Pine Bluff
Personal Injury Lawyer
A Pine Bluff personal injury lawyer at NST Law can help you gain financial relief after a serious injury. As Champions for the Injured, we will build a case, undergo negotiation and pursue litigation while fighting for compensation on behalf of personal injury clients.
When you’ve been injured in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and another person was responsible, filing a personal injury claim may be the only way to gain the compensation you deserve. An experienced Pine Bluff personal injury lawyer can advise you on how to obtain compensation after an injury.
A personal injury case can make a significant difference to your standard of living and your family’s financial well-being. Some injuries bring life-altering consequences, like chronic pain, ongoing medical expenses, reduced earning ability and emotional anguish.
The Pine Bluff personal injury lawyers at NST Law can help you gain financial relief from these and other consequences.
Table Of Contents
- How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help
- Time Limits on an Arkansas Personal Injury Case
- Compensation for a Personal Injury Claim
- Understanding Negligence in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
- Who’s liable in a personal injury case?
- When to Contact a Lawyer for Personal Injury
- How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?
- Why should I choose NST Law?
How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help
Gaining compensation after an injury is difficult to achieve without the help of an experienced Pine Bluff personal injury lawyer. Even if your injury is covered by the insurance policy of one of the involved parties, insurance companies operate as for-profit businesses, working to keep their payouts as low as possible.
In nearly every personal injury case, a victim is far more likely to receive more compensation when an experienced attorney navigates insurance technicalities and advocates on their behalf.
When insurance doesn’t cover injuries or when a claim is denied, it’s even more crucial to involve an attorney. Without experienced representation to build a case and fight for your rights, you face one of two likely outcomes: a smaller payout than you deserve, or none at all.
Time Limits on an Arkansas Personal Injury Case
There’s a time frame for every type of legal claim called the statute of limitations, and they vary by state and by type of claim.
In Arkansas, the statute of limitations on a personal injury claim is three years. There are a few exceptions to this, such as when an injury happens to a minor. For medical malpractice cases, the time limit is two years.
Arkansas law also allows the time limits to begin at the date of discovery. The date of discovery is when a person realizes the existence or extent of injury rather than the date it occurred. Most personal injury cases in Arkansas allow three years after the date of discovery, while medical malpractice cases allow only one year.
Compensation for a Personal Injury Claim
Compensation in a personal injury claim is designed to adequately compensate a victim after he or she suffers damages through the fault of another.
Personal injury claim compensation can vary widely because the amount depends on the extent of the damage. A personal injury lawyer will assess your case and establish a goal for compensatory damages. These are intended to compensate a victim for injury-related losses.
Some types of personal injury cases have damages caps that limit the amount of compensation that can be awarded, but clients in Arkansas are in luck: the state of Arkansas has no compensatory damages cap in place for any type of personal injury claim.
In some cases, punitive damages may also be awarded. These are used as a form of punishment for demonstrating a severe level of negligence.
Understanding Negligence in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Liability for a personal injury comes down to a matter of negligence. In a personal injury case, your lawyer needs to prove that your injury was caused by another’s negligence.
For a successful case, your attorney must show how the party responsible for your injury violated a basic duty of care. Then, you must provide evidence of damages caused by the injury. When a duty of care has been violated and results in demonstrable damages, negligence is proven.
Who’s liable in a personal injury case?
Once a person is proven negligent, he or she can be held liable for your damages. An experienced personal injury lawyer will examine all parties that can be held liable to build the strongest case possible. Companies and other entities may be held liable for injuries in addition to individuals.
Arkansas is a comparative fault state. This means that each party is assigned a percentage of fault for the injury. As long as you bear less than 50 percent responsibility for the injury, you are still eligible to receive compensation.
When an injury results from a car accident in Pine Bluff or a Pine Bluff motorcycle accident, compensation will first be sought through insurance. Arkansas is an at-fault state, which means that compensation should first be pursued through the policy of the person responsible for the accident.
Arkansas has strict rules dictating the minimum auto insurance coverage legally required. However, these amounts may not sufficiently cover the cost of severe injuries. If this is the case, your attorney will work to fight for further compensation, taking the case to court if necessary.
When to Contact a Lawyer for Personal Injury
In nearly every situation, the sooner you contact an attorney, especially in wrongful death cases, the better your chances of winning your case. Personal injury cases are time-sensitive, and swift action is crucial to success.
Key reasons you should contact a lawyer immediately include:
- Building a case takes time
- Delays can compromise evidence
- Waiting can weaken your case
When you involve a lawyer from the start, you protect yourself and send the message that your damages are significant and merit compensation. Waiting to take action can seriously hurt your outcome.
Delaying action also puts you at risk of missing the window allowed by the statute of limitations, especially if a case is complex and takes time to build.
How much does a personal injury lawyer cost?
The cost of a personal injury case depends on many factors. The complexity of the case, number of liable parties and level of fault are all considered in the cost of a case, as these can require a significantly greater commitment of time and effort.
Another key element that determines the cost of a lawyer is whether the case can be settled through negotiation or must go to trial for a court verdict. Cases that proceed to trial cost more than those resolved out of court.
NST Law works with clients on a contingency fee basis. This means that payment for legal services is rendered only after a case is won or settled. Payment comes out of the compensation awarded, so clients don’t need to worry about affording legal services up front.
Why should I choose NST Law?
NST Law is a leader in personal injury law. Our experienced attorneys are Champions for the Injured in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Over the past 30 years, our firm has recovered more than $2 billion in settlement, verdict and judgment outcomes for our clients.
This is money that belongs in the hands of our clients—but it would not have made it there without our help. Our firm strives to uphold a standard of justice. We understand that when victims of injury and wrongdoing have no one to fight for them, they may never recover from the damage incurred at the hands of another.
We take pride in our winning results and client testimonials because these clearly demonstrate that our team of Pine Bluff personal injury lawyers excel at our mission of upholding the guiding principles of NST Law while championing the rights of those who most need our assistance.
When injury takes away your quality of life or ability to earn a livelihood, results in pain and suffering, or leaves you and your family with insurmountable medical debt, our nationally recognized attorneys can help.
Call the champs at NST Law today to learn how a Pine Bluff personal injury lawyer can help you gain compensation for damages after an injury.
Contact us for a free consultation now so that we can review your case and decide how we can best help you.
4 Shackleford Plaza Suite 211 Little Rock, AR 72211
Phone: 501-891-5550
Fax: 501-891-5036
425 W Capitol Ave, Ste. 1535
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501-435-0000
Fax: 501-406-1849