Auto Accidents

Auto Accidents

 
Why Choose Giannet Law Firm, P.A. for your Auto Accident Case?

At Giannet Law Firm, I have devoted a large part of my practice to representing those injured in auto accidents. When a person has a car accident, they experience not only physical injuries, but also overwhelming emotional distress and financial problems resulting from the crash. Lives are changed, sometimes dramatically.   

As with my disability practice, my injury practice is very dear to my heart but carries a personal story. In my second year as an attorney, I was involved in an auto accident during my lunch break working at the courthouse as a judicial staff attorney. It was not my fault! I was driving north and had a green light. A careless driver was driving east and struck me on the driver’s side. My car spun around and crashed into a small storefront near the downtown Tampa area. I was shaken. I was frightened, but I stayed strong and cool headed. The front of my car was completely smashed. Someone had already called 911. The other driver was fine and did not even apologize. The ambulance arrived, but I did not feel injured so I did not go to the hospital. My car was towed to the dealership auto body shop with nearly $30,000 of damage. My first thought was to thank God that I was alright. My second thought was to call my family to tell them I was alright and to come pick me up. I went back to work the next day.

A few weeks later I started to experience some headaches. Maybe it was from reading all that law! I went to the doctor once and had a test to confirm everything was clear. I felt better in a few days. My car was repaired after several weeks. I was able to drive it again being ever more cautious of other drivers and the potential that their negligence causes accidents. The driver who caused my accident received a ticket from the police. He decided to contest it in court. I represented myself in the court hearing, arguing and proving his fault and why he was properly ticketed. My insurance company paid for my car damage. My insurance company was then reimbursed by the at fault driver’s insurance company who accepted liability and that he was at fault. I did not need a lawyer because I was one and I knew my legal rights. I was just happy and thankful that I was not hurt.

Not every accident story will turn out like mine. There will be stories with serious injuries, need for medical treatment, inability to work and high medical bills. When you are in an accident, first, you will wonder about what just happened. How did it happen? You will experience a situational shock. You will wonder if you are okay and if anything hurts, you will call 911, you will call your family, you will be shaken up and afraid. You may not think straight and not know what to do.

Your first and foremost consideration should be on your health and well-being. Under Florida Law, you must report the crash to your own insurance company first. Under the State no fault law, regardless of who is at fault, your personal injury protection (PIP) benefits will be issued to cover a portion of your medical bills and lost wages.

When I am hired to represent someone who has been in a car accident, I immediately begin investigating fault, your insurance coverage, the other driver’s insurance coverage, your medical injuries and damage to the vehicles involved.

Initially, when an accident occurs, it will not be your first priority to protect your legal rights or to call a lawyer. There are some TV commercials with lawyers telling you to call them first and they even give you their cell phone numbers with the promise that you can reach them 24/7! Some assure you that they will come to your hospital room or home. They will likely send one of their staff members to have you sign electronic documents on an ipad or laptop. You may receive flyers and advertisements in the mail from some soliciting attorneys who found out about your accident and your address from a public records search and they will ask you to hire them. Some attorneys may improperly promise you certain results or settlement ranges and advertise their settlement and verdict numbers to entice you.  They may even entice you to call them to get an estimate of the value of your case.  

In your time of injury and chaos, it will be difficult for you to choose whom to represent you. Some will make their decision based on a TV ad, direct mail solicitation, the size of the law firm or fame of the attorney, or their high dollar figures advertised on their webpages. The hiring of an attorney should not be based on an advertisement alone.

Before the practice of law became so commercialized and car accident attorneys were so numerous, people used to find their attorneys and hire them the old- fashioned way. They used their common sense; they considered the attorney's reputation and character; they asked their friends, co- workers and neighbors for recommendations. They looked in the yellow pages or other appropriate advertising magazine. They considered the attorney’s credentials. When they called the attorneys office, they would get a chance to speak personally to that attorney. When they found someone they liked, they made an appointment, met with that person in the attorney’s office, signed papers in pen and ink and confidently entrusted their legal matter, an important part of their life, to that attorney. The attorney was proud to accept the case and they would start working on it without delay. Here at Giannet Law Firm, since the firm’s birth on Christmas Eve 2007, this has remained our practice model of representation, case- by- case and client- by- client.  

In the world of TV and online attorney advertising with so many attorneys from which to choose, please don’t abandon your common sense but use it to seek out someone who will sincerely work for you and give you and your case the priority you deserve. When you select an attorney to represent you on your car accident case, you should know whether that attorney will meet with you and speak to you and to what extent your case will be assigned to a paralegal or case manager in their firm. Will that attorney be the one directly communicating with the insurance adjuster and attorneys on the other side and investigating all aspects of your case? If I represent you, I will be the one doing that. You will have personalized and individualized attention as I pursue justice for the fairest most appropriate outcome in your case. 

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