If you have been seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident, one of the most basic questions you can ask is “Why hire an injury lawyer?”
After all, the risk of injury is the reason you have insurance. The insurance company works for you – right? The answer is “No.”
Insurance companies do want customer loyalty. But they also want settlements that reduce their costs. You can’t just assume an insurance company will serve your best interests when it handles your claim.
You also can’t assume that you can handle the injury claim on your own or even that a family or general practice lawyer can provide what you need. Even a good general practice lawyer who occasionally handles personal injury cases may not have the legal knowledge and experience to deal with insurance companies. Personal injury law is a well-established field of practice. You want the kind of experience and know-how that can only come from handling thousands of personal injury cases.
A qualified personal injury lawyer will also have a team of scientific, medical, and other personal injury experts you may need to prove fault or damages from your personal injury—and the financial support to pay for those experts.
A qualified personal injury lawyer will be able to provide the support you need, answer your questions, and offer informed advice to guide you through the claim process.
The questions below are the ones injury victims ask me most often. The answers are the top 5 reasons to hire an injury lawyer. At the end, I have added what Alberta’s move to no-fault insurance means for your decision.
Serious injuries disrupt normal life — even when the long-term prognosis is full recovery. You have new expenses, unexpected worries, questions that need answers, and, possibly, threats to your livelihood and long-term health. Injury lawyers meet daily with people who have these concerns, people just like you. We get it. We can help.
An injury lawyer’s job is to answer your questions, explain your options, and provide informed advice. A qualified injury lawyer will know:
Injury law requires not just a knowledge of the law but also local knowledge. Hiring a big firm from another province won’t help you if the injury lawyer doesn’t know the relevant Alberta case law. Look for a personal injury lawyer who is knowledgeable and experienced with your type of accident, your type of injury, the relevant case law in the jurisdiction where you live, and the insurance firms in your area. The injury lawyer will apply that knowledge when investigating the specific circumstances of your case.
For instance, I’ve dealt with most types of accidents and injuries. But my practice focuses on injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents. I’ve handled thousands of such cases. My knowledge and experience help me develop the necessary strategy so each of my clients can obtain the maximum fair compensation from the insurer.
A qualified injury lawyer will be able to answer these questions.
You want maximum compensation for your injury. If the insurance company offers less, will you know? Will a general practice lawyer know? A personal injury lawyer will have the relevant knowledge and experience for your type of injury and accident. A personal injury lawyer will be able to determine fair compensation. In general, that means more money for you.
You can’t google the answer. The job of a personal injury lawyer is to know the limits of fair compensation for your specific injury. A qualified personal injury lawyer will know how to obtain the maximum possible fair compensation for you.
In general, yes. Most injury lawyers work on a contingency fee — a percentage of the compensation paid. The more compensation you receive, the more the injury lawyer earns. Thus, your best interests align with the injury lawyer’s best interests. In contrast, an insurance company earns more by paying you lower compensation.
No. When injury victims hire personal injury lawyers, they generally receive larger settlements. A qualified injury lawyer will know what scientific, medical, and other personal injury experts to involve to establish the short and long-term impacts on your health and livelihood — and to prove your case. The difference in compensation may astound you.
Find out how I use personal injury experts to help my clients obtain better compensation from insurance companies.
No. You may think the insurance company’s offer for your injury is too low. But how do you know? And how can you fight a big insurance company that has multiple lawyers and injury law experts? The answer: find a qualified injury lawyer who will level the playing field.
Consult with a qualified injury lawyer. You may need scientific, medical, and other personal injury experts to prove fault or damages from your injury. Insurance companies won’t retain these experts for you. An experienced personal injury lawyer has a team of personal injury experts and the financial resources to pay the costs up front.
When you are my client, I call personal injury experts as required to prove your motor vehicle injury case. I pay the costs of expert reports up front. I recover the costs from the at-fault party’s insurer after you receive your settlement or judgement at trial.
It changes what a lawyer does for you, not whether you need one.
Alberta’s Care-First no-fault system is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. Which system governs your claim depends on the date of your accident, not the date you hire a lawyer. If your accident occurs before Care-First is implemented, the current system applies, and every reason above applies with it.
For accidents on or after the changeover, most claims stop being lawsuits against the driver who caused the crash. Instead you claim benefits from your own insurer, and your own insurer decides what treatment you receive and what it will pay. If you disagree, the dispute goes to the Alberta Automobile Care-first Tribunal rather than to a court.
That does not remove the need for advice. It relocates it. The insurance company is no longer just the party paying your claim — it is also the party deciding it. Knowing what you are entitled to, and what to do when you are refused, matters more in that situation, not less.
To learn more, see No-Fault (Care-First) Insurance in Alberta.
When you are an injury victim, choosing a personal injury lawyer gives you informed professional advice and experience, support throughout the claim’s process, access to any required specialists, peace of mind, and confidence that you are acting in your best interests — as well as the best interests of your loved ones. If you need a personal injury lawyer, call (780) 760-4878 (HURT) or contact Joseph A. Nagy, Edmonton car accident lawyer. We can discuss a tailor-made strategy to suit your car accident claim.
