FREQUENTLY ASKED LEGAL QUESTIONS

At The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya, we know that hiring a Denver personal injury attorney to fight for what you deserve is a big step. Because it’s not something you do every day, you may have questions about whether you have a personal injury claim, how the process works, how much it will cost, how you’ll get medical treatment, whether you’ll have to go to trial and more.

We’ve gathered some of the more common questions our Denver car accident attorneys hear from clients and potential clients. You’re sure to have others specific to your situation. Give us a call at (303) 758-4777 or email us to set up a free personal injury consultation. We’ll sit down with you, talk about your case and answer every question you may have. There’s no cost or obligation.

 

How do I know if I have a personal injury claim?

What if the other driver doesn't have insurance?

What if I'm injured by a hit-and-run driver?

Should I get a second opinion?

Do I really need an attorney? Can't I do this on my own?

Why do I need a personal injury attorney?

What should I look for when selecting a lawyer?

I've had a car accident. When should I hire a lawyer?

What should I know about my case before my free consultation?

What can I expect at my free consultation?

How much of my time will my case take?

How do you get paid? Will this cost me any money?

Who pays the medical bills?

Can you lend me money during my case?

How much is my case worth?

How long will it take to settle my case?

If my case goes to trial, will we win?

Will I have to go to court?

What if the insurance company calls me for a recorded statement?

Am I causing problems for the other person by bringing a personal injury claim?

Can you recommend a doctor to treat me for my injuries?

Do I need a work comp lawyer for my case?

How do I know if I have a personal injury claim?

We analyze a personal injury case based on the law of negligence. There are the four elements that have to be proved: There was a duty to exert reasonable care in performing acts that could harm others, that duty was breached, breaching that duty caused injury, and damages resulted from the injury. Damages may take the form of medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering and more. To add another complication to this, Colorado is a comparative negligence state, which means we must take into account how much of the negligence each party was responsible for. In Colorado, a plaintiff cannot recover damages if their percentage of fault is equal to or greater than the defendant's. If you've been injured in a car accident or semi truck accident, you may have a personal injury claim. Fault or negligence may not always seem obvious, though, such as if you're injured while on someone else's property or if you slipped and hurt yourself in a retail store. But you may still have a valid personal injury case. Because the law is so complex, it's important to work with a skilled, experienced personal injury attorney. At The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya, we specialize in incidents that injure you and result in damages.

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What if the other driver doesn’t have insurance?

If you have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your auto policy, it may pay for your injuries. Always have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your policy - UI/UIM coverage is crucial. You shouldn't be without it. It's insurance provided to pay you if you've been in an accident with someone who either has no insurance or doesn't have enough insurance to cover all the injuries and damages they cause. Colorado law requires insurance companies to offer at least $25,000 of uninsured/underinsured coverage as part of any auto insurance policy, although you can refuse the coverage by signing a form. Don't waive uninsured/underinsured coverage! Yes, it costs a little more, but when a third of the drivers on Colorado's roads are uninsured, you can't afford to be without it.

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What if I’m injured by a hit-and-run driver?

Denver hit-and-run accidents occur and many times someone is injured. The driver has fled, no one got the license plate and it may seem that the perpetrator has gotten away with it. In cases like this, Colorado hit-and-run accident law treats the other driver as if they were an uninsured driver. That's why it's important that your auto insurance policy include uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage - uninsured motorist coverage will protect you. If a hit-and-run driver injures you, you may still be able to recover compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering by bringing a claim under your own insurance policy's uninsured motorist provision. Hit-and-run accidents can be complex, though, and you need an experienced hit-and-run attorney who can help you navigate the police and investigation phase, get you medical treatment if you're hurt, and work on your behalf in negotiating with your insurance company.

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Should I get a second opinion?

If you've been injured, you should talk with several personal injury attorneys. Because your attorney will be your trusted partner throughout your case, it's important that there be good chemistry between the two of you. Interviewing several attorneys will allow you to get a good feel for how you will relate. As you talk with attorneys about your case, you may find that one or more may reject your case. If your case is rejected by one lawyer, it is always a good idea to seek a second opinion from another personal injury lawyer. Different lawyers will see a potential case differently. The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya has obtained quality settlements and verdicts from clients whose personal injury cases were rejected by other attorneys.

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Do I really need an attorney? Can’t I do this on my own?

There are two reasons why you need an attorney if you’ve been injured. First and most important, the insurance company – even if it’s your own insurer – may not have your best interests in mind. They’re looking out for their bottom line. The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya has a formidable reputation with insurance companies, and they know if you are represented by Dianne Sawaya, they will not be able to get away with paying you as little as possible to keep their profits up – particularly when they know she will take them to court to make them live up to their obligations. In fact, studies show that individuals recover more for their auto accident case if they are represented by a personal injury attorney. Second, it’s always easier to preserve your legal rights if you have an experienced personal injury attorney working for you. The various laws, procedures and deadlines that govern personal injuries and insurance companies are complex and demanding. You need a Colorado personal injury lawyer like Dianne Sawaya, who works with personal injury law every day, knows the requirements and time frames and can help you navigate through the process – including taking a case to a trial before a judge and jury.

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Why do I need a personal injury attorney? Can't any attorney help me?

Personal injury law is a specialty with many complex issues. The attorney who helped you sell your home or draft a contract may not know all the details of personal injury law the way Denver personal injury lawyer Dianne Sawaya does. Just as you would want a skilled neurosurgeon to perform brain surgery, you want a skilled and experienced personal injury lawyer to handle your injury case. Dianne Sawaya has practiced law for nearly 30 years, and has devoted more than half of those years to achieving personal injury settlements for accident victims. At The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya, personal injury law is our only focus. Whether you've been injured in an auto accident or semi-truck accident, been hurt by medical malpractice or suffered injuries in a slip-and-fall accident, you'll receive the benefit of the 60 years of combined experience of our personal injury attorneys.

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What should I look for when selecting a lawyer?

Check the credentials and background of the lawyer. Websites can give you profiles of personal injury attorneys, including their education, training, experience and what clients and other lawyers think of them. Check the lawyer’s experience. A lawyer who has been practicing personal injury law in Colorado for many years knows the ins and outs of the law and will know the court system, and the insurance adjusters and insurance company lawyers. Ask for a reference from friends, relatives or co-workers who have worked with lawyers. Look for a personal injury attorney who doesn't settle for the first offer an insurance company makes. At The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya, we aggressively negotiate with an insurer until we're sure we have their very best offer. And because not all cases settle, look for a personal injury attorney who is experienced in the courtroom and is successful in taking cases to trial.

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I’ve had a car accident. When should I hire a lawyer?

You should contact an attorney as soon as possible after your auto accident, truck accident or any personal injury. There are legal steps that need to be taken to protect your interests, and a personal injury attorney can help you preserve crucial evidence. If you miss a deadline to file a lawsuit, you are barred from ever being able to. A good personal injury lawyer like Dianne Sawaya also can help you get the medical treatment you need right away, and can get you seen by the best specialists. It's important to see one of Dianne Sawaya's medical providers as soon as possible after your accident in order to avoid any big gaps between the time you were injured and the time you see a doctor for treatment. If there is a big gap in time, an insurance company may try to say your injuries weren't really that serious and therefore you really don't need that much compensation.

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What should I know about my case before my free consultation?

At your free, no-obligation consultation, we will ask you questions designed to provide us with as much detailed information as possible. Elsewhere on our web site we have several forms we use when we first open a case. Looking at those forms can give you an idea of the information to have for our first meeting. The forms include information about insurance policies and claims numbers for the accident, police reports, information about the other driver and more. If you contact us through the “Do I Have a Case?” box on this page, it’s helpful if you can give us a quick idea of what happened, where and when it happened, whether the police came to the accident, the nature of the injuries you sustained and if you were taken to the hospital.

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What can I expect at my free consultation?

First, the initial meeting with an attorney at The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya is free. We want to talk with you about your case – what happened, your injuries, the medical care you may need, the pros and cons of your case, and what you can expect if we work together. One of our experienced personal injury lawyers will meet with you and go over the details of your situation. At your free, no obligation consultation, we will ask you questions designed to provide us with as much detailed information as possible. We’ll talk about the options you have for getting medical treatment for your injuries. We'll explain how we go about investigating your accident and the process we use to develop your case. We'll go through our approach to negotiating with the insurance company - and preparing for trial, if need be. And we’ll talk about how long your case may take to resolve and what it will mean if we decide to go to trial. Most important - we'll answer any questions you may have.

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How much of my time will my case take?

The amount of time your medical treatment takes will depend on your injuries. But the legal part of the process won’t take very much of your time. After our first meeting, our Denver personal injury attorneys, paralegals and support staff will do almost all of the work for you. There is a lot to be done: gathering medical records; reviewing police reports, interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence; and preparing paperwork and legal documents. If your case goes to trial, it will require more of your time. This is the option of last resort, as it is time consuming, stressful and expensive. Sometimes it’s necessary to go to trial because of a genuine dispute over facts. More often, though, an insurance company is only looking out for its bottom line – and that’s when we file a lawsuit to force them to compensate you fairly for the injuries you suffered at the hands of their negligent policyholder. However, only a small fraction of the cases for which we file a lawsuit actually go all the way to a trial.

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How do you get paid? Will this cost me any money?

The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya represents you on a contingency fee basis, spelled out in paperwork you sign at the time you hire us as your attorneys. It's a written contract saying that we will take as our fee a percentage of any settlement or judgment the opposing party pays you. More simply, it means that we don't get paid unless you get paid. This arrangement has several advantages for you. One, there is no risk that you will have to go through months of turmoil and stress, wind up without a settlement or lose at trial, and then still owe an attorney a hefty fee. Two, you know you probably have a pretty good case if we're willing to be your partner. And three, a contingency fee arrangement gives us a lot of motivation to get the most recovery for you that we can.

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Who pays the medical bills?

If you have medical payments coverage (“med-pay”) on your auto insurance policy, it will pay for your medical treatment up to the limits of the coverage. Colorado law requires insurance companies to offer you at least $5,000 of med-pay coverage, although you do not have to accept the coverage. If you don't want med-pay on your policy, you must sign a form for the insurance company stating that you are declining med-pay coverage. If the insurance company does not have that signed form on file, under state law they are required to provide a minimum of $5,000 of med-pay coverage in your policy. If you don’t have med-pay coverage or you use up what you have, you may have health insurance that will cover some or all of your medical bills - although the health insurance company likely will ask the auto insurer to reimburse from your settlement what the health insurer paid for your medical bills. If you do not have medical payments coverage or health insurance, The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya will work with our network of medical specialists to get you treated, and work out details of paying the medical bills at the end of your case.

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Can you lend me money during my case?

Clients who have been involved in a Denver car accident, motorcycle accident or other Colorado personal injury often find themselves in a tough financial position. While they wait for the resolution of their case, bills may be piling up and they may be out of work. Finances can be tight, so a client may wonder if The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya can lend them money to tide them over until their case settles. We certainly understand their position. However Colorado law strictly prohibits attorneys from lending money to clients. There may be other options, which we can discuss with you. One of those options is working with our panel of medical providers to potentially hold off on their billing until your case settles. In the meantime, if bill collectors are bothering you The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya may be able to help. We will contact them on your behalf and try to make arrangements to pay your bills at the end of your case.

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How much is my case worth?

While it's one of the most common questions we hear - understandably - predicting a settlement value or possible jury award is almost impossible. Your personal injury attorney at The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya can talk with you about a very general range of possible settlement values based on the thousands of similar cases we have handled over the years. But no attorney can predict a specific amount you might receive. How much a jury might award you at a trial – if anything at all – is even more difficult to guess. Juries are unpredictable and rying a case before a jury is a gamble for both sides. Our advice is to steer clear of any lawyer who after a short initial consultation promises to get you a certain settlement amount or jury award.

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How long will it take to settle my case?

That depends on how complex your case is, how much medical treatment you require and whether we need to go to trial. If your case is not complex and your injuries are minor, it may be resolved fairly quickly. But if you have catastrophic injuries, require complex medical treatment or we need to litigate your case, it may take much more time. In complex cases, our personal injury attorneys take the time and effort necessary to build your case for maximum value. This can include gathering various records and paperwork, investigating the accident and working closely with our medical specialists to show the nature and extent of your injuries. It's hard to estimate how long that process will take, as each case is unique.

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If my case goes to trial, will I win?

The personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya are very successful is in settling cases. But as aggressive as we are in litigating cases, it’s impossible to predict the outcome of a lawsuit. (You should avoid any lawyer who does, or who says he can get you a certain amount of money at a trial.) There are many factors that go into a trial. Trials are very complex and we have control over only so many of the those factors. The biggest wild card is the jury itself. It's almost impossible to predict how a jury will rule, and that's a big factor to consider before taking a case all the way to a trial. If a trial looks like a possibility, your litigation attorney at the Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya will go through all the details with you and discuss all the options.

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Will I have to go to court?

The personal injury lawyers at The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya are very successful at preparing Denver car accident and medical injury cases. In the vast majority of cases insurance companies see how strong our cases are and are willing offer a fair settlement for your injuries, pain and suffering. However, insurance companies would much rather collect premiums than pay for claims; paying you hurts their profit margin. If the insurance company refuses to budge from an offer you and your personal injury lawyer think is unreasonable, filing a lawsuit is an option. Your lawyer will advise you, but in all cases the decision to go to trial is entirely up to you.

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What if the insurance company calls me for a statement?

We recommend that you never discuss your case with the other party’s insurance company. You are required to cooperate with your own insurance company, but you aren’t required to talk to the other person’s insurance company. The other party's insurance adjuster may sound friendly and helpful, and their request may sound sincere. But they have an ulterior motive: to get you to say something they can use against you later to reduce or even deny your claim. If they call you, tell them to contact your personal injury attorney at the Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya. If you have an attorney, the insurance company isn't allowed to talk about the details of the accident with you. They must talk with your attorney.

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Am I causing problems for the other person by bringing a personal injury claim?

No. Most people don’t generally set out to cause an accident and harm another person. But if that happens, that’s what their insurance is for. If the other person is found to be at fault for causing an accident that injures you, their insurance policy will pay. In fact, if the other person’s insurance company pays out a settlement it may not even increase their premiums.

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Can you recommend a doctor to treat me for my injuries?

Yes. If you’ve been injured you likely were treated by medical technicians at the scene or by doctors in the emergency room. Maybe you’ve already seen your personal doctor. After that – or if you don’t have an existing health care provider – your attorney at the Colorado personal injury firm The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya can help. We have an extensive network of skilled medical providers and treating specialists who can work with you and get you on the road to recovery. In any event, it’s important that you contact us as soon as possible so we can make arrangements for your medical care.

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