Car accidents are common in Durant and throughout Oklahoma. When a crash occurs, it rarely is blameless. Typically, the crash happens because of someone’s negligence. After these car crashes, injured individuals can be left with a pile of medical bills and a long recovery period that keeps them out of work. Many crash victims cannot work again.
If you find yourself in this situation, Edwards & Patterson Law wants to help you. Our personal injury attorneys, Matthew Patterson and Tony Edwards, are members of The National Top 100 Trial Lawyers Association. We are ready to put our experience to work for you. Contact our law office today to discuss your case in a free consultation.
How Can Our Durant Personal Injury Lawyers Help You After an Accident?
After you have been hurt in a crash, we know that it will have a tremendous impact on your life. In addition to the medical bills and other expenses that an accident causes you to sustain, you may also be unable to enjoy the things you once did such as hobbies, activities around the home and your relationship with your spouse and children.
At Edwards & Patterson Law, we care about you, your family and your future. We want to ensure that you get the treatment you need so that you and your family can move on with your life as quickly as possible. We will handle everything in your case, from dealing with insurance companies to filing all necessary paperwork. Our goal will be to recover the maximum amount for you.
What Do You Need to Prove in a Car Accident or Other Personal Injury Case in Oklahoma?
If you have been hurt in an accident in Durant, you may be eligible to claim compensation for your injuries. To do this, you must prove that someone else was at fault for your accident. In any personal injury case, the four basic elements you must establish are:
- Duty – The duty of care which we owe to others depends on the situation, which can make this element challenging to establish in some cases. For instance, all drivers owe each other a duty of care. However, property owners in Durant do not owe the same duty of care to all visitors. The duty of care depends on the visitor’s status. The owner will owe a much higher duty to a person whom they invite onto their premises – for example, a customer in a store – compared to someone who unlawfully enters the property, or a trespasser.
- Breach – The heart of most personal injury cases lies in establishing that another person breached the duty of care. For example, in a distracted driving accident case, a driver’s decision to text, talk on the phone or allow other distractions to keep them from driving safely would be the breach.
- Causation – You must also prove that another person’s negligence caused your injuries. For example, if one driver was speeding, but it was another driver that ran a stop sign and caused your injuries, you would not have a claim against the driver that was speeding.
- Damages – You must also prove that another person caused you to suffer actual damages, or losses. For example, if another person caused a car accident that damaged your car but caused no bodily injury to you, then you may have a property damage claim not a personal injury claim.
What Types of Personal Injury Cases Do We Handle in Durant?
Sadly, many different types of accidents can occur in Durant. The most common types of personal injury cases that we handle at Edwards & Patterson Law include:
- Car accidents – We often work with clients in Durant who have suffered serious injuries at the hands of careless or reckless drivers, including drivers who were distracted by texting or talking on their phones at the time of the crash or impaired by drugs or alcohol. If you’ve been in an auto accident in Durant, we can help.
- Motorcycle accidents – As we have seen, motorcycle crashes often occur due to the failure of car and truck drivers to respect the rights of motorcyclists and to share the road safely with them. We aggressively protect motorcyclists’ rights.
- Truck accidents – Trucking companies and their insurers move quickly to protect themselves after a crash. You need to move quickly, too. We can take immediate steps to preserve and gather important evidence in your case.
- Bicycle/pedestrian accidents – Like motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians lack structural protection. So, when they collide with motor vehicles, they can suffer devastating injuries. We work hard to pursue maximum compensation for victims.
- Slip and falls – Whether they are big-box retailers like Wal-Mart or neighbors, property owners owe a duty of care to their visitors. We know how to hold negligent property owners accountable for allowing preventable falls to happen on their property.
- Dog bites – Dog bites and other types of attacks can cause serious injuries. They often leave victims with permanent scarring and disfigurement. We know how to navigate Oklahoma’s complex dog bite laws in order to seek maximum compensation for victims.
- Nursing home abuse – Many nursing homes in Durant and surrounding areas fail to provide acceptable care to the residents under their supervision. We will move quickly to protect your loved one and seek the answers that your family deserves.
- Wrongful death – Oklahoma recognizes the harm that family members suffer when someone else’s wrongful conduct causes the wrongful death of a loved one. We can pursue damages that may include funeral and burial expenses and the loss of your loved one’s services and support.
What Damages Can You Recover in a Durant Personal Injury Claim?
An accident may leave you with serious injuries such as broken bones, head injuries, back injuries and more. To help you to deal with these injuries and get the treatment you need, you can pursue damages that may include:
- Past and future medical costs
- Lost wages, bonuses and benefits
- Loss of earning capacity
- Incidental expenses such as transportation to and from doctor’s appointments
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life.
Don’t suffer on your own. Our expert injury and car accident attorneys in Durant can offer expert legal aid.
Our Durant, OK Car Accident Attorneys and Personal Injury Lawyers Are Ready to Help You
When you have been injured in an accident, don’t try to file your claim on your own. At Edwards & Patterson Law, our Durant personal injury lawyers will protect your rights and interests and pursue the maximum amount of compensation for you. Contact our law office now to schedule your free consultation to get legal advice from one of our attorneys.