Kansas Bicycle Injury Client Story
The names and circumstances of this story have been changed to hide the identity of our client. The purpose of this client story is to teach you some more things about your bicycle injury case and answer some additional questions you may have. Make sure you read it to the end. You will learn a lot along the way. When you are done, please take advantage of our free legal consultations and get the information you need for your specific case. On a warm Kansas summer night not too long ago, a young mother of three in Wichita, Helen Johnson, needed some odds and ends from the store for a family get together the next day. Helen thought about taking the truck but then remembered that she wanted to ride her bike more during the week. Helen was in a friendly competition with her husband to get in better shape and she was winning. Helen only needed a couple of things so, she decided to take her bike instead of the truck. It was a beautiful night. Warm with a nice summer breeze. The store was only a short distance away and Helen was taking her time because she was enjoying her bike ride some much. She was just about to reach the store when out of nowhere a delivery truck racing to back out of a driveway smashed right into her. Helen never saw the truck coming. She went flying. In an instant Helen’s life flashed before her eyes. While Helen lied in the street unable to move, all she could think of was who is going take care of Jim, her husband. Who is going to take care of her boys – Will, Nate and Johnny? She began to cry, not because of the pain which was severe but because she was worried about her family. Within a few minutes the police and an ambulance were there to help get Helen to the hospital. Helen ended up spending two weeks in the hospital. As soon as she was released, she started searching online for a good lawyer to help her with her bicycle injury claim. She found our law firm online and called our law office. That was the first time we met Helen. Helen is a special lady. The kind of person you instantly fall in love with because of her gracious personality. During our initial conversations, Helen had three main questions: (1) How much does it cost? (2) How much is my case worth? and (3) How long is this going to take? You may have the same questions. Read what we told her to learn more about your claim. How much does a bicycle injury trial lawyer cost to hire a lawyer?
When Helen came to our office, she was still undergoing medical treatment for her injuries. As a matter of fact, it looked like she was going to be in treatment for at least another 6 months to a year. She was looking at possibly a few more surgeries. She wasn’t able to work and money was tight. One of the very first question Helen asked us was, “How much are you going to charge me?’ We told Helen, “Our law firm doesn’t charge anything upfront.” Helen looked relieved. We told Helen we would fund the entire case. We would cover all the costs. One of our Kansas bicycle injury lawyers told her we work on what we call a contingency fee basis, which means we only get paid after we successfully resolved her case. Helen said, “That sounds good. My biggest concern was we might not be able to afford your services.” How much is my case worth?
As the conversation with Helen continued, Helen asked, “How much do you think my case is worth?” We told Helen that unfortunately it is almost impossible to say early on because we needed to conduct our investigation and we needed to understand her damages first. We told Helen we would start our investigation right away. We would gather all the evidence at the scene of the accident, all the witness statements, and prepare her case. We asked Helen to focus on her medical treatment and recovery. One of our Kansas bicycle injury lawyers told Helen, “The best thing you can do right now is to follow your doctor’s treatment plan.” We then explained to Helen that we needed her to get to maximum medical improvement. Maximum medical improvement is nothing more than a point at which the doctors say either you are back to normal, or you are not going to get any better. Your condition will not improve. This is the point when we can confidently say there will not be any more surgeries. We will know what we can expect in the way of future medical care. At this point we will understand all your current and future economic and non-economic damages. We told Helen, “This is when we will be able to tell her what her bicycle injury case is truly worth.” Helen nodded her head to acknowledge that she understood. How long will my bicycle injury accident claim take?
Helen then asked, “How long does will it take to resolve a bicycle injury claim in Kansas?” We explained to Helen this is also difficult to say early on. The reason this is difficult to say early on is because we need to understand two things. First, we need to understand all her damages. Second, we need to understand if the insurance company was going to be fair and reasonable. We told Helen we needed her to focus on her medical treatment. Once we get to the point we described earlier called maximum medical improvement, we will understand all of her damages. We then went on to explain, “Once we fully understood your damages, we will send a demand letter to the insurance company.” “If the insurance company is fair and reasonable, we will be able to resolve the case quickly.” We cautioned her that sometimes insurance companies are not fair and reasonable. And if this happens, we will have to take her case to trial. We told her not to worry if this happens though because she would be prepared, and we would be prepared. We told Helen, “We take injury cases to jury verdicts all the time.” “That is the last thing the insurance company wants. They will probably come to the table in a more reasonable manner after we put the case in suit.” “That’s why you want to hire a trial lawyer. A trial lawyer will prepare your case as if it is going to trial from day one.” “You will always get the best result if you a hire an experienced bicycle injury trial lawyer.” Helen looked relived again. Helen retained our law office. We are happy to say we got her eight times more than the insurance companies initially offered.