You should be able to find an injury attorney / whiplash lawyer who takes on auto accident injury claims, including whiplash injury cases on a contingency.
Lawyer and injury attorney fees generally
Most auto injury attorneys (often referred to as a personal injury lawyer, injury attorney, or whiplash lawyer) will take your case “on contingency”. This means that the legal fee is a percentage of your settlement or court award. This arrangement works for you because you don’t need to pay your attorney up front. It also works for the lawyer because her or his incentive (or interest) is the same as yours, which is to get as you as much money for your harms and losses as possible. In British Columbia, the highest percentage a lawyer can charge for auto injuries is 33 1/3 per cent of your settlement or court award.
Treatment accounts (liens)
Some injury attorneys (Dykstra & Company does) have arrangements with some treatment providers (chiropractors, physiotherapists, massage therapists) where your treatment fees will be paid to your treatment provider when your claim resolves. Again, this benefits you because you don’t have to pay for treatment before you receive payment for your harms and losses.
Documentation for your auto accident claim
You know by now from chapter 8 the importance of documentation. The documentation suggestions in chapter 8 are only a piece of the claim puzzle. Most auto accident injury claims, including whiplash injury claims require collecting much more extensive information than is set out in chapter 8. Your lawyer should know what to collect, when to collect it, how to collect it, and then how to organize it.
Expert opinions – how your lawyer should help
To prove your harms and losses, you need medical opinions, and possibly non-medical opinions. The most common medical opinion will be from your family doctor. However, depending on your injuries, you may need additional medical opinions from doctors who specialize in a particular area of medicine.
If your claim includes compensation for something you lost or need in the future (i.e. future treatment and/or future income loss), then you may need an economist and other experts (medical experts) to give opinions about what your future losses may be. No future loss can be known for certain. Therefore once your future limitations are determined by medical experts, an economist puts your future losses/requirements into a dollar figure.
If ICBC is saying you are at fault for your crash, then you may need an engineer’s opinion or a reconstruction of the crash.
These are just some of the more common opinions sought in auto injury claims. There are many other possible opinions needed, depending on your claim. The point is that a lawyer will be able to determine what issues require an opinion in order to support a particular claim.
Unlike your injury attorney’s contingency fee, experts do not wait until your claim resolves to get paid. Most lawyers can arrange for expert payment before your claim is resolved. This can be costly, but is part of the service provided by most lawyers. Note, however, that when your claim resolves, your lawyer’s office will be paid back for the money spent on expert fees from your settlement or court award.
Auto Accident legal process
Advancing an auto accident injury claim requires knowing the law in this area. A lawyer who does auto injury claims will know the deadlines, the paperwork, and what steps to take to ensure your claim is properly advanced in the courts. Not all claims end up in court, but all claims have that potential. Every claim right from the start should be viewed as if it will end up in court.
Can you go your whiplash / personal injury case alone?
You are not required by law to hire a lawyer. In minor claims you may be told by one or several lawyers that you’re best off doing the case by yourself in small claims. Maybe you can’t find a lawyer willing to take on your claim. Sometimes, if your claim is minor, it is best for you not to hire a lawyer.
If an injury attorney / whiplash lawyer won’t take on your claim ask why
Some whiplash lawyers simply won’t take cases where there is even a possibility that you were at fault. This doesn’t mean you were at fault. You can either talk to other lawyers, or if no lawyer will take on your case and you strongly believe you weren’t at fault, then you will have no choice but to go it alone.
It’s a good idea to at least talk to a personal injury / whiplash lawyer
No matter whether you think your claim is minor or whether you think you are at fault, it’s a good idea that you talk to an injury attorney / whiplash lawyer about your auto accident claim. Again, most lawyers won’t charge you a fee for a first visit.
