How Can a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Help You?

December 17, 2024 | By Lewis Law
How Can a Motorcycle Accident Lawyer Help You?

If you have suffered an injury or lost a loved one in a motorcycle accident due to the negligence of another driver or pedestrian, you must consult a motorcycle accident lawyer immediately. An experienced attorney can help determine a legal strategy to secure substantial compensation for your damages.

No one should be responsible for financial losses due to an accident that isn't their fault. Schedule a free consultation to discover how a motorcycle accident lawyer can help after a collision. They work for contingency (they get paid when you do), so there are zero upfront or ongoing costs to retain legal counsel.

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How Can a Motorcycle Accident Attorney Help You Recover Compensation?

The sole purpose of a motorcycle accident lawyer is to ensure justice, including protecting and enforcing your legal right to financial compensation. Your attorney will achieve this in the following ways:

Handling All Insurance Communications

Communications with insurers can be tricky. The goal of an insurance claims adjuster is to minimize company payouts. They do this by undervaluing and denying as many insurance claims as possible. Unfortunately, that includes practicing these bad-faith insurance tactics:

  • Claim delay and denial without valid cause or reason
  • Claiming injuries are pre-existing
  • Downplaying the severity of your injuries
  • Offering less than your claim is worth
  • Failing to investigate your claim thoroughly
  • Misrepresenting insurance policy provisions
  • Refusing to pay a legitimate motorcycle accident claim
  • Making unreasonable requests for documentation or medical records
  • Making threatening statements to intimidate motorcycle accident injury victims
  • Prioritizing company profits over policyholders

Hiring a motorcycle accident lawyer to help navigate your claim is the best way to bypass bad-faith insurance tactics. Insurance companies know better than to pull their playbook out with experienced attorneys.

Gathering and Preserving Pertinent Evidence 

Quick collection, preservation, and analysis of evidence are crucial for determining liability and proving negligence in your motorcycle collision. Your motorcycle accident attorney can gather the following:

  • Police accident reports and witness statements
  • Photographic evidence of the accident scene (vehicle placement, skid marks)
  • Dashcam and traffic light video footage
  • Video evidence from witness cell phones
  • Motorcycle and vehicle debris
  • Photos of your injuries immediately following your motorcycle crash
  • Medical bills and records
  • Lost income documentation (pay stubs, statements from employer, tax returns)
  • Post-accident injury journals with dated and detailed documentation

Take any evidence you have from your motorcycle crash to your free initial consultation with a motorcycle accident lawyer. For example, pictures or video on your cell phone of the accident scene, your injuries, and any documentation of financial losses suffered because of the collision. This will help your attorney build a solid case and recover everything you’ve lost through no fault of your own.

Assessing Injuries and Damages With Experts

Motorcycle accident attorneys work with a network of specialists and experts to thoroughly assess your injuries and damages for maximum compensation. Examples of experts your lawyer may consult in your motorcycle accident case are as follows:

  • Healthcare professionals 
  • Biomechanics experts
  • Economic experts
  • Vehicle and highway safety experts
  • Accident reconstruction specialists
  • Engineering experts 
  • Vocational experts

A life care planner is another valuable expert witness in most motorcycle accident attorneys' networks. Life care planners are specialists who create long-term care plans for accident injury victims with disabilities. Who your lawyer consults with depends on the circumstances of your motorcycle collision.

Proving Negligence

It's common for insurance companies to operate with bias against motorcycle riders. They may handle these claims with presumptions that the rider was inexperienced, speeding, or showboating on their motorcycle. To avoid denied claims, an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer will work to prove the elements of negligence:

  • Duty of Care: The at-fault party owed you a duty of care, such as following traffic safety laws.
  • Breach of Duty: The at-fault party breached their duty in a way a reasonable person in the same situation wouldn't have acted.
  • Causation: The at-fault party's negligent actions or wrongful doing caused your injuries.
  • Damages: You suffered actual damages resulting from your injuries, such as medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.

Proving the four elements of negligence is the most critical part of achieving a financial settlement for your financial and intangible losses. Once your attorney has clearly outlined liability, they can value your claim and send the demand letter for compensation.

Valuing Your Motorcycle Accident Claim

A considerable part of obtaining the compensation you deserve is having an attorney experienced in assessing and valuing all financial and non-monetary losses endured from your motorcycle accident. There are numerous types of damages your motorcycle accident attorney may seek in your claim, such as:

  • Medical—all costs associated with medical care, including ambulance ride from the accident scene, ER visits, hospital stays, surgeries and post-op, doctor evaluation and follow-up, medical equipment and devices, imaging services, prescriptions, mental health services, and future medical care.
  • Rehabilitation—post-accident rehabilitation therapy, physical therapy, chiropractic adjustments, therapeutic ultrasounds, traction, massage, and other rehabilitative service expenses, including future costs. 
  • Disability—mobility aids and equipment, live-in care, in-home modifications, including ramps, chair lifts, and accessible bathrooms, as well as wheelchair-accessible vehicles or vehicle mobility modifications. 
  • Professional Damages—income losses, including salary, commissions, bonuses, healthcare benefits, retirement, lost progress toward promotion, vacation time, sick leave, and diminished earning capacity. 
  • Property Damages—motorcycle repairs or replacement, safety equipment, helmets, protective motorcycle gear, smartphones, and other personal property destroyed in the collision.
  • Non-Economic Damages—pain and suffering, mental anguish, anxiety, depression, loss of society and companionship, disfigurement, scarring, decreased quality of life, shortened life expectancy, worsening of existing injuries, lost sleep, and loss of consortium (companionship, guidance, physical intimacy). 
  • Wrongful Deathpain and suffering of the decedent from the time of their accident to passing, final medical costs, funeral, burial, or cremation expenses, pain and suffering for surviving spouse and children, loss of financial support, loss of parental guidance, loss of household services, loss of consortium, and loss of inheritance.  

Keep records of all expenses and losses incurred from your motorcycle accident. These documents can include receipts, medical bills, rehab billing statements, vehicle-repair invoices, in-home modification papers, and other financial documents proving monetary losses. Non-economic damages are best documented in a post-accident injury journal. Your lawyer can clarify how to document those damages properly.

Related article: How Are Wrongful Death Settlements Paid?

Negotiating a Fair Settlement 

There is a significant difference between negotiating with insurance companies as an unrepresented accident victim and with legal counsel—primarily that unrepresented injury victims don't negotiate. Most accept the first lowball offer because they feel pressured or fear asking for more and receiving nothing. An experienced motorcycle accident lawyer will confidently demand liable insurers pay you a fair settlement.

Representing Your Motorcycle Accident Lawsuit in Court

If liable insurance companies refuse to pay you a reasonable settlement on a valid claim, your motorcycle accident lawyer will file a lawsuit immediately. You don't have to give up or navigate the legal system alone.

After filing the lawsuit, both plaintiffs and defense attorneys enter the discovery phase, during which they exchange information and take depositions. After preparing witnesses and your case for a judge and jury, your attorney will represent your case at trial to secure your settlement.

Schedule a free consultation with a motorcycle accident lawyer to discover a legal strategy to recover financial compensation for your crash. You’ll want to move quickly to ensure filing deadlines and other statutes of limitations.

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