After a serious bicycle injury: should you consider legal action?

If you have been injured as a result of negligence, whether a by person, a corporation, or a governmental entity, you have the right to compensation for damage to your health, your earning power, and the loss of well being. Compensation can include reimbursement for medical and hospital bills, rehabilitation costs, lost wages and earning power, pain, and other physical distress, and for psychological suffering as a consequence of injuries and losses.

Bicycle crashes can leave a person with devastating, life-changing injuries. Even with the use of helmets, traumatic brain injuries are a frequent outcome in a bicycle crashes. Without the use of a helmet, the risk of brain injury rises significantly. A bicyclist thrown from his or her bike is a risk a spinal cord injury resulting in tetraplegia and paraplegia.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured, or if a loved one has died in a bicycle accident, you may be facing serious changes in your health, your lifestyle, your earning power, and your expectations for your and your children's future. In the case of traumatic brain injury (TBI), or spinal cord injury (SCI), the changes physical ability and lifestyle, the need for extensive modifications in the home, and diminished earning power are so extensive that a life planning consultant should be engaged to help calculate long-term medical and financial needs.

After a major injury, your first concern must be getting the best medical and rehabilitative care, and the best possible resolution of your injuries. During this process, as you or your loved one face the changes ahead, you will likely begin to think about how you will deal with the financial consequences.

Many serious injuries to cyclists are caused by driver inattention or other negligence, or the misconduct of another person, corporation or government entity. Issues of product design, product safety, and highway design may have contributed to the bicycle crash. Negligence is conduct which falls below the standard of care established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risks of harm.

Negligence and misconduct can occur in public settings, in which public employees such as law enforcement personnel fail to take sufficient care. Misconduct is improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a bicycle accident, you should immediately contact a plaintiff's law firm that handles bicycle accidents. When you contact Casey Gerry, one of our experienced San Diego bicycle accident attorneys will discuss your case with you to help you determine the best way to proceed.

Choosing a bicycle accident attorney

An important consideration in choosing your law firm in a bicycle injury or bicycle fatality case is to find a San Diego bicycle accident attorney that you feel comfortable with, have confidence in, and can trust. Most bicycle injury cases come to a point where you, the client, must decide whether to resolve your case through settlement or take it to trial. At that point, your confidence and trust in your attorney will be vitally important. We strongly recommend you interview at least two or three highly competent plaintiff's lawyers and law firms before making your final decision. Casey Gerry would be honored to be among those that you interview and would be honored to be the firm you select.

Financial arrangements

Casey Gerry's usual arrangement for a bicycle injury case is a contingent fee agreement. Casey Gerry agrees to be paid only if the client's case is ultimately successful, either by settlement out of court or by a judgment following a court proceeding. Casey Gerry receives a percentage of the final amount recovered. This fee arrangement is helpful for most people with a bicycle injury or wrongful death case because it does not require the person bringing the case to pay any money up front.