Do you need a Personal Injury Lawyer in Chapel Hill? If so, The Bishop Law Firm can help. We represent accident victims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Orange County) and surrounding areas. Read on for the injury cases we handle and how we can help you. Call us today for a free case review at (919) 615-3095, or start your free case review now.
Some Facts about Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill is home to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Being a university town equates to an abnormally high level of pedestrians, bicyclists, and younger drivers (the median age of residents is 25.7 years). In addition, 55% of Chapel Hillians drive to work, according to the Town of Chapel Hill.
Unfortunately, UNC has experienced pedestrian injuries in crosswalks. The Town of Chapel Hill has implemented Vision Zero to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries.
In addition to auto accidents, victims can sustain injuries from animal attacks, failure of property owners to maintain their premises, and other forms of negligence.
What can you recover from an NC Personal Injury claim?
If you are injured through no fault of your own, you can recover your accident-related medical expenses, lost wages, and pain & suffering from the at-fault party. If you are at fault for your accident (even 1%), you cannot recover on a personal injury claim due to contributory negligence (But see The Last Clear Chance Doctrine). Most NC Personal Injury claims have a three- year statute of limitations.
Fault can be challenging to ascertain in some instances. In auto accidents, the driver who received a ticket (citation) is at fault, but not all at-fault drivers receive tickets. You can try to find a copy of your accident report through Chapel Hill Police Department or UNC Police.
In addition, in dog attack, hospital negligence, slip-and-fall, or wrongful death cases, the question of fault may only be answered after an expert thoroughly examines the circumstances.
Medical costs include bills for medical treatment, medical devices, physical therapy, and mileage, etc. An insurance company can and will dispute medical treatment if they think it is unnecessary for or unrelated to your accident injuries. This especially holds true if a victim has pre-existing conditions.
Your employer must verify your missed work time due to your injury. Keeping your employer informed about your accident and any serious injuries sustained will help you establish a claim for lost wage compensation.
Pain & suffering can be difficult to quantify. It naturally follows that the more expensive your medical treatment, the more pain & suffering compensation you should receive, but that is not always true. Pain and suffering damages attempt to compensate the victim for the mental anguish that they experienced due to the at-fault party’s negligence. The insurance company will want to pay as little pain & suffering as possible (which means nothing).
If you were hurt while working by a 3rd party, you may have an NC Workers’ Compensation case and a Personal Injury claim. In addition, if your injury will keep you out of work for a year or more, you should consider filing a claim for Social Security Disability. The Bishop Law Firm handles Personal Injury, Workers’ Compensation, and Social Security Disability cases in Chapel Hill.
Types of Chapel Hill, NC Personal Injury Cases We Handle
Car Accident Injury
Why hire an accident attorney after a car crash? Dealing with the insurance company is not simple, straightforward, or quick. It is common knowledge that insurance companies want to pay as little as possible, preferably nothing at all, and will employ various tactics to delay, frustrate, and minimize your claim. At The Bishop Law Firm, we help our injured clients understand their rights to compensation under North Carolina law. Read more at Chapel Hill Car Accident Lawyer.
Premise Liability or Slip & Fall
Slips, trips, and falls can occur in any environment, on any surface, and under a multitude of circumstances. Most commonly, slips occur when floors or other walking surfaces become slick due to wet or oily substances. Trips and falls occur most frequently where a floor or walking surface is uneven. For example, an injured person can fall into holes, stumble over depressions in the ground, or trip down uneven stairs. Read more at North Carolina Premise Liability Lawyer.
Pedestrian Injury
Pedestrian Accident – How can a personal injury attorney help an injured pedestrian? Pedestrians never win against cars. Catastrophic injuries will require documentation of future as well as current losses, figuring out how much pain & suffering is adequate, obtaining your medical records/future medical needs from your physician, establishing and paying for liens, as well as negotiating with the at-fault driver’s insurance company are all tasks that Pedestrian Accident Lawyer can help you with.
Motorcycle Accident
Motorcycle Accident – How can a motorcycle accident lawyer help? Attaining fair compensation for our clients is our goal. Our Motorcycle Accident Lawyer can help you recover the cost of your mounting medical bills, lost wages, pain & suffering, and any future necessary medical treatment while allowing you and your family to focus on your recovery.
Truck Accident Injury
Truck Accident – How can a personal injury attorney help a victim of a truck driver's negligence? Commercial trucking companies often carry multi-million dollar policies to cover accidents, but they will not tell someone without a lawyer what their policy limits are. In fact, by law, insurance companies do not have to reveal their policy limits unless a lawsuit has been initiated. In reality, insurance companies are often willing to reveal their insured’s policy limits to an attorney to avoid the attorney’s filing suit to find out the limits.
Animal Attack Injury
Dog Bite/Attack – How can a dog bite injury lawyer help? Injury attorneys can help you recover the cost of your medical expenses, pain and suffering damages, and any damage to your property (including to your dog) from the attack. In addition, you may need help determining if the homeowner’s insurance policy covers the breed of dog that attacked you.
Hospital Negligence Injury
Hospital Negligence – How can a North Carolina hospital negligence injury lawyer help? There is a difference between hospital negligence and a bad outcome that is no one’s fault. Unfortunately, our bodies do not always respond appropriately to even the most excellent medical treatment, and simply because a loved one passes does not mean that they received negligent hospital care. However, no one should be injured because hospitals disregard patient care in favor of profit.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful Death– How can a wrongful death lawyer help? A Wrongful Death Lawyer will be able to help you navigate the stressful and often exhausting process of successfully investigating and bringing a wrongful death case to court and can provide a jury with guidance on the actual cost to society caused by the loss of your loved one.
Workers' Compensation
Work Injury Cases – In North Carolina, you should file a workers’ compensation claim with the North Carolina Industrial Commission after a work injury. If a 3rd party caused your injury while performing your job duties, you may also have a personal injury case.
Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income
Social Security Disability - Being unable to work due to illness can be a devastating realization. Having an SSD attorney on your side can assist you in knowing what information SSA uses to determine disability.
*Call us at (919) 615-3095 if your type of personal injury is not listed to see if we can help.*
Do you need a Chapel Hill Personal Injury Lawyer?
A Personal Injury Lawyer can help gather your medical information, missed time from work and calculate your pain & suffering to include in a demand to the insurance adjuster. This demand should include all of your expenses, including past, present, and future losses from your injury. If all your losses are not included in your demand, you could have medical bills later and no way to pay them.
Some adjusters try delay tactics until the statute of limitations run out, while others rush to pay claims to avoid paying for more medical care that a victim may need. Seeking legal advice about when to settle is as important as how much to settle for. Whether to accept an insurance adjuster’s offer or pursue personal injury civil litigation should be discussed with an experienced injury lawyer to determine which will produce a higher settlement in your injury claim.
Most importantly, legal representation can allow you to focus on your serious injuries instead of negotiating with the insurance company.
The Bishop Law Firm represents personal injury clients in Chapel Hill and surrounding areas of North Carolina. We do not get paid unless you win. Call us today for a free case review, (919) 615-3095.
The owner of The Bishop Law Firm, Kimberly Bishop, attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. GO HEELS!
Also, read North Carolina Personal Injury Lawyer
