If you’ve been injured in an accident and you try to deal with the insurance company yourself, you may be a little out of your league. The insurance companies are typically multi-billion dollar companies that spend millions of dollars training their adjusters to deal with you. Are you prepared or equipped to go to deal with insurance companies on your own? Let our personal injury lawyers help. Grizzly Law has the experience, expertise, and resources to even the sides, to provide you with an excellent chance of obtaining a good recovery and to help you deal with the insurance professionals.

Depending on the type of accident that caused your injury, there may be one or more sources available to pay medical bills and lost wages related to your injuries. For instance, doctors may take a lien. If you were in a car accident, car insurance may pay the bills, or health insurance may cover, or there may be other insurance that can apply to the bills. Your potential payment options really depend on the circumstances that caused the injury. The personal injury lawyers here at Grizzly Law will work diligently for you to get you the care you require.

The great majority of cases settle before trial. Many settle even before a formal lawsuit is begun. However, our firm believes the best way to get a full settlement for our clients is to prepare like every case is going to trial. Generally the firm will not agree to take your case unless we expect we would be willing to fight all the way through trial. In this approach, the insurers know that we are willing to take them to the mat. This generally provides better settlement offers for our clients than for people without attorneys or people represented by attorneys who do not have a reputation for aggressively fighting for their clients.

While a police report itself probably will not be admissible in civil proceedings, it can go a long way toward gaining negotiation leverage in any personal injury dispute. For example, during informal settlement discussions with opposing counsel or an insurance carrier, you or your attorney can use the facts and conclusions found in a police report to gain an advantage on such issues as:

• Circumstances of the incident, including the time of day, date, specific location, and weather conditions at the time.
• Preliminary assessment of fault, especially in motor vehicle accidents.
  • For example, after a car accident a police report may contain a responding officer’s observations as to which driver might have violated the state’s vehicle code, or whose are carelessness may have caused the accident.
• In addition to providing leverage during discussions on central issues such as fault for an accident, police reports can contain the identifying information of anyone who might have witnessed the incident, or who arrived on the scene soon afterward. At a minimum, most reports will list the name and telephone number of witnesses and those at the scene, and in some situations the report may also contain witness statements about what happened. Having contact information for these people, and especially a record of their views as to what took place, can be a valuable asset for you and your personal injury attorney when proving what happened and who was at fault.

This is a question we often hear from clients in our initial interview. We tell our clients that every case is different, and it is impossible to know the value of a case until we have collected and reviewed all the facts. Often an appropriate evaluation must be delayed until your medical condition has stabilized or reached what professionals call “maximum medical improvement.” Once we have gathered all the facts and reviewed your medical situation, then we will be able to discuss the value of your case.

Montana allows an injured person to recover damages for past lost wages, diminished earning capacity, future lost wages, past medical expenses, and future medical expenses. Montana also allows recovery for pain, suffering, and a plaintiff’s change in their lifestyle.

Montana law often allows an injured person to receive immediate help to pay ongoing medical bills and lost wages. There are often more than one source of funds to pay medical expenses. It can be critically important to your final recovery that payments be properly orchestrated from these various funds to ensure a fair final resolution.

In a medical malpractice case, keep or obtain copies of all medical records that pertain to the medical treatment at issue, as well as those related to any second or third opinion obtained from other health care providers. Also, in cases where a physical injury is visible, be sure to take photos that depict any evidence of potentially improper medical treatment.

If you are injured by a faulty product such as a household appliance, be sure to preserve the item in the same condition it was in when the incident occurred. In addition, keep all written instructions, warnings labels, and packaging that accompanied the item. If you can, try to locate the original sales receipt for the item. If you cannot find the receipt in your own personal records, ask the seller if they have a copy. As discussed above, be sure to take photos of any visible injuries as well as photos of the item that caused the injuries.

After a car accident, take photos of the scene, your injuries, and any property damage. In addition, get copies of all medical records pertaining to your treatment after the accident, keep copies of property damage estimates and repair records, and obtain a copy of any police report that is made. Photos of your injuries in the days and weeks of treatment are often critical for the jury understanding what you went through in the future. Our personal injury attorneys often hear people say “I wish I had taken photos when my arm/ hand/ leg, etc. was totally covered with this horrible black and blue mark.” Photos of you in the hospital are often very telling. In the law, the old saying “a photo is worth a thousand words” is very true. Good photos can often be worth thousands of dollars as well.