Asheville Multi-Vehicle Accident Attorney

Buncombe County Multi-Vehicle Accident Lawyer

Multi-vehicle pile-up collisions usually begin with one driver’s negligence. Driver error causes over 98 percent of the car wrecks in North Carolina. Common driver errors include aggressive driving (like speeding) and impaired driving (like fatigued driving). If that error was negligence, or a lack of care, which is usually the case, substantial compensation is available for serious crash-related injuries.

These injuries usually include specific kinds of head injuries, such as whiplash and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Whiplash is a motion-related head/neck injury that’s very difficult to diagnose. Initial whiplash symptoms, like neck soreness, mimic accident shock. Therefore, many doctors do not even check for this soft tissue injury. PTSD is another specific kind of brain injury. Extreme stress, like a car crash, enlarges the amygdala (part of the brain that controls emotional responses) and shrinks the hippocampus (logical responses). Resulting symptoms include depression, flashbacks, nightmares, and personality changes.

Crash victims need money to get proper treatment for their head injuries and other wounds. Additionally, these victims must pick up the pieces of their lives and somehow move on. That requires money as well. To obtain this compensation, Lakota Denton, a dedicated Asheville multi-vehicle accident lawyer, uses proven methods that he and his team have refined over many years. These methods enable us to hit the ground running, so we are well-positioned to obtain maximum compensation for your serious injuries.

Why Choose Us

In short, you should choose Lakota Denton because he has obtained life-changing results in the past. There is every reason to believe that he and his team will also obtain results that exceed your expectations. Our experience, work ethic, and tenacity separate our team from other multi-vehicle accident lawyers in Asheville, NC.

Years of experience are important for any legal team. But you want a team with the right kind of experience. A losing football team that returns all twenty-two starters is experienced, but it does not have winning experience.

This background must include trial experience.  If insurance companies know that a lawyer looks for the easy way out, its lawyers usually make low-ball settlement offers. Things are different if the insurance company knows that an Asheville multi-vehicle accident attorney will go to the mat for you.

A football team must work hard to win a game. For even the best high school team, victory on Friday night means hard work in practice the whole week.  This practice focuses on the fundamentals. At the same time, the team must develop a solid game plan that’s tailored to the upcoming opponent.

Likewise, thorough preparation that focuses on the details wins court cases. Additionally, an Asheville multi-vehicle accident lawyer must have a solid plan that focuses on the opponent at hand. More on that below.

Experience and hard work are nothing without tenacity. Lakota Denton, unlike some other Asheville multi-vehicle accident attorneys, never looks for an easy way out. Like you, he’s not satisfied with anything less than the best possible result under the circumstances.

Evaluating a Case

Football teams look at scouting reports and game films to develop game plans. In much the same way, when he evaluates a case, Lakota Denton looks at small details while never losing sight of the big picture.

These small details include items like collision angles and items in the passenger area. Collision angles often determine which tortfeasor (negligent driver) initiated the pile-up crash. Items in the passenger area, even things like discarded fast food receipts, are telltale indicators of distracted driving.

In North Carolina, the big picture in a car crash case usually involves the negligence per se rule or the ordinary negligence doctrine.

If a tortfeasor violated a safety law and that violation substantially caused injury, the tortfeasor could be responsible for damages as a matter of law. Damages in a car crash claim usually include money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

This time-saving shortcut normally applies only if an emergency responder issued a citation. Some departments encourage officers to issue citations, to better establish fault for the crash, but most departments discourage such behavior. To their way of thinking, a car wreck, even a multi-vehicle car wreck, is a civil dispute for insurance companies to sort out.

Therefore, an Asheville multi-vehicle accident lawyer typically uses the ordinary negligence doctrine to obtain compensation in these cases. This doctrine has four basic prongs:

• Duty: Most noncommercial drivers have a duty of reasonable care. This legal principle is based on the story of the Good Samaritan. This man went out of his way to help an injured traveler. Likewise, drivers must go out of their way to avoid accidents.
• Breach: Driver impairment and aggressive driving are the most common breaches of care in a car crash case. Not every driving error is a breach of care. That’s why attention to detail is so important during a case evaluation.
• Cause: Victim/plaintiffs must establish factual and legal cause. Factual cause is substantial cause. Bad weather contributes to wrecks, but driver error substantially causes them. Legal cause is foreseeability (possibility). This element is often difficult to prove in chain-reaction wreck claims.
• Damages: Near-miss multi-vehicle accidents are terrifying, but not usually actionable in court. Instead, the victim must sustain a tangible injury, be it personal injury or property damage. Any amount of injury suffices.

As mentioned, it’s often hard to pinpoint the tortfeasor who “started it” in multi-vehicle accident claims. But in a pile-up crash, initial fault doesn’t matter too much to a victim. The victim must only prove that one driver was negligent. The other drivers may then sort out proportional responsibility if they choose. Either way, the victim/plaintiff obtains maximum compensation.

Resolving a Case

Usually, the beginning and the end of any journey are the two most critical moments. A good start is important, but Asheville multi-vehicle accident lawyers waste that good start if they don’t finish well.

This good finish is usually an out-of-court settlement. About 95 percent of civil claims settle out of court. A few cases settle almost immediately. But multi-vehicle wrecks usually involve serious injuries, as outlined above. Therefore, it takes some time for an Asheville multi-vehicle accident lawyer to establish a claim’s settlement value. This process cannot begin until medical treatment is at least substantially complete.

An injury claim’s settlement value is much like a new car’s sticker price. This figure is the starting point for financial negotiations. The settlement value usually begins with all medical bills and other economic losses in the case. Then, an attorney adds a reasonable amount for pain and suffering, based on the facts of the case. A few other factors, such as the plaintiff’s motivation to settle quickly, may come into play as well.

Many cases officially settle during mediation. A professional mediator, who is usually an unaffiliated Asheville multi-vehicle accident lawyer, oversees negotiations, ensuring that both sides negotiate in good faith. This duty requires both parties to truly work for a settlement. They cannot briefly go through the motions and then say “I’ll see you in court.”

Mostly because of the added good-faith negotiation duty, civil mediation is about 90 percent successful in Buncombe County.

FAQs

When a sudden and unexpected car crash creates lots of questions, a good Asheville multi-vehicle accident lawyer like Lakota Denton has the answers.

What should you do right after a crash?

Saying the right things to the right people right after a car crash makes a big difference in the results of your case.

For example, never apologize to the other driver, even if you think you caused the wreck. Most people apologize to express sympathy. But in court, an insurance company lawyer can twist an apology into an admission of liability.

Additionally, never give a statement to another driver’s insurance company. TV commercials feature affable adjusters like Jake from State Farm. In the real world, insurance adjusters, like insurance lawyers, look for ways to twist your words. Don’t give them the chance to do so.

What if I got hit by a car but I feel fine?

This feeling is very common. Most head injury victims “feel fine” after such incidents. That’s why concussed athletes ask their coaches to put them back in the game.

Even if you feel fine after a wreck, always see a good doctor. You simply don’t know how badly you were hurt unless you have such an examination. If you don’t know where to go or don’t have any money, don’t worry. Attorneys have professional relationships with doctors who focus on car crash injuries and don’t ask for any money upfront.

How does an Asheville multi-vehicle accident lawyer help me?

A lawyer evens the odds. Usually within a few hours of an accident, a team of lawyers goes to work for the insurance company. So, a victim without a lawyer is like a lightweight boxer taking on a heavyweight. The lightweight, lawyerless victim has no chance.

Lawyers do more than advocate for victims in court. They also negotiate favorable out-of-court settlements and give victims solid legal advice.

How long does it take to emotionally recover from a car accident?

Most people never fully recover from a car accident. The best they can do is pick up the pieces of their lives and move on. An attorney obtains the financial compensation that makes it possible to do just that.

Contact a Dedicated Buncombe County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation for their serious injuries, but they need help to get this money. For a free consultation with an experienced multi-vehicle accident lawyer in Asheville, contact Lakota Denton, P.A. by going online or calling 828- 333-5996. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start fighting for you.

Lakota R. Denton, P.A. – Asheville Office

36 Orchard St, Asheville, NC 28801

P: (828) 333-5996