily injury settlement at approximately 5 times the total medical expenses. If the insurance company pays between 2 and 3 times his medical expenses (generally), you're in good shape.

Also, demand loss of use damages. These are damages for the loss of use of the bike from the date of the accident to present. These damages are generally valued at the rental cost of a similar bike. For example, if between the time of the accident and settlement 10 days passed, and renting a bike like your son's bike would generally cost $10/day, the loss of use damages would equal about $100.

By making firm and agressive loss of use and medical claims, you can probably get enough overall $$ to put the matter behind you, all without the hassle of hiring a lawyer (or paying one too). Should you choose to hire counsel, call my office and I'll refer you to a couple of Alabama lawyers I would recommend.