Skolrood Law Firm Blog
Serving Central and South Virginia
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What to Do If the Insurance Company Offers a Settlement After a Crash
For many auto accident victims, getting compensation after their crashes is their biggest priority after they’ve begun the healing process. Their medical bills are piling up day after day, and returning to work may be weeks or even months away. When the insurance company, whether it’s the other driver’s or their own, calls and offers a settlement, it may seem like the best possible news.
But all injury victims should beware when this happens. Insurance companies didn’t become billion-dollar-corporations by paying all claimants full settlements. They got where they are by being ruthless when it comes to paying out claims and even denying them whenever possible. When they offer to pay settlements on their own accord, it often means they know they would lose in court and are trying to avoid bigger payouts.
Although you may need money right away, it’s important to never accept the insurance company’s offer without speaking to a lawyer first. Signing a settlement means signing away your rights to additional compensation. While the check you get may pay for your expenses now and two months down the road, the money may quickly run out, and you may still be out of work and needing expensive treatments.
At Skolrood Law Firm, our Roanoke auto accident lawyers know how to calculate the value of car accident claims to a highly accurate degree. Once we tally up all current and future expenses, we demand that insurance companies pay our clients every penny they’re owed. Contact us today for a free consultation. It’s our job to ensure you’re paid the money you need to move forward with your life.
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What Types of Accidents Cause Traumatic Brain Injuries?
When bodily organs are damaged in accidents, victims often suffer much more profoundly than if their injuries only involve skin, muscles, and bones. Most organs are vital to life, and when they’re damaged, it can impair their function—which can be life-threatening.
It can be strange to think of the brain as simply an organ, as it’s where memories, personality, skill, and emotions are formed and stored. But like any organ, it can be damaged in accidents, and when it is, victims can experience a wide range of complications, ranging from personality and behavioral changes to motor skill deficits and impairments.
Accidents that can cause traumatic brain injuries include:
- Motorcycle accidents—Many states require motorcyclists to wear helmets simply because of the extreme likelihood of a traumatic brain injury or death in riders who aren’t wearing them when they crash. TBIs can occur even to riders who wear helmets, although their risks are much lower.
- Car accidents—Although people in cars, trucks, and SUVs are protected by seatbelts and airbags, they can still suffer TBIs in crashes. Victims don’t even need to impact their steering wheels, dashboards, or seats to suffer TBIs, as the forces generated in a crash are enough to cause them.
- Truck accidents—Big trucks weigh up to 80,000 pounds—that’s up to 16 times more than even some of the biggest passenger vehicles on the road. It’s no surprise that semi-trucks generate more force in crashes, the more force involved, the greater the likelihood of a TBI.
TBIs aren’t just traumatic and disabling, they’re also expensive. At Skolrood Law Firm, it’s our job to help victims get full compensation. Contact our Roanoke brain injury lawyers today for a free consultation if you or a loved one suffered a TBI because of someone else’s negligence.
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We Level the Playing Field for Medical Malpractice Victims
Of all the personal injury claims out there, medical malpractice seems like one of the most “sure-fire” for victims. After all, how can you not have a claim to compensation when a negligent doctor or surgeon causes you to suffer a serious illness or injury?
But unfortunately, healthcare providers, clinics, and hospitals are all well-protected against medical malpractice. Not only do they have protocols in place to deny it happened, but they also legal teams to insulate them from claims. Finally, their medical malpractice insurance providers are also combative and uncooperative.
All of this adds up to making medical malpractice claims difficult to win—unless you have an experienced law firm on your side, that is. When healthcare providers, clinics, hospitals, and insurers find out that patients and their families are represented by aggressive legal teams, they often quickly change their tunes.
That’s because experienced law firms know how to pinpoint when and where medical malpractice occurred by examining evidence, listening to expert opinions, and interviewing witnesses and other healthcare professionals. Without an experienced Roanoke medical malpractice lawyer, it’s easy for victims to find themselves not being taken seriously by the parties that owe them significant compensation.
If you or someone you love was harmed by someone or somewhere that was supposed to make you feel better, you may be eligible for compensation. Contact Skolrood Law Firm today for a free consultation. We aren’t afraid to take on medical malpractice cases, whether they’re against a single doctor or a large hospital.
