Personal Injury

General Overview

A personal injury occurs when someone hurts another person. Renee routinely helps the person who has been hurt navigate through the legal system. Injuries can stem from:

• Car Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Boat Crashes
• Defective Products
• Explosions
• Brain Injuries
• Construction Accidents
• Negligently Transmitted Sexually Transmitted Diseases; and
• Wrongful Death

to name a few. If you have a question about whether the type of injury you’ve suffered is covered, you can call for a free consultation. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll help connect you with someone who is.

A lot of people don’t think they need a lawyer when they’re hurt or just want to hurry and get the whole thing done with. While that is understandable, it’s not the best way to make sure you’re covered for what happened to you. Insurance companies don’t want to pay out claims and they are known for rewarding their adjusters for paying as little (or nothing) as possible on claims even when the person they insure was at fault.

There are a lot of rules that you need to know when recovering from a third person, such as an injured person’s obligations to repay their health insurance if they recover for an injury, that a lawyer can help you understand and take care of for you.

Stackhouse, APC understands that you don’t want to have to deal with the details or the arguing with an adjuster or lawyer on the other side- leave it to us to take care of you, to get your story heard, and to fight to help you recover something that will get you back to living your life.

Renee has handled everything from rear-enders, to traumatic brain injuries, to the 2008 explosion at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel that was so forceful that it cleared four stories. She has the experience you need to handle your case.

In addition to being able to work your case up in a strong and supportable manner so that the insurance company and defense lawyer must take it seriously, Stackhouse, APC excels at keeping clients up-to-date on what is the path to case resolution looks like and what is happening during the case.

What To Do If You’ve Been Hurt

Document everything. Take pictures at the scene if you can. Take pictures as soon after, if you can’t. Photograph the location, the people involved, any injuries, anything you can as close in time as possible. Write down, or have someone else write down, what happened so that time doesn’t interfere with your memory.

Go to the doctor. Not just for the lawsuit- but for yourself. A lot of people try to tough it out and don’t seek help. Not only will insurance adjusters and defense lawyers jump on the fact that you didn’t go to the doctor (so you must not have been hurt that badly) but you won’t know what’s going on with your body if you don’t seek help. Lawsuit aside, if you hurt, if you’re having problems, go to the doctor and let them find out what’s wrong with you so you can treat it and work to recover.

Keep a file. Put all your documents in one file or box so that you have everything together and won’t lose it. Bills, invoices, insurance Explanations of Benefits, receipts for anything having to do with the incident or treating for the incident should all go into one place.

What Not to Do

Don’t talk to the insurance company. If the person who hurt you has insurance, and that insurance company calls you don’t give them information. Don’t sign anything. Don’t give a recorded statement. Understand that you have a certain amount of time to file a lawsuit (if the conduct was negligent, that time is two years) and you have that time for a reason. You only get one shot at recovering for an injury. Once you sign those rights away, you can never come back again if you find out you’re more hurt than you thought. So take your time, treat with your doctor, get a good idea of what’s wrong with you and how long and what it will take to make it better. Then let your lawyer communicate to the adjuster what that information is for you.

Don’t wait until the last minute to file your lawsuit. Make sure to reach out to lawyers with enough time to determine if you like the lawyer and can work with them, to find out what the lawyer needs from you to be successful with your case, and to make sure the lawyer that you want to work with has the time to handle your case.

Past Results Include:

• A $2 million dollar settlement arising from a mis-connection during construction which led to recycled water being pumped through potable water pipes and consumed.
• A $5 million dollar settlement against a radio-show personality for defamation and business torts.
• A $14.5+ million dollar settlement arising out of a failure to odorize natural gas in a pipeline to a downtown San Diego building which resulted in an explosion and severe injuries.
• A confidential settlement the week before trial against one of the largest and oldest hotels in San Diego after their security team hospitalized a patron.
• A $250,000 settlement for a low-speed rear-end auto collision.
• A confidential settlement against a car manufacturer for a seat improperly collapsing when the car was rear-ended which resulted in neck surgeries for a driver.
• A $215,000 jury verdict for an intersection auto-collision.
• A $400,000 settlement for a slip-and-slide injury.

Stackhouse, APC offers free consultations. Call 760-224-5226 for a free consultation up to one hour. Your consultation can be done in person or over the phone. We also have the ability to work via Skype or FaceTime for a one-on-one feeling, even if you can’t come in.