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An unexpected personal injury, like a neck injury, often turns life upside down. As victims struggle to recover from these injuries, they must deal with insurance adjusters instead of honoring day-to-day commitments at work and school.

Insurance companies may only partially pay out for neck injury claims. If a victim sustains a neck injury, for example, due to a car crash or a strained nerve, adjusters may only approve a certain amount for treatment, regardless of the facts in the case.

The diligent Daphne neck injury lawyers at Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana know that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all injury claim. Instead, our lawyers thoroughly review your case and discuss your legal options. Then, our team of lawyers, investigators, and other professionals builds a strong, evidence-based case that clearly establishes your claims and refutes possible insurance company defenses.

This preparation is critical but means nothing unless your Daphne neck injury attorney has the right skill set to obtain maximum compensation for your serious injuries. Over the years, our proven methods have obtained life-changing results for our clients. We’re confident that these methods will produce the same life-changing outcome in your neck injury case.

A Closer Look at Neck Injuries

Usually, negligence, or a lack of care, causes car crashes that may result in a neck injury. If that’s the case, compensation for neck and other injuries is available.

Whiplash, a specific kind of neck injury, is almost unique to car crash cases. This soft tissue injury is difficult to diagnose. Whiplash neck damage does not appear on X-rays and other common injury diagnostic tests. Furthermore, the initial symptoms of this injury, like neck soreness, are almost exactly like the symptoms of accident shock. Therefore, many doctors do not immediately treat whiplash.

So, instead of getting better, the injury gets worse. Pain that begins in the neck quickly radiates down the shoulders and arms. When whiplash injuries get to this stage, they could cause permanent paralysis.

The Daphne neck injury lawyers at Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana are not doctors. However, our attorneys have professional relationships with doctors who diagnose and treat crash-related injuries, such as whiplash. Since these victims get the treatment they need when they need it, their injuries are much more manageable and a full recovery is much more likely.

As a bonus, these doctors usually charge nothing upfront for their professional services. As an additional bonus, our Daphne neck injury lawyers can successfully negotiate with medical providers to reduce their professional fees.

Compressed nerves, worn joints, muscle strains, and other overuse injuries are frequently work related. Extended periods of sitting could cause neck pain, especially if the victim’s computer keyboard is not in an ergonomically correct position.

Many people ignore or downplay initial symptoms, such as muscle spasms, headaches, and neck stiffness. Instead, they only see doctors when more advanced symptoms appear, like severe pain, radiating pain, or numbness.

By that time, their injuries are much more difficult and much more costly to treat. At this point, physical therapy alone may not be enough to correct the neck injury. Instead, therapy is only successful if doctors perform one or more surgical procedures.

Your Legal Options

As mentioned, negligence is basically a lack of care. A car crash negligence claim in Alabama basically has four elements:

  • Duty: Most Alabama motorists have a duty of reasonable care. They must drive defensively, obey the written and unwritten rules of the road, and avoid accidents if possible. Most Alabama commercial drivers, like Uber drivers, have a higher duty of care.
  • Breach: Quite simply, motorists breach their duty of care when they do not drive defensively, obey the rules of the road, and/or avoid accidents. Some driving mistakes are not a breach of care, but most are.
  • Cause: A Daphne neck injury lawyer must connect the tortfeasor’s (negligent driver’s) breach with the victim’s damages. This connection cannot be far-fetched or fanciful. Instead, there must be a direct connection, at least in most cases.
  • Damages: Victims must sustain actual personal injury to obtain compensation for their economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Additional punitive damages may be available as well, in some extreme cases.

Tortfeasors are legally responsible for the wrecks they cause. Frequently, a third party is financially responsible for the damages these wrecks cause. For example, if someone had too much to drink at a bar, drove home, and caused a wreck, the bar may be financially responsible for the victim’s economic and noneconomic losses.

Workers’ compensation benefits are automatically available if the victim’s injury is work related, once again, at least in most cases. These benefits usually include partial lost wage replacement and reasonable medical bill payment.

Insurance companies often cannot contest responsibility in workers’ compensation cases. But they can, and do, contest the amount for damages in the case. Medical bills are a good example. Insurance adjusters quickly approve the cheapest treatment approach. They rarely approve a reasonably necessary treatment approach.

Some job injury victims can also file legal claims in civil court and obtain additional compensation for their noneconomic losses.

Why Choose Us

Most Alabama lawyers could easily handle a routine personal injury case. However, as outlined above, there’s usually no such thing as a “routine” case. The best Daphne neck injury lawyer has the right combination of:

  • Accessibility: Your lawyer, and not a legal assistant, should assume primary responsibility for your case and be available to answer your questions. However, if your lawyer doesn’t have an assistant, that lawyer may not have the resources to take on a big insurance company. These companies frequently hire teams of lawyers each of whom charge over $1,000 an hour.
  • Experience: If a losing college basketball team returns all five starters but loses most of their games in tournaments, the team is experienced but only experienced in losing. Likewise, if a lawyer has practiced for years but hardly ever gone to trial, s/he is experienced but only knows how to take the easy way out.
  • Dedication: Many attorneys dedicate their practice solely to this field. While this focus can lead to deep expertise, it can also limit their perspective. Mobile, AL personal injury lawyer who diversify their practice, however, often bring a fresh perspective to your case, potentially uncovering angles that others might miss. This combination of focus and diversity can be invaluable in maximizing your potential compensation.

The Daphne neck injury lawyers at Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana check all these boxes. We’re proud to work at a firm with big-city resources and a small-town feel. Our experienced team is willing to go the distance for you. Finally, although we focus mostly on home-grown personal injury claims, we serve clients in other areas as well.

Our strong lawyer referral network is a testament to our success. Many attorneys in the area refer their claims to us because they know we always give our very best.

Remember that, as you search for a lawyer, you have a limited amount of time to act. We urge you to reach out to us now for a no-obligation consultation.

What a Lawyer Can Do for You

Studies consistently show that personal injury victims who work with a Daphne neck injury lawyer receive much larger settlements than victims who pursue do-it-yourself legal claims. An attorney is a good litigator and a good negotiator.

Good litigators, like good students, thoroughly prepare cases. Our team gathers evidence and researches the ever-changing law. So, when your case goes to court, we are well-positioned to obtain maximum compensation for your serious injuries.

Most civil cases settle out of court. In many ways, negotiating a settlement is more difficult than taking a case to trial. During these negotiations, attorneys must advocate for clients, as outlined above. They must also be good negotiators. They need to know when to stand firm and when to compromise. If your lawyer does the wrong thing at the wrong time, you typically settle for less.

FAQs

Neck injuries are so devastating that our Daphne personal injury attorneys receive lots of questions about them. Here are some of the more common questions we hear.

How do you know if a neck injury is serious?

Only a well-qualified doctor can tell if your neck injury is serious. These injuries, like whiplash, often do not appear on routine diagnostic tests. So, an emergency room doctor or general practice doctor could miss a neck injury.

Our Daphne neck injury lawyers quickly connect victims with well-qualified doctors. These doctors assess physical conditions and promptly start treatment plans. As a result, if your neck injury is serious, you get the treatment you need when you need it.

How long does it take for a neck injury to heal?

That is very difficult to say, even for a doctor. The answer to this question usually depends on the severity of the injury and the promptness of the treatment.

Frequently, physical therapy alone mostly heals a neck injury. Usually, these victims sustain some permanent injury, like a permanent loss of motion. However, in most cases, therapy at least allows neck injury victims to get through their days with very little pain.

Sometimes, neck injuries are much more complex. The saga of football star Peyton Manning is a good example.

In 2011, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback underwent multiple surgical procedures to repair his damaged neck. As a result, he missed the 2011 season and lost almost all the strength in his throwing arm. “I was very sensitive to who could see me,” he said during a 2020 interview. “I really only threw the football during that time with about three people. With my wife—I let her see me throw—Eli and my dad. And that was it because I didn’t want anyone else to see me and to see the reaction on their faces.”

This story has a happy ending. In 2019, Manning won another Super Bowl title with the Denver Broncos and was named the game’s most valuable player. He retired shortly thereafter.

What if I was partially at fault for the accident?

Partial responsibility doesn’t matter in workers’ compensation cases. These victims are entitled to full benefits regardless of fault.

Alabama is a pure contributory negligence state. Victims who are even 1 percent responsible for their injuries are ineligible for compensation. So, it’s critical that a Daphne neck injury lawyer prove that the tortfeasor, and only the tortfeasor, was legally responsible for the accident.

There’s a difference between fault and liability (legal responsibility). To go back to the football analogy, fault determinations are like halftime scores, and liability determinations are like final scores. Only the final score matters on the field and in court.

Contact a Resourceful Daphne Neck Injury Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced neck injury lawyer in Daphne, contact Caldwell Wenzel & Asthana, PC. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.