Personal Injury Law Firm Rockville, MD
Personal Injury Law Firm Rockville, MD
Do I Need a Personal Injury Law Firm in Rockville, MD?
If you were injured by someone else’s actions and are now considering filing a personal injury claim or lawsuit, the most important step to take is to hire a personal injury lawyer in Rockville, MD. If you are in this situation, you have no doubt heard this piece of advice before. It seems like it is the one thing everyone agrees on, but is it really as important as most make it seem? This guide will go over this issue, explaining whether or not you really should consider hiring a personal injury law firm in Rockville, Maryland.
Representing Yourself
You only have two options: retaining an attorney to represent you or representing yourself. Some people think they can simply represent themselves and save a little money. How hard can it be, right? It turns out that representing yourself is incredibly difficult. In fact, it is so tricky, even attorneys routinely hire another attorney to support them. It has a lot to do with legal knowledge and training, but even if you ignore that aspect, staying unbiased when making your argument is a huge challenge. Simply put, when you are in the middle of your own case, it can be impossible to see what is best, but an unbiased attorney can. That being said, hiring a Rockville, MD personal injury law firm may be a good idea.
Hiring an Attorney
So if you have decided to hire an attorney, what is the best way to go about it? Most important is to not delay. The earlier in the process you have an attorney, the better. You should hire a personal injury law firm Rockville, MD trusts before you even file your lawsuit, so you can be sure it is filed correctly.
If you did not hire your attorney before the trial began, it is not too late. If you are at this point, you are probably starting to see just how hard it is to keep up with everything that happens in a courtroom. All you have to do is tell the judge that you would like to hire an attorney. You do need permission from the judge, but this request is almost always accepted. Judges want people to have the proper representation, both for their own good, but also because it keeps the trial moving quickly.
However, it does take a new attorney some time to get caught up. If the judge thinks that the trial is too close to its end, the request may be rejected. It may also be rejected if you are changing your attorney too many times. If you get an attorney right from the start, however, you will not have to worry about getting the judge’s permission. If you’re ready to call a personal injury law firm in Rockville, MD, call the Law Office of Daniel J. Wright.
Understanding Statutes of Limitations
The legal team at our personal injury law firm Rockville, MD clients recommend knows that civil courts are in place to provide a way for private citizens to seek justice for wrongs done to them and to solve disputes between each other. However, this goal of attempting to provide justice for injured parties is also tempered by the practical issues of the legal system. One of these practical issues is the fact that it is to everyone’s benefit to have cases tried as near to the events that they involve as possible. To that end, state legislatures have imposed statutes of limitations on the various civil claims that people may bring. These statutes are time limits that the person must file the claim by or they will have lost the right to do so.
How Statutes of Limitations Work
Statutes of limitations set the period of time in which a person has to file a case before they lose the ability to file. The time limit varies based on the type of claim, as well as specific circumstances.
For instance, an ordinary personal injury case that your Rockville personal injury law firm files on your behalf has a three-year statute of limitations under Maryland law. That time limit starts to run once the injury occurs. Injuries arising from medical malpractice also have a three-year time limit that starts running from the discovery of the injury. That statute of limitations for children does not start ticking until a child’s 18th birthday, however, if the case involves birth injuries and the parents are also making a claim, the parent’s claim must be filed before the child turns 18.
These are just some examples of the complexities associated with statutes of limitations that make it important for people with legal claims to file their lawsuits as quickly as they can.
The Theory Behind Statutes of Limitations
At first, these statutes may seem unfair, or unduly harsh to injured plaintiffs. After all, it seems like a person should still have a right to seek justice even if their injuries happened more than three years ago. The statutes exist for two reasons, the first practical and the second philosophical.
The practical reason is that evidence decays over time. Courts have to reconstruct what happened in the case based on documents and testimony by witnesses. As time passes, documents can be lost or destroyed and witnesses’ memories fade, which means that the court’s ability to accurately determine what happened decays over time.
The philosophical reason is based on defendants’ rights. While defendants should be held accountable for their actions, legislatures have determined that they need not live with the possibility of a lawsuit hanging over their heads for decades. A person who causes a car accident as a 19-year-old should not have to defend themselves when they are 59.
To learn more about what legal options you may have for injuries you have sustained in an accident caused by another party, you need a dedicated Rockville personal injury law firm representing you. Call the Law Office of Daniel J. Wright to schedule a case evaluation.
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