Located midway between Baltimore and Washington, DC, on the bank of the Patuxent River, Laurel is home to about 30,000 Marylanders. Our Laurel personal injury lawyers have been practicing law in Maryland and serving Laurel since 1954. If you sustain injuries due to someone else’s negligence, we are here to help. Additionally, we are happy to announce that we recently opened our second office in Upper Marlboro to serve the Maryland community better.
While Laurel is a distinct city and municipality, it is subject to Maryland state laws. Maryland has particular tort laws that differentiate it from most other states. One such tort law is the doctrine of contributory negligence. This means that if a plaintiff is even 1% responsible for their injury, the plaintiff is likely unable to make a claim. Lay people with experience in personal injury accidents may be familiar with this. However, there is an exception to this frustrating rule. This is known as the “last clear chance” rule.
This is also known as the humanitarian doctrine. The rule allows an injured party to recover in Maryland despite being contributorily negligent. As stated above, contributory negligence is generally a total bar to recovery in Maryland. However, this rule states that the person with the last clear chance to avoid an accident who fails to do so is liable for a negligence claim. While this is a foundational rule in Maryland, it is more apparent than it seems. If you want more information on whether you are contributorily negligent, contact a Laurel personal injury lawyer today.
Our lawyers handle cases where a person is injured due to someone else’s negligence. This can cover theoretically any possible type of injury. Below, we have listed the most frequently occurring accident types.
Our approach is simple. First, we handle the legal side. You hired us for a reason: to make your life easier and obtain the maximum compensation afforded to you under the law. Our seasoned personal injury lawyers in Laurel know what it takes to get a win. When you hire us, we fight for you every step of the way.
Beyond the results that we fight to get our clients, we provide personal and compassionate results—our staff, from every lawyer to every legal assistant and paralegal, work compassionately and diligently. We understand how difficult and life-altering sustaining a personal injury due to someone else can be. It is one thing to be hurt, but it is even worse when it is not your fault. We understand this and work to ensure you are as comfortable as you can be with our representation and informed every step of the way.
When hiring a Laurel personal injury lawyer, you should expect peace of mind. Going through any personal injury can be a painful, inconvenient, and frustrating experience. You may no longer have a means of transportation if you are in an auto accident. Your injuries may prohibit you from doing your job, rendering you unable to work and earn a wage. You may be going through excruciating pain that inhibits your ability to sleep at night, throwing you off entirely during the day. These are all things we observe daily. Fortunately, these are all issues we can help you with. When you hire a Laurel personal injury lawyer, you can expect us to fight for just compensation while knowing precisely what you are going through.
When you hire a personal injury attorney in Laurel, you can expect that we will read the records your doctors provide us so we can better understand your injuries. Then, we can negotiate a reasonable settlement for your damages for you. We need to interview you before the negotiation. This informal interview can be done in person or over the phone. This is essential because we need to know if you have fully healed or if you will carry pain with you for the rest of your life. Of course, this distinction dictates how much your case is worth.
Our firm stands out above the rest in Laurel and the rest of Maryland for many reasons. These reasons each support you and work towards building the most robust case for your claim.
This is important for several reasons. First, it enables advocacy for a client’s best interests. Only a compassionate attorney will understand exactly what a client is going through in their personal injury case. Remember, you receive compensation for pain and suffering. So, it is in your interest for your attorney to understand exactly how your daily life is affected. This means knowing whether you can no longer participate in your favorite hobbies for a few months or maybe ever again.
Compassionate representation is also crucial for building trust and rapport. You need to be able to trust your attorney. Going part and parcel with understanding each element of your pain and suffering claim, you must trust your attorney and be comfortable enough to tell us what is bothering you about your injuries. In the end, this will only benefit you.
In a personal injury lawsuit, we aim to hold the defendant accountable and legally liable for your injuries. Aggressive pursuit sends a message to the defendant and their insurance carrier that we are serious about your case and it is not one they can brush under the rug or ignore in the hopes that it will go away. Aggressive pursuit is helpful to protect your rights. We will not allow the insurance carrier for the adverse party to take advantage of you. Instead, we are the party that is on the offensive. Insurance providers are infamous for seeking out a potential plaintiff who does not have legal counsel and providing a lousy offer for settlement. They do this because they know that, sometimes, it works.
We do not allow them to take advantage of you. After decades of experience, we know what your case is worth and will advise you against accepting an offer that would be greatly appreciated. Aggressive pursuit also works towards maximizing your compensation. This is particularly true in settlement negotiations. Insurance companies are vested in paying as little as possible for your injuries. This is true despite them having a good understanding of the actual value of your claim. They look to thread the needle and offer you the lowest amount they think you will accept. We continually push them to provide you with as much as possible and do not allow them to take advantage of our clients.
Unsurprisingly, experience in personal injury law is critically important. First of all, experience provides a lawyer with knowledge of the law. Yes, lawyers learn the black letter law in law school. But that is a law that more or less applies to the entire country. There are different laws for each state, including Maryland.
Moreover, Maryland has unique defenses to be aware of, rules of evidence, and civil procedure. Beyond a knowledge of the law, experience provides the opportunity to hone negotiating skills. Most of the time, the issue is not in determining liability. In roughly 80% of cases, the defendant will accept liability. More often than not, the problem is determining the amount of damages. While there are basic formulas to calculate damages, almost all of the noneconomic damages portion is somewhat arbitrary.
Another crucial part of having experience as a personal injury lawyer in Laurel is we have an understanding of the insurance industry. First, each insurance company behaves slightly differently. GEICO, for example, has a demonstrable negotiating strategy that seemingly all its employees use. Negotiating with them requires more patience as they will increase their settlement offers, but it will be in small increments. Insurance companies have varying clauses in their policies as well. Our attorneys have experience dealing with these vastly different policies and provisions.
While we cannot speak for all personal injury lawyers in Laurel, our attorneys operate on a contingency fee basis. This means you have to pay our fee, contingent on whether we win your case. You are on the hook for zero if we do not win your case. If we win your case via settlement, our fee is one-third of the recovery. We will also advance all costs for our client. As before, you do not have to pay these costs back if we are unsuccessful. However, if we win your case, these costs are reimbursed from the recovery. This means that you never pay the costs out of your pocket. Instead, the defendant or some insurance company is paying them.
We file suit on your case for two reasons, although other possibilities exist. The first reason is that the defendant is denying liability. If that is the case, then we will need to prove liability by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence. The second main reason is that we cannot negotiate a reasonable settlement offer that accurately represents your damages. While we are very good at negotiating these settlements, sometimes, insurance companies have no interest in being rational. They likely have their reasons for this, but we will never advise that you accept a settlement offer when we think you are better off going to trial. If we go to trial, our fee increases from one-third to 40%.
Once we establish liability, we can calculate damages. Damages represent the injury you incur, both financially and physically, as a direct result of the incident.
Perhaps intuitive, but economic damages represent the financial injury you incur due to the accident. This generally includes medical expenses and lost wages. But, it can consist of any financial injuries under the property damage umbrella.
This represents your physical injuries. But of course, a court of law cannot reverse you receiving your physical injuries. So, the best thing it can do is give you financial compensation for your pain and suffering. This is a more complex number to calculate than your economic damages amount. Some juries will evaluate your injuries differently than another jury.
Furthermore, some counties are recognized as being more favorable for plaintiffs while others are not. Of course, this is only true for the noneconomic aspect of your damages claim. While some insurance companies will try to discount your medical expenses, there is only a legal basis to do so if it is unreasonable. However, the burden is on the defense to prove that it is an excessive treatment. Doing so would also require an expert witness, so it is generally wrong and expensive.
Handling an injury claim alone can be complex and lead to poor results. Let us simplify this for you. Could you call an experienced and aggressive Laurel personal injury lawyer today?
“I worked with Roger Gelb and his team. They were super fast and asked me for what they needed.”
– Former Client
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