Suffering an injury can disrupt your life. A serious injury may mean missed time from work and expensive medical bills. Fortunately, if your injury occurred due to the negligence or intentional actions of another party, an experienced Greenville personal injury lawyer can help you pursue compensation to cover your losses.
Auger & Auger is proud to bring more than 50 years of collective personal injury litigation experience to the table to advocate for your rights and those of your loved ones. Our Greenville personal injury attorneys can file a civil lawsuit in South Carolina on your behalf. Contact us today to schedule a free case consultation.
Personal Injuries: What You Need To Know
South Carolina statutes mandate that government agencies, company owners, and United States citizens owe each other indisputable considerations. For example, drivers on all public roads must adhere to the state’s safety laws, using goodwill and forethought while driving. This is called a duty of care.
When our personal injury attorneys in Greenville pursue a claim, it is with the intention of ‘making you whole.’ The severity of your injuries will play a large part in determining the amount of compensation you are awarded. You should expect to recover the cost of medical bills, lost wages or loss of future income, and damages for distress, pain, and suffering.
Our experienced legal team in Greenville can serve as your:
- ATV accident lawyers
- Aviation accident lawyers
- Bicycle accident lawyers
- Boating accident lawyers
- Bus accident lawyers
- Car accident lawyers
- Construction accident lawyers
- Daycare accident lawyers
- Dog bite lawyers
- Motorcycle accident lawyers
- Pedestrian accident lawyers
- Spinal cord injury lawyers
- Traumatic brain injury lawyers
- Truck accident lawyers
- Wrongful death lawyers
Filing A Personal Injury Lawsuit In Greenville
Once you hire our team to represent you, our personal injury lawyers in Greenville will file a civil claim against the responsible person, business, or government office. If the case involves a fatality, then wrongful death compensation can be awarded to the surviving family members. When a spouse is a victim, ‘loss of companionship’ damages may also be claimed.
Many people picture a court case when they think about filing a lawsuit, but in reality, only a small percentage of personal injury claims require a trial. Negotiated settlements are generally the manner in which personal injury cases are resolved. There are situations where arbitration or mediation is used as an in-between step before taking the case to court.
While the majority of cases can be resolved in one of these ways, there are some situations where it is necessary to settle matters in court. At Auger & Auger, we will never hesitate to fight for your rights and go up against big insurance carriers or high-profile defendants. We have extensive courtroom experience and will use every tool at our disposal to secure a victory.
Proving Negligence In A Personal Injury Claim
With some exceptions, most personal injury cases require proving that another party was negligent. In a broad sense, this means that your attorney will need to establish the four elements of negligence:
- Duty of care: You need to show that the defendant owed you a duty of care. The duty of care varies depending on the type of personal injury case. Still, usually, it includes obeying the law and making a reasonable effort to avoid actions that might cause harm to others. A person driving a car, for example, has a duty to drive safely and avoid actions that could cause a collision and injure other people.
- Breached duty of care: Next, you’ll need to prove that the defendant breached this duty of care or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent harm.
- Damages: You’ll need to demonstrate how this action or breach of duty harmed you. You must show that you suffered damages or losses as a result of your accident. There are several different categories of damages, including medical costs (current and future), loss of income due to missed time at work or a permanent disability, property damage, pain and suffering (including both physical and mental pain), permanent disability or disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of companionship or consortium if you lost a loved one.
- Causation: Finally, you must show that the harm you suffered was a direct result of the liable party breaching their duty of care. An experienced personal injury attorney in Greenville can help connect the dots and present a compelling case in court.
While proving negligence is often required, there are some personal injury situations where negligence does not apply.
Strict Liability
This is a situation that may apply if a defective product harmed you. South Carolina Code of Laws Title 15 Chapter 73 Section 15-73-10 establishes a strict liability law for these types of claims.
Strict liability essentially means that a manufacturer or seller of a product is responsible for harm caused by the product, whether or not they took reasonable steps to prevent damage. Three elements need to be satisfied for a strict liability claim:
The Product Was Unaltered
You were using the product in the same condition it was in when purchased. In other words, the product was dangerous when you acquired it; you didn’t make alterations that caused it to be hazardous.
The Product Was Defective
The product had some type of defect that proved to be unreasonably dangerous, and this defect led to your injuries. This takes into account that almost any product might be hazardous under certain circumstances. However, your injuries were not the result of a freak accident that is unlikely to ever happen again.
They were caused by an unreasonably dangerous defect in the product that most likely has led to other injuries or will in the future. Whether or not the product is unreasonably dangerous may be a topic of debate in your case, depending on the specific situation.
You Were Using The Product As Intended
Your injury was caused by using the product in a typical and expected manner. In other words, you did not engage with the product in a bizarrely dangerous way that the manufacturer or seller couldn’t have anticipated.
Dog Bites
In South Carolina, strict liability also applies to situations where another person’s dog bites or otherwise injures you. Dog owners are liable for the damage their dog causes, so long as the following requirements are met:
- The injuries happened because the dog bit or attacked you: This does include situations where a dog may actually be friendly, but overzealous. For example, if a dog tries to greet you enthusiastically by jumping on you, but knocks you over, causing an injury.
- Your injuries happened when you were in public or lawfully on private property: “Lawfully” generally means that you were not trespassing at the time. The law does acknowledge that a person is not trespassing if they need access to private property to do their job, such as delivering mail or fixing a power line.
- You did not “provoke” the dog to attack you: Provoking can mean teasing or taunting the dog, trying to take its food or water dishes, taking its puppies, yelling or throwing things at the dog, etc. Sometimes the dog’s owner will have a different recollection of what happened than you do, and it may be necessary to prove that there was no provocation.
Your Greenville personal injury lawyer will investigate the situation, and the sooner you call about your dog bite, the easier it will be to recover evidence of the attack. In some cases, the difficulty lies in locating the dog and its owner. This is especially true if you need to escape from the dog after the attack and lose track of it.
In these situations, we recommend contacting your local animal control office as soon as possible to report the bite, so they can begin searching for the animal. In the meantime, call a Greenville dog bite lawyer right away, so our investigators can get to work compiling evidence for your claim.
Negligence Per Se
Negligence per Se refers to situations where a defendant is assumed to be negligent based on the fact that they were violating some statute when the injury occurred. Usually, this comes up in traffic accidents where the other driver may have broken the law by speeding, running a red light, driving drunk, etc.
If the other driver wasn’t ticketed for their infraction, it can make your case a bit more complicated, but it doesn’t mean that you’re out of luck with filing a claim. Often, the law enforcement officers sent to an accident scene are swamped with multiple cases, and only have so much time to investigate your accident.
They may take statements from you and the other driver, note that they don’t see any other witnesses, and make their best guess at what happened. Sometimes they don’t have enough information to ticket anyone. However, our investigations often find evidence like video from traffic or doorbell cameras, missed witnesses, and black box data that helps prove fault.
Compensation From A Knowledgeable Personal Injury Lawyer Serving Greenville Can Help You Recover
After suffering injuries caused by another party’s negligence or intentional actions, there are a variety of damages you will likely be eligible to recover. Identifying all the damages that apply is critical for recovering the full value of your losses. All compensatory damages can be divided into the categories of economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages cover the losses you suffered that directly impacted your financial situation. Some of the economic damages most commonly available in Greenville personal injury cases include:
- Property damage
- Lost wages
- Decreased earning capacity
- Medical bills
- Future medical costs
Non-economic Damages
In addition to economic damages, you will likely be able to pursue a wide range of non-economic damages. These damages cover the losses you suffered that impacted your quality of life. Some of the non-economic damages most commonly available in Greenville personal injury cases include:
- Loss of consortium
- Mental anguish
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of companionship
- Emotional distress
- Permanent disability
- Scarring and disfigurement
Filing A Personal Injury Claim: Insurance Policies And Your Injuries
As mentioned above, we don’t always begin pursuing compensation by filing a lawsuit. In many cases, we start by negotiating with the appropriate insurance carrier that represents the responsible party.
If a relevant insurance policy covers your injuries, this is usually the easiest and fastest way to seek compensation for your damages. However, there are some situations where it is necessary to sue either the liable party, their insurance provider, or both.
When Should You Talk To The Insurance Company?
You should not speak with the insurance company until you’ve spoken with a lawyer. Ideally, your attorney should handle filing the claim and talking with the insurance adjuster for you. The reason for this is that insurance adjusters are not on your side, despite what they may say. Their job is to find an excuse not to pay your claim.
However, when they call you, they might say that they are ready to pay your claim but need to ask you a few questions as a formality, etc. You might answer their questions and feel that you’ve made it very clear the other driver was at fault. Unfortunately, the insurance adjuster could misinterpret or distort something you’ve said and claim this indicates you were at fault.
Many people have been shocked to learn how the insurance company interpreted a random comment. If it is necessary for you to give the insurance adjuster a statement, your attorney will talk with you about the kinds of questions they’re likely to ask and should be present for the conversation.
Claim Denials
Sometimes people contact our personal injury law firm after they have already filed a claim with the insurance carrier and received a denial. We encourage you to resist the urge to call the insurance carrier. In many situations, people inadvertently make things worse when they do this because it’s easy to get confused about details or forget important facts when you’re angry.
If you’ve received a claim denial, please contact a lawyer immediately. We may be able to appeal the decision and seek compensation from the insurance company. Here are some common reasons insurance companies deny claims (please note that this is not an exhaustive list):
- The liable party (usually the insurance company’s client) claims you were at fault: As noted above, disagreements about fault are very common and often left unresolved by a police report. They are also difficult to handle on your own, but with the help of an experienced attorney, you may be able to prove the other party was at fault.
- Partial fault: Sometimes the other driver admits they were at fault, but the insurance company still refuses to pay because they claim that you were more at fault. If you were primarily responsible, you will be barred from pursuing compensation.
- This particular type of accident wasn’t covered for various reasons: In some cases, the insurance company will point to a clause in the insurance policy that states they don’t cover certain situations. Often, these preclusions are related to actions the policyholder might take, which you have no control over.
Sometimes insurance companies misinterpret a clause or take other efforts to deny a valid claim. In this situation, your lawyer may be able to convince them that their argument for not covering the claim is unlikely to hold up in court. However, in other cases, the company genuinely isn’t obligated to cover the policyholder’s liability for the accident.
If this happens, there may still be several other options for getting your damages paid, including suing the other driver directly or using your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Your lawyer will explain your options.
Beware Of The Early Offer From The Insurance Company
Getting an offer from the insurer often feels like a good thing. However, if you receive one right away, it may not cover all your damages. It’s difficult to know what your case is worth when you may not even know what your future related expenses will be. If you receive any offer from an insurance company, we strongly recommend consulting an attorney before you accept it.
Your lawyer will go over the details of your injury and help you determine what a fair amount of compensation should look like. If this does not match the offer you’ve received, your attorney can help you negotiate for a better deal.
Is Insurance Only Important In Car Accident Claims?
No. In many other kinds of personal injury cases, there may be a relevant insurance policy. Often, insurance is the best option for seeking compensation, as an individual or even a small business may not have the funds to pay your claim. For this reason, we always look for an insurance policy first.
Here are some examples of situations where we may be able to make an insurance claim for your injuries:
- Premises liability: If you are hurt on the property of a business, the business may be liable for your injuries. Typically, businesses carry liability insurance because even with their best efforts at keeping a store or venue safe, they may not be able to prevent every possible situation that could be dangerous.
- Other business insurance: Some business liability insurance policies also cover damages from defective products or services.
- Homeowner’s insurance: Depending on the policy, this type of insurance sometimes covers a surprisingly broad range of injury situations, including some that don’t take place on the property. For example, homeowner’s insurance may cover accidents with small, non-automobile vehicles like golf carts, ATVs, small boats, jet skis, etc.
- Boat insurance: When a homeowner’s insurance policy doesn’t cover a boat, the owner may have insurance specific to that vessel.
- Pedestrian or bicycle accidents: If you have uninsured motorist coverage on your car, but are hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist while you are walking or biking, your own uninsured motorist insurance policy will usually cover you even though your car was not involved.
- Workers’ compensation: If you were injured at work, you should be eligible for workers’ compensation. With few exceptions, the majority of businesses that employ four or more workers are required to have workers’ compensation insurance in South Carolina. Both full-time and part-time employees are eligible for workers’ compensation coverage.
Comparative Negligence In South Carolina
Under South Carolina’s comparative negligence laws, multiple parties involved in an accident can share fault. Any party who suffers damages in the accident can pursue compensation, as long as they were not over 50% to blame. However, the final award will be reduced by the percentage of fault.
What this means is that the insurance company can reduce its responsibility to pay your damages by asserting that you were even somewhat to blame. For example, if they show that you were 20% at fault, your available compensation will be for 80% of the full value of your losses.
Fortunately, your personal injury lawyer will be familiar with the manner in which insurance companies attempt to apply fault and will work to get you the full compensation you deserve.
Get Help From An Experienced Personal Injury Attorney In Greenville Today
Should you sustain injuries from a malicious act or accident, or should your loved one suffer severe or fatal injuries after such an event, our personal injury attorneys serving Greenville are here to advocate on your behalf. Auger & Auger is passionately committed to doing what is right and helping to alleviate your stress and financial losses along the way.
One feature we offer to our clients is the zero-fee guarantee. This guarantee assures that you will never pay for legal services unless your claim is resolved successfully. You don’t pay anything if we don’t win your case, and when we do win, you won’t pay until you’ve recovered compensation.
This arrangement reflects our commitment to helping you recover the compensation you’re owed. Since founding our firm in 1995, we have recovered over $100 million for injured clients. Contact our Greenville personal injury lawyers today to get started on your claim with no upfront cost!
