Frequently Asked Personal Injury Questions

Questions personal injury victims often have about their claim

These FAQs are designed for personal injury victims of auto accidents, truck accidents, and victims of medical malpractice.  Because truck accidents and medical malpractice litigation have issues that are unique to those types of personal injury cases, our lawyers have also designed frequently asked questions that are specific to truck accidents and medical malpractice. For more information, you might also want to consider visiting the Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog.  If you still have a question about your personal injury case, you can call us at 800-553-8082 or click here for a free no obligation consultation.

Personal Injury Generally

Click here for Truck Accident Frequently Asked Questions

Click here for Medical Malpractice Frequently Answer Questions

Medical Treatment and Bills

Hiring a Lawyer

Miller & Zois

Personal Injury
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Answers to your questions

Personal Injury Generally

Under what circumstance am I able to recover damages as a result of an accident in Maryland? (FAQ)

To recover damages as a result of an accident or medical malpractice in Maryland you must have suffered an injury to your person or property as the result of someone else's negligence. In other words, the person or company who caused the harm must be at fault for your accident.

If I was injured in an accident that was from the fault of someone else, how are my damages calculated? (FAQ)

Damages in a Maryland personal injury case consist of three primary categories: medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering (almost always the largest component). In cases where the plaintiff's injury is such that he/she must be retrained for a new job, the costs associated with the retraining are also recoverable. This money is intended to restore your loss and is not taxable by either the federal government or the state of Maryland.  Click here for further information on personal injury case valuation.

What do you mean by personal injury? What sorts of cases does this include? (FAQ)

"Personal injury" is a broad term that means any kind of accident that leads to bodily injury. Miller & Zois are Maryland personal injury attorneys but our law practice is actually more narrow. Our attorneys represent only personal injury clients who have suffered a serious injury in an auto accident, truck accident, product defect or as the result of medical malpractice. Because our Maryland injury attorneys have so narrowly defined our law practice, our lawyers exclusive focus on these specific serious personal injury cases has allowed us to maximize the benefits of our experience to get the best results for our injured clients. By dealing just with these specific types of personal injury cases, our lawyers know the nuances of the laws governing personal injury cases and motor vehicle insurance in Maryland. Our lawyers also have great familiarity with the insurance companies' injury attorneys and insurance adjusters and have developed a reputation with them as personal injury attorneys who will ethically and professionally fight the insurance companies at every turn (a reputation we would not have if our lawyers spread themselves too thin handling all kinds of different cases). Also, because our personal injury attorneys have beaten all of the major insurance companies at trial, they know that our lawyers are not just bluffing during settlement negotiations about our willingness to go to trial. Accordingly, this focus, reputation and expertise allows us to put our clients in the best position to achieve fair compensation for their injuries.

What is uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and do I have it? (FAQ)

In Maryland, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage applies in two general situations: (1) Uninsured: the at-fault driver has no liability insurance, and (2) Underinsured: where the at-fault driver has insufficient liability insurance limits (at-fault driver's policy limits are lower than the limits of your uninsured motorist coverage). Essentially uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is insurance coverage that covers your accident just as your liability insurance provides compensation for the people that you might injure through careless driving. This coverage typically extends to family members who live with you and anyone who is injured in your vehicle.

Under the Maryland Insurance article, a policyholder may waive UM coverage in the policy only if he/she executes a written waiver of that coverage. So if you did not expressly waive it, you have uninsured motorist coverage.

How much is my case worth? (FAQ) (Click here for further information on personal injury case valuation)

Predicting the trial value of any Maryland personal injury case is almost impossible. There are many factors that can affect the value of a case. Your attorney can only give you a very general idea of the value of your case based on cases we have handled with similar injuries and will not be able to predict the specific amount you will receive. That said, our lawyers generally are able to give our clients a settlement range that they can reasonably expect after our lawyers have reviewed the client's personal injury case.

With respect to the value of your personal injury case if taken to trial by one of Miller and Zois' lawyers or another competent attorney, the results are even more difficult to predict. That value of your case is that value placed on it by six Maryland jurors. They decide together how much money to award you for your injuries. Accordingly, the value ranges for the exact same injury with similar facts vary widely depending upon who those six jurors are. Jurors bring with them, just as all of us do, their own personal biases that can either help or hurt you.

If you are like many of us, you still want some data, something to give you some idea of what juries are awarding in personal injury cases in Maryland. In 2005, a company that analyzes jury verdicts in personal injury cases did a study that found that the nationwide median jury award in a personal injury case was $38,461 and the nationwide plaintiff recovery probability was 55 percent. In Maryland personal injury cases, much to the chagrin of Maryland lawyers and their clients, the median compensatory award in personal injury trials was $12,813. The good news for Maryland lawyers and their clients is that the plaintiff prevailed in 69% of the cases (as opposed to 55% nationally).

Maryland plaintiffs prevailed in 83% of auto accident personal injury cases. The average jury award in Maryland car accident personal injury cases was $11,277. In contrast, plaintiffs prevailed in only 8% of medical malpractice cases in Maryland (bearing in mind that most meritorious cases settle before trial) but the average jury award in medical malpractice cases was $808,772. The study does not breakdown these jury verdicts by county, but clearly the larger jury awards in Maryland are in Baltimore City and Prince George's County (the courthouse is in Upper Marlboro).

This data, which was of great interest to medical malpractice/accident lawyers in Maryland with respect to the gap between Maryland and the rest of the nation, was generated by an analysis of 250,000 personal injury cases in Maryland and across the country from 1998-2005. What does this data mean for your case? Virtually nothing. If this data is discouraging to you regarding the value of your personal injury case, you might be comforted that Miller & Zois' average is approximately 15 times higher than the Maryland average and we only once received a jury verdict in a personal injury case less than $36,328.24. Good, well-prepared Maryland personal injury lawyers (and there are many good injury attorneys in Maryland) that meticulously prepare a case and present it honestly and fairly to a jury typically get much better jury awards than those who do not.

But our lawyers' verdicts in personal injury cases, and the awards data set out above, are clearly not predictive of the results in any individual Maryland personal injury case. You need to discuss with your lawyers the specific facts of your personal injury case, the pros and cons, and come to a conclusion about the fair value of your case. This will include a discussion of the severity of your injuries, the amount of available insurance, how clear the connection is between your injuries and the accident, how strong your liability case is, the quality of the witnesses, and the expected jury perceptions of you and the defendant (remember, the jury is not told there is insurance covering the claim). This discussion will also include analysis of the venue where the case is being tried. In Maryland, as we mentioned earlier, Baltimore City and Prince George's County are favorable venues for plaintiffs. Conversely, in more rural areas of Maryland, such as Somerset County or St. Mary's County, for example, the jury awards are more conservative. This is true across the country -- juries typically award more money in urban areas than they do in rural areas. Click here for further information on personal injury case valuation.
What if I am hit by a driver who flees the scene of the accident? (FAQ)

In Maryland, if you suffer personal injuries as the result of the negligence of a hit-and-run driver, you may still recover for your lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering as if you knew the identity of the driver by bringing a claim under your own insurance policy's uninsured motorist provision. Essentially, the law treats that phantom vehicle as an uninsured driver.

Many states require actual contact with the phantom vehicle in order for a Plaintiff to bring a personal injury claim. Under Maryland law, however, contact is clearly not required and Maryland courts will not enforce any policy provisions from out-of-state insurers that require physical contact between the injured party and the at-fault hit-and-run driver.

Will I have to go to court? (FAQ)

If there is no settlement offer, obviously our lawyers are taking your case to trial. In most cases, the choice is yours because their is a settlement offer on the table. Because our accident and medical malpractice lawyers carefully screen personal injury cases and because our attorneys have a reputation with insurance companies for trying cases and getting excellent recoveries for our clients, the vast majority of our clients receive reasonable offers to settle before trial. However, because of the many factors involved, it is impossible to predict whether your particular case is one that will be settled or one which must be decided by a jury.

How much of my time will this take? (FAQ)

Surprisingly, your personal injury claim will not require a great deal of your time, unless it goes all the way to trial. After the initial interview, our personal injury attorneys will do almost all of the work for you. Your problems become our lawyers' problems. Your job is to recover the best that you can from your injuries from the accident or malpractice if you have not yet fully recover. Your time commitment obviously changes if yours is in the minority of our personal injury cases that goes to trial. The final trial preparation process will require more of a time commitment if your injuries are substantial.

How long do I have to bring a case? (FAQ)

You must file your case within the statute of limitations, a fixed period of time dictated by the law. In many injury cases in Maryland, you are required to bring your case within three years from the date of the accident. For an explanation of these time limits, always consult with a lawyer experienced in these matters. Some limitations periods are shorter than 3 years. Statutes of limitations may be extended in certain situations in Maryland personal injury cases, such as when an injured person is under the age of 18. Other statutes of limitations are very short, such as a claim against a municipality that must normally be made within 180 days of the date of the injury.

How is a decision made regarding whether to accept a settlement or go to trial? (FAQ)

You will meet with our personal injury lawyers to discuss together what would be best for you and your family. Our attorneys' job is not to make the decision for you, but to evaluate the offer we have been able to obtain and provide the information to you, based on our attorneys' years of experience handling personal injury cases in Maryland, to help you make the best decision for you.

How does the insurance company decide how much to make its initial offer? (FAQ)

Typically, most insurance companies our attorneys deal with in Maryland accident cases use computer software to determine the value of auto and truck accident cases. The most prolific is one used by a number of companies called Colossus, designed by Computer Sciences Corp., a California based company that values accident cases for insurance companies. Colossus is reportedly used by more than 50 percent of the nation's claims insurance adjusters. Many other insurance companies use a similar program. (Medical malpractice cases are an entirely different animal; almost every malpractice case begins in litigation.)

Essentially, the insurance company does is it inputs the data it receives from your medical records, lost wages, the severity of the accident, and where the accident occurred. The computer will give a higher value for a case in Baltimore City or Prince George's County than it would, for example, for the same case in Anne Arundel County. It also inputs the taxpayer ID number of your personal injury lawyer which determines if your accident lawyer has a history of taking cases to verdict in Maryland or whether they simply settle all of their cases. Colossus then specifically looks to your injuries as described in your medical records. One of the most important questions is whether the injuries are permanent. Colossus also gives higher values for objective injuries measured by diagnostic testing than soft tissue injuries. It does give, however, values for muscle spasm (for which Colossus gives particular weight in cases without a defined objective injury), restriction on movement, radiating pain, anxiety, depression, headaches, dizziness, and visual disturbance. Colossus also gives higher value to cases where the patient went to the hospital for initial treatment of the injuries.

Colossus then generates a range of settlement values for that case. The problem with Colossus is the same problem we have in society with all computerized systems: they do not grasp the complexity of human beings. There is no computer program that can ascertain the value of a person's pain and suffering, how an injury really impacted a person's life. How much is it worth to not be able to pick up your newborn baby without extreme pain? There is no way a computer can answer this question.

This is why your personal injury attorney must adequately articulate why your injures are different or alternativley be prepared to file a lawsuit. When your accident lawyer files a lawsuit, sometimes the insurance companies do take a second look at a case and give a second look to the real trial value of the case, particularly when they know that the accident lawyers handling the case are willing to go to trial.

Will I hurt the person I am suing by bringing a personal injury claim? (FAQ)

This question is often asked by our personal injury clients who deserve compensation for their injuries but are afraid that they will do harm to the person who caused their injuries. Virtually all personal injury claims are handled by insurance company lawyers and paid by insurance, so the person (or company) will not have to pay any money out of their own pocket.

Do I still have a claim if my medical bills were paid by insurance? (FAQ)

Under the collateral source rule in Maryland, you are entitled to be compensated for your medical bills regardless of whether or not they have been paid by PIP (personal injury protection) or by your health insurance. The same logic holds true for lost wages. If you miss work, you can collect your lost wages even if your company pays you for the missed time. Usually, the larger part of your personal injury claim is compensation for your pain and suffering. For a further explanation of how your medical bills from an accident get paid, click here.

How long will it take for me to receive a financial recovery in my case? (FAQ)

While we would love to be able to give you a definitive answer, there is no definite period of time in which a personal injury case will settle or go to trial. Every case has its own unique facts. What we can promise you is this: we will move your case forward towards settlement or verdict at trial in a manner that avoids unnecessary delays.

If a case settles, in most (but not all) cases we need to wait until the patient has finished receiving medical care and treatment (or reached a point of maximum medical improvement). We then order any remaining medical bills and underlying records from your health care providers. Then we prepare and submit a demand package to the insurance company, letting them know how much you are willing to accept to resolve your claim. We expect a response to our demand letter from the insurance companies. We usually receive an offer in a reasonable time period; if not we recommend filing a lawsuit.

Again, we take great care to diligently pursue your case with vigor to eliminate unnecessary delays in resolving your personal injury case. Your case is our case and we will fight for you to get the highest possible recovery as quickly as possible. Accordingly, we do everything we can do to move your case forward.
What is Assumption of the Risk? (FAQ)

In Maryland, if you have knowingly and voluntarily assumed the risk inherent in a particular action or inaction that causes an accident, you cannot sue the other person for negligence. For example, if you get in a friend’s car for a drag race and suffer personal injuries in an accident, you assumed the risk of those injuries. Defense lawyers in Maryland love to raise the assumption of the risk defense in personal injury cases. But, as a practical matter, the assumption of the risk defense is applicable in very few personal injury cases in Maryland that are not slip and fall cases or recreational sports accident cases.

Will the insurance company pay in Maryland for personal injury claims made by one spouse to the other? Can my children sue me or my spouse and recover against the insurance company? (FAQ)

In other words, this question asks whether the insurance companies provide coverage when family members bring claims against each other. In Maryland, the answer is the insurance company is required to provide full coverage. Prior to 2004, all insurance carriers in Maryland placed a family exclusion provision in their policies. In Stearman v. State Farm, the Court of Appeals of Maryland upheld the language of these exclusions but did require that the insurance companies provide coverage up the mandatory minimum limits in Maryland ($20,000 per person, $40,000 per accident).

Fortunately, in 2004, the Maryland legislature passed a rule abrogating the language in these policies with respect to claims made against spouses. In 2005, the legislature expanded this law, allowing for claims in Maryland between children and their parents. This new law requires every Maryland insurance company to offer an insured liability coverage for personal injury claims made by family members in the same amount as the liability coverage for claims by a non-family member under the insurance policy. Because insurance companies are prone to try to hide the language offering this coverage, the statute requires Maryland insurance companies to offer this coverage in 10 point bold type font (the text you are reading is in a 10 point font).

A common question our personal injury lawyers get in situations like this is "Can the auto insurance company deny me coverage if I demand a policy that takes advantage of this new requirement?" In this case, this new Maryland statute makes clear that "an insurer may not refuse to underwrite a first named insured because the first named insured requests or elects the liability coverage for claims made by family members in an amount equal to the coverage provided for claims made by non-family members." In other words, the insurance company cannot deny coverage simply because you request policy language that does not have the family member exclusion. But if you do not seek this coverage, you may be limited to a $20,000 recovery if you or a family member makes a claim under that policy against a family member as the result of a car accident.

In cases where family members do sue each other in an effort to seek compensation for their injuries from the insurance company, it is odd when these cases go to trial because juries are not told in Maryland that there is auto insurance available to cover the personal injury claim. From their vantage point, one loving spouse is suing the other loving spouse, leaving them bewildered as to why this would happen. By the time the jury deliberates, however, usually someone on the jury has figured out that car insurance is covering the claim and shares this knowledge with the other jurors.

What is a herniated disc? (FAQ)

Spinal discs are round cushions that lie in between the vertebrae of the spinal column. These discs basically act like shock absorbers between the vertebrae, cushioning them when we contort our bodies in everyday life. These discs have an external shell and a liquid substance in the middle. The metaphor we often use with juries in personal injury cases is that the discs are like jelly donuts. If a disc is injured as the result of the trauma of an auto accident, the "jelly" may leak out of the disc. If the inner core of the disc extrudes back into the spinal canal it may impact a nerve root. The weak spot in a disc is directly under the nerve root and a herniated disc can put great pressure on the nerve, which can cause pain to radiate throughout the person's body.

Where the pain radiates to in the body depends on where the disc herniation occurs. When a patient has a symptomatic herniated disc, the pain is not in the disc area; rather, the disc herniation is pinching a nerve in the spine that causes 'radicular' pain. This radicular pain is typically described as a pain that shoots through the body, usually to one area in particular, since each nerve in the spine is connected to a particular area of the body. This pain can be nerve root pain, leg pain if the herniation is in the lumbar (back), or arm pain from a cervical (neck) herniated disc.

A herniated disc is rarely diagnosed in the emergency room after an auto accident. This is because the disc is invisible on an x-ray. Accordingly, a patient typically needs a CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test so that a physician can pick up a disc herniation. A discography, myelography, or an electromyography are also used to diagnose herniated discs. It is worth noting that the experts agree that these diagnostic tests cannot diagnose the injury victim's pain. There is no clear cut correlation between the degree of the hernination and the patient pain symptoms because there are so many other variables involved.

What is a herniated disc case worth by settlement or at trial? (FAQ)

Because our lawyers have successfully tried a number of herniated disc cases and have received national exposure for our jury verdicts in these cases, we receive at least once a week this inquiry: what is the settlement or trial value of my herniated disc injury that was caused by an auto accident? The answer, naturally, is that it depends on the injury. Some herniated disc injuries leave a patient in constant pain for the rest of their lives. These patients try traction, steroid injections, therapy and surgery and still find themselves in pain that will last a lifetime. Assuming (1) no question as to responsibility for the auto accident, (2) no preexisting injury or pre-accident degenerative disease, and (3) reasonable insurance coverage for the at-fault driver, the settlement value of these types of herniated disc cases are almost invariably six figure and sometimes even seven figure cases.

The more complicated cases involve preexisting injuries. A favorite tactic of lawyers defending personal injury cases on behalf of the insurance companies involving herniated discs is pointing the finger at preexisting degenerative problems with a patient's spine, such as spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, and spondylolisthesis. Most of these are conditions that begin in many people in their early 30s. Therefore, it must be established that the patient's problems are not due to the degenerative condition, but to the trauma sustained in the accident.

All of this begs the question of what happens when a person has a preexisting herniated disc or some type of degenerative changes and was asymptomatic (without symptoms) before the accident. There are two Maryland jury instructions on point: the susceptibility instruction (Maryland Pattern Jury Instruction 10:3) and aggravation of preexisting condition instruction (Maryland Pattern Jury Instruction 10:4). If you have either one of these issues, you and your attorney must be able to clearly articulate the difference between your problems and treatment before the auto accident and your current condition. If there is no difference in your condition after the accident, your chances of a substantial recovery diminish dramatically. On the other hand, if there is a notable difference in your way of life after the accident that would not have occurred in the absence of the auto accident, your chance of a quality settlement increases dramatically. Select here to visit our herniated disc information page.

I suffered personal injuries in a truck accident. Do your lawyers handle truck accident cases? (FAQ)

Yes, our lawyers handle personal injury cases involving truck accidents. Generally speaking, a lawyer faces the same issues when dealing with a truck accident as they do in a car accident. There are some additional issues in truck accident cases, however, that lawyers need to be aware of when handling truck injury cases.

First, with respect to the investigation conducted by the lawyer, there is more to consider in truck accident cases. For example, most big rig trucks carry "black boxes" that measure various parameters that can assist the lawyer and/or truck accident reconstruction expert in determining how the accident occurred. Also, because there is extensive federal regulation applicable to the trucking industry, there is a complex set of regulations that cover the operation and maintenance of trucks. This givesa plaintiffs' lawyer a treasure trove of information about the truck driver and his vehicle that is typically not available in car accident cases.

There are different legal considerations lawyers must explore in truck accident cases. The truck driver may have violated a specific statute or regulation with respect to the kind of cargo he was carrying or how long he had been driving before the accident. A lawyer must also consider whether the company that hired the driver may also be responsible under the theory of negligent entrustment or negligent supervision if they failed to properly screen the truck driver before the accident or if they failed to properly train the truck driver. You would be amazed at how many operators of trucks, particularly big rig trucks, are improperly trained or have unacceptable driving records. There can also be a claim for negligent maintenance, a related legal theory lawyers pursue in truck accident cases when the company and/or truck driver failed to properly maintain the truck.
Medical Treatment and Bills

Who pays my medical bills and lost wages? (FAQ)

If you have auto insurance and you are in an auto accident, your insurance company will pay your medical bills and a portion of your wages up to a certain point if you have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. The amount it pays depends on the coverage you have under your policy. In Maryland, the typical PIP policy provides for $2,500. Your PIP coverage, however, pays only a portion of your wage loss and medical expenses. If you are not at-fault for the accident, the other driver's auto insurance company will also be responsible for the same medical bills or lost wages. In other words, you can essentially collect twice for the same medical bills and lost wages. (If your employer continues to pay you during the time missed, you are essentially collecting your lost wages three times.) Of course, the at-fault driver's insurance company is also responsible for your pain and suffering damages for your personal injuries, which is usually the largest part of the plaintiff's claim.

You may find that your own insurance company will not pay some of your bills. It may also send you a letter telling you that you must be examined by one of their doctors in what they like to call an independent medical examination (IME) before they will continue to pay any more of your medical bills. If that happens, we can help you fight your own insurance company.

If you have health insurance, it serves as a backup insurer. It will pay your medical bills after you have run out of PIP coverage.

Can you recommend a doctor to me to treat me for my injuries? (FAQ)

We can. It is typically our preference that clients seek treatment from their existing health care providers (or request a referral from them). But if you do not have an existing health care provider or your provider requires payment before the resolution of your case, we can provide you with a list of quality health care providers that we know who will not require payment until after the resolution of your case.

What is PIP (personal injury protection) insurance and do I have it? (FAQ)

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is an insurance coverage for medical and other expenses such as lost wages resulting from an auto accident, for people specified in the policy, regardless of who is at fault in the accident. Maryland law does not require PIP coverage on auto policies, but insurance companies are required to offer you the coverage when you buy an auto insurance policy. If you do not want it, you can reject it in writing by executing a waiver. (The Maryland Insurance Code also has exceptions for government-owned vehicles, buses, and taxicabs.)

PIP insurance is very helpful to you if you are injured because it essentially allows you to recover twice for your same medical bills and lost wages (of course, there is a pain and suffering component as well to any personal injury case). For example, assume that you have $2,500 in medical bills and $2,500 in PIP coverage. Your PIP insurance will pay all of your medical bills. Yet you can still collect from the at-fault driver's insurance company for the same medical bills. This is possible in Maryland under the collateral source rule.

Under Maryland's PIP statute (Insurance Code Section 19-505a), there are seven categories of coverage for PIP: the insured, members of the insured's family that reside in his or her household, persons using the vehicle with consent, guests in the insured vehicle, passengers in the vehicle, and injured pedestrians may all be covered by the insured vehicle's PIP coverage.

It is important to remember that Maryland law (Insurance Code Section 19-508) allows insurers to set a one year "statute of limitations" as the time in which a PIP claim must be brought from the date of the accident. If an insured makes a claim after the 12-month period, he or she may be ineligible for PIP benefits.

What does PIP cover? (FAQ)

PIP covers reasonable and necessary medical expenses for injuries sustained in an auto accident, up to three years from the date of the accident and up to $10,000. PIP also offers income replacement coverage limited to a maximum of $200 per week for one year, after a person has been disabled for 14 days after the accident. Funeral expenses of $2,000 and loss of services (payment to others for work you can't do) of up to $5,000 are also included in the coverage. Payments are made for costs that are actually incurred by the injured person.

I am feeling better but I am still hurt. Should I continue to receive medical treatment for my injuries? (FAQ)

This is a medical question in terms of how your injuries should be treated. That is your decision to make in consultation with your health care providers, not your personal injury lawyers. In getting treatment for the injuries from your auto accident, you want to focus on your health, not the legal consequences arising from anything that affected it.

Hiring a Lawyer

How should I choose a personal injury lawyer? (FAQ)

Check the credentials and background of the lawyer. Does the lawyer focus his or her practice on personal injury cases or does the lawyer do a little bit of everything, including personal injury cases? At Miller & Zois, our attorneys focus exclusively on personal injury cases. While we might be able to handle a domestic or criminal matter, lawyers who focus their practice on family or criminal law are going to be a better bet for you in those kinds of cases then we would because we focus our attention and experience on personal injury cases.

If the lawyer does focus his or her practice on personal injury, ask them about their experience in taking cases to trial. Many lawyers who handle exclusively personal injury cases never go to trial, they simply send settlement demands to the insurance companies and try to get the best offer they can and then settle.

You may be asking: I want to settle my personal injury case so what is wrong with an attorney that settles all of his cases? The problem is most insurance companies keep track of lawyers' trial records by doing a computerized search based on the firm's taxpayer ID number. If your lawyer settles all of his personal injury cases, the insurance company is going to know that and it will be reflected in the offer you receive for your claim. So if your lawyer does not try personal injury cases, the insurance company knows he will settle and they adjust their settlement offers accordingly.

Simple solution to this problem: ask the lawyer for the names of the last three cases he has taken to trial. Ask specific questions such as, the name of the case, the outcome, what the insurance company offered to settle, and when the case was tried. If they cannot name at least three personal injury cases they have tried in the last few years, we would suggest your contact another lawyer.
Do I need an attorney to handle my personal injury claim? (FAQ)

The insurance company representing the person(s) at fault for the accident will have a team of adjusters, investigators and personal injury attorneys working against you. The insurance company's goal is to pay you as little as possible to settle your claim. If you have a serious personal injury case, you need the assistance of a qualified Maryland personal injury attorney to ensure that you receive fair compensation for your injuries.

According to studies conducted by insurance companies, individuals recover two-and-a-half times more for their auto accident case if they are represented by a personal injury attorney. No matter how nice insurance adjusters may sound on the phone, they are paid to have one goal in mind: to pay you as little as possible. This is how the insurance company maximizes its profits: by paying as little as possible on personal injury claims. Despite their hackneyed slogans such as "You're in Good Hands with Allstate" or "State Farm is There," an insurance adjuster, even one for your own insurance company, does not act in your best interest. The insurance company's interests are fundamentally at odds with accident victims.

Insurance companies do not work for you (or your lawyers) in the adversarial system. They will rarely help you better understand your legal rights. In many cases, they do not even understand your legal rights. If your injuries are significant, there are several reasons why a good personal injury lawyer can help you. When you hire a lawyer who is willing to take a case to trial, value is added to your case in a number of ways. A good lawyer will seek every category of damages that applies to your case, and find ways to support those damages with evidence that will be admissible in court. The threat of trial itself adds to your bargaining power. Make no mistake: the insurance company knows that it's almost impossible for an individual to take a serious injury case to trial without an attorney. To a lesser degree, you have the same problem when you hire a personal injury attorney who has no history of taking to trial and winning cases against the insurance company.

You may note that we used the adjective "serious" above before personal injury in describing when you need a personal injury lawyer. If you do not have serious injuries and instead have minor whiplash that quickly resolves, the question of whether you need a Maryland personal injury lawyer is more of a judgment call. Typically, you will end up doing better with an injury attorney and it will also require less work on your part. But if you have a case with, for example, $1,000 in medical bills and no permanent injury, our lawyers do not think you will do much better having a lawyer even though it probably makes more sense to get an attorney or at least consult with one before handling your case alone. Our attorneys frequently get calls or web inquires from personal injury victims who our lawyers advise to proceed without an attorney (after telling them what they need to do to get the best possible result).

With a small personal injury case, it is pretty easy for the lawyers to determine the appropriate settlement value. But what about the more serious personal injury case? In a case where the client has suffered a serious injury, the exact settlement or trial value it is more difficult for anyone - injury lawyers, insurance adjusters, and often ultimately, jurors - to determine. Naturally, given the uncertainty in the settlement value, the insurance company is going to interpret the facts in such a way to pay the least amount possible. In these kinds of cases, you need an experienced Maryland personal injury lawyer fighting for you. Our attorneys have had many serious injury cases where the case settled for more than 20 times the initial offer given to the referring lawyer. To see the difference in the initial offer and the final result in some of the personal injury cases our lawyers have handled, select here.
When should I hire a personal injury attorney? (FAQ)

You should retain a Maryland personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after your accident or the medical malpractice. Unfortunately, after being seriously injured in an accident, you are immediately placed at a distinct legal disadvantage. While you are preoccupied dealing with your injuries and resulting financial concerns, the party at fault in your accident has notified their insurance company, who begins to work against you. Accordingly, if you are an accident victim in Maryland, you should protect your legal rights by contacting an experienced personal injury lawyer who has experience handling auto or truck accident cases. Our accident lawyers often get auto accident cases where some time has elapsed between the auto accident and the client's call to our attorneys. More frequently than not, the client has made mistakes in positioning their case that would not have been made if they spoke first to a competent Maryland lawyer who understands the nuances of auto accident, truck accident and medical malpractice cases. Your accident attorney will often arrange for an investigator to take pictures of the accident scene, take statements from witnesses and preserve any physical evidence. You want to make sure that all relevant evidence is preserved and not inadvertently destroyed or lost. Your Maryland lawyer will also ensure that you comply with statutes of limitations and other legal requirements that would bar your lawsuit.
Should I get a second opinion if an attorney thinks I do not have a case? (FAQ)

Absolutely. Different lawyers will see a potential case differently. Some Maryland lawyers may not be familiar with the type of case or many not be willing to spend the time and money required - which can be substantial - to get your personal injury case ready for trial. If your case is rejected by one lawyer, it is always a good idea to seek a second opinion from another Maryland injury lawyer. We have obtained quality settlements and verdicts from clients whose personal injury cases were rejected by numerous other Maryland attorneys.

Miller & Zois

Why should I pick you over any other law firm? (FAQ)

The simple answer is that our Maryland personal injury lawyers produce results for our client not only in terms of verdicts but also in terms of settlements because of the reputation we have built with the insurance companies. Our malpractice and accident lawyers also place the highest premium on service. Our accident and medical malpractice attorneys return client's calls and emails, we keep them informed and spend the time with them to make sure they understand what our lawyers have done for them and why we have done it. Take a look at the rest of our web site, from past case results to our attorneys' personal resumes to get an idea of what our accident lawyers can do for you. There are many excellent malpractice and accident lawyers in Maryland just as their are many awful lawyers. Do some research and find the lawyer that is best for you.
Do I have to pay you any money when I hire you? (FAQ)

No.  In fact, you never pay our lawyers money out of your pocket.  Miller & Zois is a 100% contingency fee personal injury law firm. Our law firm is compensated only if we obtain a financial recovery for you. In fact, if you do not recover anything from your accident and we spend money preparing your case, we absorb all of the costs, not you.  Our lawyers never ask our injured clients to front expenses and costs. 

What geographic areas do your lawyers take cases from? (FAQ)

Miller & Zois primarily handles personal injury cases in Maryland. In exceptional cases, we will go to other jurisdictions. Our lawyers have handled cases in the Washington, D.C, Virginia, Florida, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Indiana, West Virginia and New Jersey.

Do your lawyers handle divorce, medical malpractice, criminal or workers' compensation cases? (FAQ)

Our lawyers  focus exclusively on personal injury accident cases, specifically car accident, truck accident, nursing home, medical malpractice, and product liability cases. If you need assistance in these areas you can contact us on the Internet or call 800-553-8082.   For other areas of practice, such as workers' compensation, divorce, social security disability and immigration, we regularly refer such cases to a number of quality Maryland attorneys who handle these types of cases.  If you need such a referral, one of our lawyers will be glad to give you a list of Maryland attorneys we think would be suited to handle the legal issues presented in your case.