Car Accident Attorney in Georgia

How Our Georgia Car Accident Attorney Can Help with Your Case

Have you been seriously injured in a car accident in Georgia? If so, you have a right to seek compensation and demand accountability. However, you only have one chance to bring your case. At Butler Kahn, our Georgia car accident lawyers have the skills, experience, and resources to fight for the full and fair compensation you deserve.

Our firm only takes on a limited number of cases at a time. We do that so we can ensure we give your case the individualized attention it deserves. Our Georgia car accident attorneys have built a reputation among insurance companies, defense attorneys, and judges as hard-working and committed advocates. We fight tooth and nail for injured clients and their families. We only want the best for our clients, and we don’t settle for less.

Whether you hire a lawyer after a car accident is your decision. Bringing in a professional to help with your claim has many benefits. For starters, it evens the scales – because if you’re talking with or negotiating against an insurance adjuster, you’re already dealing with a professional whose interest is in convincing you to walk away for a dollar figure that is as small as possible.  Most insurance adjusters pretend to play nice, and may even pretend that they want to pay money to you, but we’d encourage you to think really hard about that.  Insurance companies are for-profit corporations.  They don’t make money when they pay money to you, and they don’t reward employees who offer big payouts to injured people.

The car crash lawyers of Butler Kahn are well-versed in Georgia laws. We are experienced in handling these types of cases. We have helped numerous car accident victims in Georgia. Our goal is to get you the maximum compensation for your injuries.

Our auto injury lawyers can help with all aspects of your claim. That includes:

• Listening to your concerns
• Keeping you updated on the progress of your accident case
• Investigating the facts of your car wreck case to find all responsible parties
• Working with accident reconstruction experts to determine the cause of the accident
• Gathering evidence needed to build a strong case
• Consulting with medical professionals to determine the extent of your injuries
• Estimating future medical expenses related to your automobile accident
• Personal Injury Claims
• Negotiating a settlement that covers all your expenses
• Dealing with all the insurance companies while you focus on your recovery

Always remember that insurance companies are businesses, and businesses are driven by profit. Insurance companies are interested in protecting their profits, and that means they want to pay you as little as possible. Any “investigation” conducted by an insurance company will be biased against you. For that reason, we don’t rely on the insurance companies’ investigations. We do our own.

Our Georgia auto accident lawyers work with independent investigators, experts, nurses, doctors, and witnesses. We have interviewed witnesses in their homes, at their offices, in police stations, in jails, and in homeless camps. We follow the facts, wherever they lead. If the accident involved a driver using a company vehicle, we conduct a thorough investigation of the driver and his or her employer. Requesting the results of on-the-job drug testing is just the tip of the iceberg. We dig to make sure we know everything we can. Every piece of information we gather is essential for building a strong case.

Factors We Consider in a Georgia Car Accident Claim

When you come to us after an auto accident, we will prepare your claim by examining several factors. Those factors begin with understanding what caused the accident, but they don’t end there. We will also want to know how the car accident affected you. We will ask:

• What kind of car accident injury do you have?
• Did you need surgery?
• Do you have accident-related medical bills?
• What are your medical expenses? This includes the total cost of emergency treatment, rehabilitation services like physical therapy, doctors, specialists, and medications.
• Did you lose income as a result of your injuries?
• Did the accident affect your future ability to work?
• How did the accident affect your relationship with your family?
• What is your medical prognosis moving forward?
• Are you partially or totally disabled as a result of the accident?
• How has your quality of life declined because of the accident?

Fighting for the Maximum Car Accident Settlement or Verdict

We can’t “undo” the car accident, but we can help you get back on your feet. That is the purpose of a settlement or verdict.

Winning a car accident settlement or verdict usually involves dealing with insurance. We begin with the at-fault driver’s liability insurance coverage, which should be at least $25,000 under Georgia law. We then look for other insurance policies that may offer coverage, such as another driver’s policy, underinsured motorist coverage,  resident relative insurance, an umbrella policy, or medical payments coverage. We have uncovered commercial general liability (CGL) with policy limits of $1 million and higher.

We know the law, and we use it to our client’s advantage. We often discover insurance that our clients didn’t realize they had. For instance, unless our clients have signed a written rejection with the insurance company, we can usually collect uninsured motorist benefits. See Abrohams v. Atl. Mut. Ins. Co., 282 Ga. App. 176, 182 (2006). We have also found resident relative insurance coverage that others had overlooked.

The types of compensation you might be entitled to after your Georgia car accident include:

• Interference with Normal Living – Interference with normal living, sometimes called loss of quality of life, goes beyond physical or emotional pain and suffering. You may be compensated if, due to the accident, you can no longer participate in the normal activities you once enjoyed. For example, you may no longer be able to participate in sports you used to play regularly, walk up a flight of stairs, or have sex. Those things matter.
• Past Medical Expenses – Past medical expenses are those you have accrued up to the time you file a lawsuit or sign a settlement agreement. The expenses include everything related to your medical care, including doctor visits, hospitalization, therapy, medical equipment (such as a wheelchair or crutches), and prescription drugs. These medical bills must be well-documented.
• Future Medical Expenses – You must file your lawsuit within the time limit of the Georgia statute of limitations. For personal injury claims, the statute of limitations is usually two years from the time of the accident. However, if you were severely injured in the collision, you may have medical expenses far beyond two years. You may even suffer from those injuries for the rest of your life. With so many unknowns in your recovery, it can be difficult to calculate future medical expenses caused by the car accident. Costs of medical care could, and probably will, increase. Your condition could get worse, requiring different or more frequent medical treatments. Your future medical expenses is an area where the insurance company is unlikely to offer what you deserve. For that reason, you may want to consult with an experienced attorney. The attorney can use information from your doctors to calculate fair compensation for your future medical expenses. Once you sign a settlement agreement, you cannot reopen your claim, even if you have health problems years later.
• Lost Wages – If you are in a serious auto collision, you will likely lose days of work. You may not be paid for those days, or you may be forced to use sick days or vacation days. You can be compensated for the workdays you missed as well as your sick days and vacation days.
• Loss of Earning Capacity – A serious motor vehicle accident can leave you with medical problems that make it difficult to do certain jobs. Some injuries make it impossible to return to any type of work. If that happens, you can still collect damages for loss of earning capacity. The damages are not for your specific lost wages. Instead, those damages cover your lost capacity to earn.
• Pain and Suffering – If the accident causes you long-lasting pain, you can be compensated. Georgia law allows compensation for past and future pain and suffering.
• Punitive Damages – Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1, you may be able to collect punitive damages in addition to damages that cover your losses. Georgia law states that a court can only impose punitive damages if your attorney can prove “by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s actions showed willful misconduct, malice, fraud, wantonness, oppression, or that entire want of care which would raise the presumption of conscious indifference to consequences.” That is legal jargon, of course. One judge put it this way: “You may impose punitive damages,” the judge told the jury, “if you find that the defendant just did not give a damn.”
• Property Damage – You can sue for damage to your car and any other property damaged in the accident. Unlike the short two-year limit you have to sue for personal injury, you usually have four years to sue for property damage.

Medical Attention: Finding a Doctor, Emergency Room, Urgent Care, Orthopedist or Neurologist After a GA Auto Accident

If you’ve been hurt in a car accident, get medical attention. Taking care of your body is your priority. Everything else comes later. If you’re hurt, get checked out at the first available opportunity. The type of medical attention you seek after a car accident is up to you. If the pain is severe or you don’t have any better options, go to an emergency room. If you prefer to see your primary care physician or an urgent care facility, that is also fine.

If you sustained a broken bone or fracture in a car accident, you will want to see an orthopedic doctor. If the break or fracture is severe, it may be treated at the emergency room. If the fracture is less severe, such as a hairline fracture, you might see another doctor first and then get a referral to an orthopedist. If you have health insurance, you will probably want to see an orthopedic doctor who can take whatever kind of health insurance you have.

If you sustained an injury to your neck, back, or spine in a car accident, you may see a neurologist as well as an orthopedist. A neurologist treats the body’s nervous system, including the spine. A neurologist can help diagnose and treat your injuries. Spinal injuries are common in car accidents. That is because your torso can get rapidly forced forward or sideways, putting pressure on the vertebrae and discs in your neck or back. Sometimes the whipping of your neck or back in a car accident can damage one of the discs that serve as a pad between the bony vertebrae of your spine. This can lead to a herniated disc or ruptured disc, sometimes called a spinal herniation or slipped disc.

A neurologist can also help with a concussion or traumatic brain injury caused by a car accident. Sometimes the rapid application of forces – acceleration or deceleration – in a car accident can cause the brain to press up against the interior of the skull. Doctors may refer to this type of traumatic brain injury as a coup contrecoup injury. Common symptoms include loss of consciousness, persistent headaches, memory loss or amnesia, vertigo, difficulty concentrating, or in severe cases, personality changes.

Traumatic brain injuries and concussions can occur in car accidents even if there is no obvious impact on the head. This is because most of the injury – where the brain is pressed up against the inside of the skull – is internal. In severe cases, a car accident can cause the brain to swell, bleed, or hemorrhage. When that happens, surgery may be necessary to relieve the internal (or “intracranial”) pressure.

What If I Was in a Car Accident in Georgia and I Don’t Have Health Insurance?

If you have been in a car accident and you do not have health insurance, you usually can still get the medical treatment that you need.

If you are in urgent need of immediate medical treatment, go to an emergency room. Take care of your body. The emergency room cannot legally refuse treatment. If your health is in danger from a serious injury, go to the emergency room now. You can worry about the financial and legal details later.

You may need to see a doctor, orthopedist, neurologist, therapist, or other medical professional after a car accident, but you do not have health insurance or a way to pay for it. Keep in mind that there are often other options.

You may need to see a doctor, orthopedist, neurologist, therapist, or other medical professional after a car accident, but you do not have health insurance or a way to pay for it. Keep in mind that there are often other options.

First, some doctors and medical practices will provide treatment and allow you to defer payment. These doctors may be willing to give you the medical treatment you need and then agree to be paid for their work later out of the settlement or verdict you receive for your car accident. Car accident lawyers and doctors sometimes call this “treating on a lien” because the doctor or medical treatment provider normally takes a lien (the legal right to collect money) from the patient’s cause of action (the car accident case). You may be able to find these doctors on your own, or your car accident lawyer will be able to suggest names.

Second, there are some companies that provide “medical funding.” These companies will pay for the medical treatment that car accident victims need by paying the doctors or other medical treatment providers directly, just as a health insurance company would. The medical funding company would then be paid back at the end of the car accident case out of the settlement or verdict. Medical funding companies typically insist on a signed agreement with the patient and the patient’s car accident lawyer.

Either of these options – treatment on a lien, or medical funding – usually require that you have a good car accident lawyer. That is because the doctor, medical treatment provider, or medical funding company wants to know that there is an attorney who will be able to win a car accident settlement or verdict.

If there is no car accident lawyer involved, those parties may be concerned that there will be no settlement or verdict, or that the settlement will be too small to cover the medical expenses. If that happened, they would not be paid for the medical treatment that they funded. This is another reason why you should hire a good, reputable car accident lawyer that is trusted by doctors and medical funding companies.

Georgia Car Accident Laws

Georgia has a set of laws designed to prevent car accidents. That section of the Georgia Code, known as the “Rules of the Road,” has its own chapter in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-1 et seq. When an at-fault driver causes a car accident by negligence as well as a violation of Georgia’s Rules of the Road, that driver is deemed negligent per se and can be held responsible under the law.

Any experienced car accident lawyer knows that most car accidents arise out of violations of the Rules of the Road. At Butler Kahn, we understand those laws, we know how to cross-examine at-fault drivers about them, and we know how to get the trial judge to explain those rules to the jury. When a car accident case goes to trial, we take care to select jurors who are familiar with the driving laws and understand why following them is important.

Commonly-violated Georgia driving laws in car accident cases include:

• C.G.A. § 40-6-49 (following too closely)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-48 (failure to maintain lane)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-180 (failure to drive at reasonable and prudent speed)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-72 (failure to yield at stop or yield sign)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-20 (failure to obey traffic control device)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-71 (failure to yield when turning left)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-241 (distracted driving)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-241.1 (use of wireless device by person under 18)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-241.2 (texting and driving)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-91 (failure to yield to pedestrian in crosswalk)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-56 (failure to pass bicycle at safe distance)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-390 (reckless driving)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-391 (driving under the influence)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-270 (hit and run)
• C.G.A. § 40-6-253 (open container)