Auto Accident Lawyer in The Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area

A Utah Highway Safety Office report states that over 61,000 motor vehicle accidents happened in the state during 2021. Over 26,000 people sustained injuries, and 328 people died in those collisions.

Injured auto accident victims can face long recovery times and mounting medical expenses. They likely can’t work, adding to their financial burdens. Although many drivers have car insurance, the insurance companies don’t like paying claims and may try to shortchange the victims.

Fielding Law assists injured accident victims daily, fighting with greedy insurance companies to help our clients obtain the compensation they deserve. Whether your crash happened in the Salt Lake City Metropolitan area or elsewhere, give us a call today to see how we can help you if an auto accident injured you or killed a family member.

What Should You Do After an Auto Accident?

You’ll be unsettled if you’re involved in a car crash, but there are a few things you’ll need to do while you’re at the accident site. These tasks will benefit your health and strengthen your insurance claim.

• If there are injured people in your car or others, try to provide assistance. At the least, note the types of injuries present.
• Call the police. Although someone else may call them too, you should give details about injuries and other pertinent information so the 911 operator can send the proper first responders to the accident scene.
• Speak to other drivers, police officers, and witnesses. Even if you think you’re partially to blame for the collision, don’t admit fault and don’t apologize.
• Use your phone to take photos and make audio and video recordings. Document your account of how the wreck happened, witness statements, injuries, vehicle and other property damage, skid marks, and any other useful details you may need when filing your claim.
• Accept medical attention. If paramedics don’t come to the accident site, visit a hospital for an assessment. This is crucial for your health and your insurance or personal injury claims.

You’ll need to report the accident to your insurance company. It’s also wise to contact an auto accident lawyer soon after the crash.

Why Should You Talk to a Car Accident Lawyer?

In the perfect world, you won’t have any problems getting a reasonable settlement offer from liable insurance companies. Unfortunately, that rarely happens. The insurance carrier may:

• Deny your claim.
• Attempt to assign the majority of the blame to you.
• Offer you a minimal amount of compensation.
• Say you didn’t get your injuries in the accident.
• State that your injuries aren’t as serious as they are.

Other issues you might have include:

• The at-fault driver has minimal or no auto insurance.
• You feel the police report is inaccurate regarding blame.
• Your injuries require ongoing medical treatment.
• Assigning blame to more than one guilty party in a multiple-car accident.

A competent car accident lawyer can be invaluable in any of these situations. The attorneys at Fielding Law know how to handle complicated claims. We get to the bottom of every accident to best represent our clients and obtain maximum compensation for their damages.

What If You’re Partially Responsible for Causing Your Accident?

More than one person is often guilty of contributing to causing a car crash. Each state has laws to determine if you can seek damages if you’re at fault.

In Utah, we use modified comparative negligence with a 50% threshold. As long as you’re less than 50% responsible for your collision, you can request compensation for your damages. However, the more responsible you are, the less compensation you can get.

Suppose you’re 25% at fault for causing your accident, and the total damages are $100,000. 25% of the damages are taken away, meaning the most you could receive is $75,000. That’s why it’s critical to have a car accident attorney assist you with your claim. We will be sure that blame isn’t assigned unfairly, so you can collect the compensation you deserve.

How Can an Auto Accident Lawyer Help You?

If you sustain injuries in a car wreck, you need to focus on healing and recovery, not paperwork and legal issues. At Fielding Law, we help our clients with all aspects of car insurance claims and personal injury lawsuits:

• Providing advice
• Filing paperwork
• Speaking to insurance company investigators and representatives on your behalf
• Thoroughly investigating the causes of your wreck
• Refusing to let your degree of responsibility for the wreck be exaggerated
• Negotiating with insurance companies to obtain a favorable settlement offer
• Taking your case to trial if necessary

The laws governing car accidents are challenging to navigate at times, especially in crashes involving multiple vehicles. You need to prove that someone else’s negligence caused your collision and injuries while proving that you hold minimal or no responsibility. Your auto accident attorney uses their knowledge and experience to guide you throughout the process.

What Damages Can You Get After a Car Accident?

Injured accident victims may wonder what types of things they can receive compensation for. In Utah, there are three categories of damages, although the third is rare.

Economic Damages

You’ll face several expenses after a car accident that injures you. Economic damages can reimburse you, so you don’t have to bear the financial hardship if someone else causes your collision:

• Property damage
• Medical bills including doctor visits, hospital stays and procedures, prescription medications, medical equipment like a wheelchair, rehabilitation, and transportation costs
• Lost wages
• Certain daily expenses like hiring a caregiver

Keep good records of these costs, including bills and receipts. You’ll need them for your insurance claim and possible personal injury lawsuit.

Non-Economic Damages

You won’t have receipts for these damages because they are subjective and don’t have specific dollar amounts attached. Non-economic damages are awarded for things like:

• Inconvenience
• Pain and suffering
• Anxiety, depression, and PTSD
• Permanent disfigurement or disability
• The inability to enjoy life
• Damage to personal relationships
• Loss of consortium

How severely these things impact your life can help determine how much compensation you’ll receive for these damages. At times, you may need experts to examine you so they can testify on your behalf. Fielding Law can arrange that for you.

Punitive Damages

A trial may award punitive damages to the victim in specific circumstances to punish the guilty party. To qualify, the person responsible for causing your accident must have acted with clearly willful maliciousness or reckless indifference. Your auto accident lawyer can tell you if your case is eligible for punitive damages.

Why Should You Choose Fielding Law?

If you sustain injuries in a car accident in Salt Lake City or elsewhere, you may need a car accident lawyer. We understand that you could hire other attorneys, but several things make Fielding Law stand out from the rest.

• You can speak directly to a licensed attorney, not just office staff.
• We focus on personal injury law and car accidents, so we are intimately familiar with how to handle your case successfully.
• We have big-firm resources, but you’ll get the personal attention of a small firm.
• We will always keep you updated, answering your questions and providing case status reports.

We want you to receive the compensation you deserve for your injuries, and we will aggressively seek it. We won’t let insurance companies take advantage of our clients.

Contact Fielding Law for a free case evaluation today. Someone is available to speak to you 24/7.