Personal Injury – the law, your rights and personal injury claims

Have been involved in a car accident, work place accident or any other accident where you have sustained personal injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence?

“If you have been involved in an accident (a car accident, work place accident or any other accident) and have sustained personal injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence, you should consult your solicitor as soon as possible. It is a very stressful and worrying position to be in. By consulting a solicitor at the earlier opportunity, this will enable you to concentrate on getting yourself better while your solicitor will deal with making sure you are properly compensated and ensuring that your medical bills are covered by the person who caused the accident.

Johanna Lacy, Solicitor – Specializing in Personal Injury
Let me take the legal burden while you concentrate on recovering. Visit my office in Cashel and during this meeting I will gather as much information as possible about the accident and the injuries you have sustained. Most clients only have to visit my office once and during that meeting I ask you to sign all the necessary forms to avoid you having to make the journey again.

The sequence of events involved in making a claim will be explained in the meeting , they  are as follows:

• Write to the party that caused the accident;
• Requesting a medical report from your doctor;
• Requesting the Garda Abstract Report if the Garda attended at the scene of the accident in the case of a road traffic accident;
• If liability is at issue (i.e. it is unclear as to who is responsible for the accident), organizing a forensic engineer to attend at the scene of the accident and prepare a report advising on who is responsible for the accident.
• Lodging the Personal Injuries Board application on your behalf;
• If the Personal Injuries Board assessment is consented to by the party that caused the accident, advising if the assessment amount fully compensates my client for the injuries they have sustained;
• If the Personal Injuries Board assessment is not consented to by the party that caused the accident or the assessment amount is not sufficient, court proceedings are prepared and filled in court.
• Advising you on what compensation you are entitled to by law for the injuries sustained and any out-of-pocket expenses you have incurred including loss of earnings.
• Attending at court for any hearing of the case (however, clients should know that only about 3-5% of cases actually end up in court and usually those where it is not 100% clear who is at fault for the accident).

I think for all clients it is important that you are kept updated as to the progress of your personal injury claim and how long each step above takes.  I will explain the time frames and keep you updated by email, where possible. 

Clients have indicated to me that regular emails are very important to them and also that their phone calls are returned.  That goes without saying and I have a policy of returning calls on the same day or the next day at the latest.