Madison Car Accident Attorney

Dedicated Attorneys Helping Clients Seriously Injured In Car Accidents in Madison

If you have been injured in a car accident caused by a negligent driver or another party, you have the right under Wisconsin law to file a claim to recover compensation for the financial losses you suffered because of those injuries. In most cases, those losses are recovered by filing a claim against the auto insurance policy of the driver who was at fault.

At Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, LLP, we are dedicated to helping injured clients get the full amount of compensation they deserve, something that most insurance companies do not want to happen. Each Madison car accident lawyer at our firm has extensive experience in personal injury law and will fight to get you both the economic (monetary) and noneconomic (nonmonetary) losses you have suffered.

What Is the Difference Between Economic and Non-Economic Damages?

Under the law, any loss you sustain due to an accident can be included in your accident claim. Economic damages are those that have an actual dollar value. Medical expenses fall under economic damages, and any expense related to treating your injuries should be included in your claim. This also includes any future medical treatment you may need if you are left with a long-term or permanent disability. Medical expenses that should be covered include:

• Emergency room treatment
• Hospitalization
• Surgeries
• Doctor visits
• Rehabilitation services
• Medications
• Medical devices
• Travel costs for medical treatments

Another economic damage your Madison car accident lawyer can include in your claim is lost wages. If you cannot work while you recover, you are entitled to be reimbursed for any income you do not earn during that time. This also includes any benefits and reimbursement for sick leave, vacations, and personal time you may have used. If your injuries leave you unable to return to your profession or to work at all, you can also pursue compensation for the loss of future income, as well as vocational counseling, training, and education, if appropriate in your case.

Non-economic damages are those that do not have a dollar amount assigned to them, and they will typically require a different calculation method. One common example of non-economic damages is the pain and suffering you have endured because of your injuries. Pain and suffering is a "catch-all" phrase for all of the emotional, physical, and psychological pain you have suffered because of an accident.

Your Madison car accident lawyer knows that pain and suffering are subjective to each person and will calculate the value of these damages based on the circumstances of your case. One method of calculating pain and suffering is the multiplier method, which takes the total amount of medical expenses and multiplies it by a number from one to five. The more severe the injuries, the higher the multiplier. A second method your lawyer may use is the per diem method. The amount is calculated by assigning a daily financial value to the number of days it took you to recover.

How Do You Prove Fault in a Personal Injury Case?

To get you the compensation you deserve, it is critical to have the evidence to prove liability. With decades of experience, our attorneys know the types of evidence that can help make or break a case.

One of the strongest types of evidence is direct evidence. For instance, video from a traffic camera showing the at-fault driver running a red light moments before smashing into your vehicle could be used as direct evidence. Unfortunately, there are plenty of accidents where there is a lack of direct evidence. However, our firm can still take steps to prove the other party's liability by presenting circumstantial evidence that demonstrates the cause of the accident.

Witness testimony can serve as strong circumstantial evidence. For example, imagine the at-fault driver had been driving aggressively, tailgating the injured party's car, and then rear-ended them. There were no witnesses who saw the crash when it occurred. Shortly after, an officer was on the scene investigating. Another driver stopped and told the officer that moments before the crash, they saw the at-fault driver driving erratically and tailgating other vehicles. This witness's testimony can be used as circumstantial evidence confirming that a driver was behaving in ways that put others at risk of injury in an accident.

Our car accident lawyers may also be able to prove a case using proximate cause, which involves factors that led to an accident, even if they were not the direct cause of a crash. For example, if there was a defective part in a vehicle that hit you, and the driver had no knowledge of that part, then under the proximate cause doctrine, the manufacturer of the defective part could be held liable for the accident.

Contact Our Madison, WI Car Accident Attorneys

If you have been injured in a car crash, do not try to negotiate with an insurance company on your own. With a skilled and experienced Madison car accident lawyer advocating for you, you can help ensure that you will be able to get all of the compensation you are entitled to. At Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown, LLP, we can do exactly that. Contact us at 414-271-1440 today to schedule a free and confidential consultation.