Personal Injury FAQs

Personal injury involves any type of incident by which you are caused injury due to the negligence of another. We often think of motor vehicle or trucking accidents, both of which we at Stanfield Bechtel Law have experience in handling, when we think of personal injury. However, this area of law also includes slip/trip and fall injuries, dog bite incidents, sexual assault, instances that cause emotional injury, wrongful death, accidents arising from construction sites, injuries or death caused by negligent security, and many other instances. If you have been physically or emotionally injured or harmed due to the fault or negligence of another, you have  a personal injury claim and are entitled to multiple types of compensation.

If you are injured and have a personal injury claim, Connecticut allows various types of damages to a victim that can be sought in making a claim or bringing a personal injury action/lawsuit.   Some of these damages are economic damages, which include payment for your medical bills you incur for treatment of your injuries, payment for property damage, and payment of loss wages that you may experience as a result of being unable to pursue your job due to your injuries. You are also entitled to non-economic damages, which include damages for pain and suffering and damages if you experience a permanent injury that will affect your ability to work, to do activities you once could that you no longer are able to, or your ability to enjoy doing things you once enjoyed. You are also entitled to damages to compensate you if your ability to earn a living has been impaired on a temporary or more permanent basis.

If you are in a motor vehicle collision, make sure you can get yourself to a safe place, even if it means moving your car slightly to protect yourself.  When you are in a position of safety and not in danger, call 911 and get police to the scene. Often the other person who caused the collision offers to exchange information and not call police. This is a mistake. While it is very important to get information about the other person’s identity (license and current insurance card), it is more important to get the police to the scene, even if it means a lengthy wait. They will record relevant information and preserve information that may be necessary to give to your lawyer and your insurance company.  If there are witnesses to the incident, see if they will stay until police arrive but also get their name(s) and address(es) if you can. Sometimes the police do not take down this information and later it is helpful to have a favorable witness.  If you have any symptoms of injury, make sure to report this to the police at the scene. This does not mean you have to take an ambulance if you do not want to, but it is important that you report injury to the police if you feel injured at the time.  Also, if you can take photographs safely of your vehicle or the other, it is a good idea to do so.

If your incident or accident is not a motor vehicle accident, still try to secure information about the incident, about anyone else involved and regarding any witnesses. If you can, take photographs.

If you have been involved in a collision with a tractor trailer, it is very important to get counsel experienced with these types of collisions involved as soon as possible. We have been called to the scene of trucking collisions in order to get information and help preserve evidence. IF you call us immediately, we can get out preservation letters and get information recorded by the truck as soon as possible. We can also get experts involved who can obtain information from the trucking company and the tractor trailer itself that is recorded and necessary to pursue a claim. Trucking cases are very different than motor vehicle collisions and you need a lawyer that specifically handles collisions with tractor trailers in order to protect your rights, obtain all necessary evidence and information and make the best case for you to obtain compensation.

There can be very bad collisions where adrenaline takes over and injured victims of personal injury tell police officers they do not have injury. Sometimes some injuries manifest themselves or become more noticeable a day or even two after a motor vehicle collision. If you tell police at the scene that you do not feel injured, this does not defeat your ability to claim injuries later on. Call us and let’s discuss this. We have successfully pursued many cases where someone does not claim injuries at the scene of an accident or where someone does not go immediately to the hospital or urgent care. While it is best if you are feeling injured to go to the hospital or urgent care at the time immediately following the incident to be assessed and treated, this is not always possible. This does not defeat your claim and we can still obtain for you compensation to which you are entitled.

If you suffer injuries that are visible, take photographs or have a family member or friend take photographs to document your injuries. Keep a calendar of medical treatment and appointments. Also jot down notes of how you are feeling and symptoms you are experiencing. Keep track of dates you are not able to work, of medications you have purchased and any other costs you have had to sustain as a result of the incident and your injuries.  Do not speak with any insurance company that is not yours or an investigator. You may have an obligation to speak to your insurance company and you will need to get your vehicle repaired or get money for a totalled vehicle in order to replace it, which will require conversations with insurance companies. We can help with this if you get us involved right away. But if you do this on your own, it is important you do not agree to a recorded statement without counsel present or advising you and that you do not discuss injuries or a lack of injury with insurance until you can consult with counsel.

While you are not obligated to retain counsel, it helps with all aspects of a personal injury claim to retain counsel. Not only will it help to remove tasks off of your plate when you are more vulnerable and possibly less able to function and do things after a violent collision, but it helps to have the knowledge and experience of counsel assisting in order to guide you, make sure you are getting treatment and getting back to health, and preserving your rights and your ability to obtain all of the compensation you are entitled to.  Some people try to handle their own matters, but the insurance companies are well aware when this is happening and generally do not offer the same compensation to someone who does have an attorney. You may say that the insurance companies take advantage of the situation. We do not want this to happen to you.

In Connecticut, what personal injury attorneys can charge is governed by statute.  And because the fee is contingency, a lawyer is not paid fees unless and until they are able to obtain compensation through a verdict or settlement for the client.  The statute that indicates limitation on attorney contingency fees in a personal injury (or wrongful death) matter is Connecticut General Statutes Section 52-251c.  This indicates that attorneys’ fees should not exceed one third (33 and 1/3 percent) of the first $300,000; twenty- five percent of the next $300,000 and so forth on a sliding scale. Exception is allowed, but your attorney must comply with certain portions of the statute in order to charge more for very complex cases.

Let me digress here for a moment. We at Stanfield Bechtel Law want to be the lawyers who help our clients receive as much compensation as possible, since what you are being compensated for arises from your injuries and your pain and suffering.  Therefore, we want to do better than what the statute allows and we have reduced our fees to twenty-five percent (25%) of the first $300,000, putting more money in your pocket. Instead of putting that money in our pocket or spending it on billboards, we have decided to give our clients more.

Payment of any attorneys fees to your lawyer should be deducted from a verdict or settlement to you. You should not have to pay out of pocket or before you obtain payment from the responsible party for your injuries by way of a verdict or settlement and you should only have to pay for your attorneys’ fees if they have been able to get you compensation for your injuries. Costs are different: a plaintiff is responsible to pay for or reimburse costs incurred by counsel, even if they do not get you compensation. Ask your potential attorney about what they expect costs to be in your case and the particulars of how all of this will be handled. It should be spelled out in a retainer agreement you are asked to sign at the beginning of the attorney client relationship. Make sure to read the retainer agreement and get a copy of it.

In Connecticut a personal injury matter generally must be put into suit two years from the date of the injury, when it was discovered or when it should have been discovered. If you have been involved in a motor vehicle or trucking collision, the statute runs two years from the date of the collision.  There are a few exceptions to this, mostly that apply to medical malpractice, product liability and sexual assault. There are also related notice requirements that also come into the picture. For instance, if you have a claim against a Town in Connecticut if for instance you have been caused to fall or be injured on town property, you must give the town formal notice within a much shorter period of time and is according to statute. This can be as short as 90 days. If you have an action against the State of Connecticut, you must give statutory notice to the state in a time period less than two years. These notice requirements are very important and this is why the sooner you can get counsel involved, the better.  Even if you have two years, investigation, dealing with insurance companies and gathering of medical information as well as making sure you have necessary medical treatment all combine to make early involvement of an attorney advantageous to you.  If you end up on an attorney’s doorstep with only a very short time left to file suit, they may not be able to help in time.

The best thing to do is to tell them to call your attorney. If you do not yet have an attorney, indicate to them that you are in the process of getting counsel and that you would like to speak with counsel before having a conversation with him/her. Do NOT speak with an investigator or give them information without consulting counsel. You do not have to and it is usually not in your best interest to do so.

You should not sign a release or any document related to your personal injury claim without an attorney reviewing it and advising you to sign. Sometimes an insurance company offers you quick money for your injuries, much less than an attorney can obtain for you and for which you are entitled. If you sign a release, you may forego compensation you are entitled to.

At the beginning of your case and while you are recovering from injuries, it is not possible to be able to evaluate the value of your personal injury claim. If an attorney promises you big dollars before you are fully recovered or before you have  reached maximum medical improvement from your injuries, this is a red flag to have another consultation with other counsel. Certain damages cannot be evaluated until you reach a certain point with your recovery. While it is up to you if you want to settle early and forego certain compensation, we do not recommend you do this. It is worth the wait to make sure you do not need additional treatment, surgery or will incur other expenses before you settle your case.

Sometimes there is an incident or collision where the injured person may be partially at fault. This does not preclude you from recovering some compensation for your injuries. Liability is sometimes difficult to assess. At Stanfield Bechtel Law, we have taken cases that other law firms have turned down and achieved very large settlements, even when our client has been said to be partially liable. The rule in Connecticut is that if you are less than 50% liable for a collision or incident, you are entitled to recover. Your recovery will be reduced by your own percentage of negligence that contributed to the incident or collision, but that can still be significant compensation.

Yes but we do not recommend it. The insurance company will not offer you as much in most cases when you are not represented by counsel.