Articles

The Right Alaska Attorney for Your Case

by Kristen White Blogger
How do you know you are choosing the right accident attorney in Alaska? 

There are currently 2,315 attorneys registered to practice law in Alaska.  At the outset, the right ones will know the important basics listed below.

When involved in an automobile accident, even when it does not involve injury to a person, it is vitally important to report the incident to the relevant authorities to protect your rights.  Indeed, Alaska Statute §28.35.080, titled “Immediate Notice of Accident” requires, in many circumstances, the driver of a vehicle involved on an accident where property damage appears to exceed $2,000.00, to forward written report of the incident to the Department of Public Safety, Department of Administration and/or the local police department.

Also important is the fact that, pursuant to Alaska Statute §09.10.070, any lawsuit seeking damage to personal property (such as automobile damage) must be filed within two (2) years, whether or not it is part of a legal action with multiple issues or a standalone civil suit.
 
If you miss the above-stated deadline to file your lawsuit, it is likely that the person you sue will file papers seeking to dismiss your suit.  Unless you have already been granted an extension of this deadline (something difficult to obtain in most circumstances), the Court will dismiss your case and you will be forever barred from recovering monies, even if the property damage was unequivocally another person’s fault.

You should also be aware that Alaska uses a comparative fault analysis to award damages.  In other words, a judge or jury will reduce any award based on any fault you are deemed to have in causing the accident.  In other words, even if you prove $10,000.00 worth of damage to your vehicle, but a judge or jury decides that you were half (50%) responsible for the occurrence, you will only receive a payment $5,000.00.  The remaining $5,000.00 will now come out of your own pocket.

Typically, awards for physical injuries may be had for (i) economic damages (such as lost wages, medical bills and the like), (ii) non-economic damages (pain and suffering), (iii) emotional distress, (iv) wrongful death, and (v) loss of consortium (awarded to the injured person’s partner due to the inability of the injured party to perform as they did before).  The first category is typically provable through documentary evidence; the others are more subjective and for a judge or jury to decide.  A qualified personal injury attorney knows how to present the facts to a judge or jury that will aid in increased awards to an injured person.  A physically injured person CANNOT collect punitive damages in personal injury cases.

In any personal injury incident, no matter how minor you believe it to be, whether or not you feel you need a lawyer for a car accident, it is important to speak with the best Anchorage attorneys before you speak with any representative of an insurance company.  Whether or not you ultimately retain an attorney to pursue your claim, advice from a lawyer familiar with automobile accident and local laws can often help you avoid torpedoing your claim, no matter how strong it may be.

Consulting the right accident attorney in Alaska and promptly and filling out the proper forms not only ensures compliance with relevant laws and regulations, but also serves to create a paper trail with all relevant information, something that can only serve to improve your chances at prevailing on your claim.

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About Kristen White Committed   Blogger

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Joined APSense since, August 19th, 2016, From Chicago, United States.

Created on Dec 14th 2018 06:43. Viewed 522 times.

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