If you have been injured in two separate accidents, it is critically important to use the same California personal injury attorney for both of your claims. In this situation, the insurance companies that represent each at-fault driver will try to avoid paying you compensation by pointing the finger at the other accident as the true cause of your injuries. Having one skilled and highly experienced attorney to handle both claims will help you put together a coordinated case that maximizes compensation for your injuries.
California is a “fault” state when it comes to car accidents, which means that the person who is responsible for a crash can be sued for medical expenses and other related damages. In a situation where there were two separate accidents, there are two at-fault drivers, and two different insurance companies (or policies) that may be liable for the damages suffered by the injured victim.
You should never settle one claim and leave the second claim open. Strategically, it is very advantageous to be in court and have the attorneys for the responsible drivers blame each other for having caused your injuries. This creates opportunities for the insurance company’s’ lawyers to make arguments or other strategic decisions that contradict each other.
By using the same California personal injury attorney for both claims, you will substantially increase the likelihood that you will receive maximum compensation for your losses. Your lawyer can work with medical experts and accident reconstruction experts to determine which injuries are attributed to each accident. This information will then be used as leverage to obtain the highest settlement possible from each insurance company.
By comparison, if you use two different lawyers — or if you chose to represent yourself — the insurance companies will take full advantage of the opportunity to blame each other for having caused your injuries. This means that you will receive little to no compensation for one of your claims, and that overall, you will receive far less compensation than what you could have received with a highly skilled and experienced attorney fighting for your rights.
