Many of us had never had the chance or opportunity to slam our fists down on a desk and cry out “I need my lawyer!” Not just because we’ve likely never been in a situation where we’d require one and having a lawyer on retainer is incredibly expensive.

Also, there are many different types of lawyers in various situations. You wouldn’t hire an environmental lawyer to handle a criminal case. Just like Baskin Robbins and their 31 flavors of ice cream, there is a lawyer for every occasion.

In some cases, you may need a personal injury lawyer. Deciding if you need a lawyer is one thing but how do you know if you’re going to need a personal injury lawyer?

Below, we run over a few situations and reasons where you might want to hire a personal injury lawyer to help you out.

You Have a Serious Injury

When it comes to personal injury, there has to be some form of negligence by another party. That means tearing your ACL in your men’s basketball league after trying a between the leg dribble move isn’t going to work.

Another party has to have failed in performing its basic duty. You will see this written as the party breaching their duty of care. That’s why many personal injury cases stem from workplace accidents, car crashes, medical accidents, or product liability instances.

So if you’ve suffered a serious injury from negligence or a failure in duty of care, then you might have a strong case on your hands and reach out to personal injury lawyers.

Your Insurance Company Is Acting in Bad Faith

Many times, the first place people will turn to after suffering personal injury is their insurance. After all, that’s why we have insurance, to protect us from those ugly moments.

Insurance companies are rarely easy to deal with and anyone that has had a minor fender bender can attest to this fact. Even though the insurance company may be following their policy and acting within their rights, they still may not be helping you as much as they should.

That’s why having a personal injury lawyer can help navigate you through the difficult paperwork and confusing times to give you the best representation possible.

You’ve Been in an Accident

Once again, the above phrase doesn’t apply to all accidents and scenarios. You can’t hire a personal injury lawyer after you ran into a mailbox while texting and driving.

It has to happen because, once again, another party was negligent. Even if you don’t suffer a severe injury, any kind of injury can apply in this situation. It’s also important to note that the accident couldn’t have been your fault.

So if it was the fault of the machine equipment, hazardous working areas, or a coworker, you might have a strong case this time around.

Legal Experience

As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of different types of lawyers and as someone who may not have the legal wherewithal, trying to navigate your way through paperwork, the legal system, and other lawyers is going to be an impossible uphill climb.

With this legal experience, personal injury lawyers know how to deal with anything that may be thrown your way and can look for creative ways to reach a solution amongst all parties involved.

Plus, having a lawyer on your side can lead to the best outcome, like avoiding trial and being able to settle out of court. Even though roughly 90% of personal injury cases are settled out of court, you want to avoid falling into that 10% category.

It’s a Time Saver

Legal matters aren’t like they are in the movies. Jury decisions take days instead of minutes and settlements usually aren’t reached that quickly. Settling a personal injury case is no small thing and trying to do it alone is going to take a ton of your precious time.

Having a lawyer is likely to speed up the process, not because they’re superhumans, but because they know how to navigate the system and what processes to look out for.

So if you find yourself in an accident or injured because of negligence, make sure you do the right thing and hire a personal injury lawyer.