Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton can assist with the following types of personal injury cases:

• Injuries Involving Motor Vehicles
• Injuries To Railroad Workers
• Railroad Accidents
• Asbestos
• Wrongful Death and Catastrophic Injuries
• Head and Brain Injuries, Memory Loss
• Back, Neck and Spinal Injuries
• Faulty Products
• Workplace Lung Disorders
• Medical Negligence
• Nursing Home Abuse & Negligence
• Workplace Hearing Loss
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Motion Injuries

How do I decide if I need to hire an attorney?
An attorney should be consulted if you have been seriously injured or are unsure as to the outcome of your injury. These cases can get quite complicated. In such cases, an attorney will have the legal expertise, time and resources to effectively handle your claim. An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to accurately analyze the value of your case and will be able to meet all of the rules, requirements and deadlines that have to be met. You will most likely have to deal with a professional insurance adjuster from an insurance company. The sole job of the adjuster is to try to settle the claim for as little as possible. Without knowledge of the complex insurance laws and policy provisions, a person could easily give away valuable rights and lose reasonable compensation. Also of note is the fact that statistics show insurance companies pay more than twice as much compensation when an attorney is involved in your claim.

How long do I have to hire an attorney?
The law requires that you file a lawsuit within a specified period of time depending on the nature of the claim and the entity that caused your injury. This is referred to as the statute of limitations. Failure to file suit within this time frame prevents you from filing suit at all. In some instances, there are various exceptions to the statutes of limitation that may extend or limit the limitation periods. There may be special claims presentation requirements for claims against state and local government. For example, local public entities must receive notice of a claim within six months of the date of injury. The limitation period may be extended if the claimant is a minor or mentally incompetent. For these reasons, it is important to consult an attorney as early as possible to be sure you don't miss a crucial deadline.

In Virginia, most actions for personal injury or wrongful death must be brought within two years from the date when the cause of action accrues. In many cases, the cause of action accrues on the date of the incident, but there may be exceptions when the injury could not have reasonably been discovered until a later date. For example, in a medical malpractice action where a foreign object is left in the body, the statute is extended to one year from the date of discovery.

How can I determine how much my claim is worth?
Attorneys are prohibited from promising that they will obtain a certain amount of money for you. For purposes of settlement, a claim is valued upon an estimate of what a jury would likely believe the case to be worth, taking into account the severity of the injury, the effects of the injury on your life and the negligence of the other party. Any settlement will be reduced if there appears to be a good chance that the claim will not be successful. Other factors that may reduce the damages include past medical history, pre-existing injuries, and prior claims history.

Considerable compensation may be commanded if your injuries are severe requiring extensive medical treatment, absences from work and permanent injuries. This is especially true if you were a healthy, productive, young worker prior to the accident. That is because an important factor in the value of your claim is the difference between your quality of life before the accident as compared to after the accident.