Melrose Law of Waynesville stands by all personal injury victims in Haywood County. If you are hurt by someone’s negligence or recklessness, we take immediate, aggressive legal action. We don’t stop until you have the support you need to pay 100% of your medical bills and take care of your normal monthly expenses while you can’t work.
Mark Melrose, Adam Melrose, and Melrose Law use powerful evidence and the full extent of North Carolina law to help you set yourself up for a full and successful recovery. We are ready to talk to you in a free, no-obligation consultation. It’s time to focus on healing while allowing us to fight on your behalf.
How Do I Decide If I Need a Lawyer for My Personal Injury Case?
When you suffer a serious injury in an accident caused by someone else, those high medical bills are a good indicator that you should bring your case to a skilled Waynesville personal injury lawyer. It usually comes down to the simple question of whether you want more settlement money or less as you try to heal.
In truth, if you are dealing with a serious injury like a broken arm or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), you should be focused on healing and not a frustrating insurance battle.
When medical bills build up, insurers do everything possible to reject or devalue your injury claim. They’ll try to shift the blame in your accident or dispute how badly you were hurt. Many victims won’t have the legal knowledge to identify these tactics and fight back.
Fortunately, our lawyers represent a safeguard for your claim. Melrose Law mounts a full investigation into your accident and backs your case with evidence so that insurers can’t wiggle out of responsibility. With our legal experience on your side, you have a good chance to earn much more for recovery than you could by filing a claim yourself.
The Types of Personal Injury Cases We Take On and Win for Our Clients?
North Carolina allows the victims of personal injury accidents to file claims and seek financial justice to help with things like doctor bills, lost income, and even emotional damages.
A personal injury means that someone caused your accident or contributed to it. It might be a careless driver out on Highway 74 or on a construction-slowed Russ Avenue that rear-ends you or sideswipes your car. It might be a business, like Ingles, where a puddle is left out on the soda aisle, causing you fall.
These and other common accidents leave individuals, business owners and property owners fully liable for your recovery costs.
A personal injury claim is filed, and you’d seek support for all of your medical bills and other hardships. Unfortunately, not every at-fault party will rush to accept blame and you while you are down with an injury.
A skilled Haywood County attorney can help you back your case with evidence and hold insurance companies fully accountable.
These are just a few of the types of cases we take on and win for clients:
- Car accident Also, motorcycle collisions, pedestrian, bicycle, ATV, and truck accident injuries.
- Dog bite Dog owners are often responsible for a victim’s recovery costs.
- Premises liability accidents. Perhaps an injury at an apartment complex or a city park, where owners and operators are supposed to protect tenants and visitors.
- Slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall injuries. Often, at businesses with high traffic, such as grocery stores and restaurants.
- Accidents involving catastrophic injuries such as brain trauma and paralysis.
- Wrongful death cases. Families can seek support if someone causes the death of a loved one. This would include cases involving a deadly traffic accident or a drowning.
- Medical Malpractice.
Accidents in Public Places or on Public Land
Some accidents may occur due to negligence on the part of the City of Waynesville, Haywood County, or even the State of North Carolina. An accident at a government office or in a state forest could leave an official department liable.
But be cautious when you must file a claim with a government agency. Governments enjoy certain protections against lawsuits. You may have to file complicated paperwork and even seek permission to file an injury claim.
What’s more, the deadline for cases can be much shorter when a department is involved. Victims may only have a few months to file a claim or lose their chance. These cases can be complex, and it’s a good idea to speak to a lawyer as soon as possible.
A lawyer can make sure the strict rules are followed and that you don’t miss important deadlines to receive benefits.
What to Do After a Personal Injury Accident in Waynesville
An accident can leave you dazed and perhaps in a bit of shock. It’s understandable that after a car crash or a fall down some rotting stairs, you might need a minute to catch your breath.
After you calm down, and if your injuries allow you to move, it’s a good time to collect evidence for your case if it’s safe. Many accident scenes will be cleaned up or cleared, cars will be towed away, and some evidence can be lost forever.
Deal with your injuries first. Call 911 and request an ambulance if you are hurt. Then take out your cellphone and start collecting these details:
- Cooperate with paramedics and investigating officers. Get checked out physically and go to the emergency room at Haywood Regional Medical Center if necessary. After a traffic accident, give Waynesville Police or the NCHP a full account of what you remember.
- Take photos from every angle. In a premises liability accident, show the obstacle that caused you to get hurt, like leaking water on the floor. In a traffic accident, take pictures of the damage to vehicles. Get photographic evidence of your visible injuries, any blood-stained clothing, and damaged property.
- Get witness contact information. If you are in a car accident, get information from the at-fault driver, unless an officer provides you with it.
- If you are hurt at a business, alert a manager or owner about the accident and help them create an incident report.
- After the accident, make sure you have your injuries checked out a day or two later by your own doctor. Don’t be surprised if you wake up with new pain, and a new injury is discovered during this visit. The shock experienced in an accident can sometimes mask the pain of an injury until hours later. Follow your doctor’s advice.
- Go over your case in a free consultation with a skilled attorney. If you decide to hire a lawyer, your attorney conducts a complete investigation into what happened and utilizes the information you’ve collected on the day of the accident. Take action as soon as possible; waiting too long can mean that other evidence becomes difficult to obtain and witnesses become harder to track down for testimony.
The Support We Win for Waynesville Accident Victims
A single car accident or an injury suffered on a day out shopping can ruin the whole year. Victims can come home from the hospital to find a stack of medical bills. They can struggle to pay their doctors, and make their rent or mortgage, while missing valuable hours at work. Their daily lives may also be much different now that they are dealing with a debilitating injury.
When someone is responsible for an accident, these worries and others shouldn’t be the victims to face alone.
Thankfully, our lawyers are on your team. We will fight for as long as it takes to make sure you don’t deal with anxiety over your family’s financial situation while also having to struggle to rebound from an injury.
Melrose Law prepares a personal injury case, backed with every piece of evidence available. The claim will be filed with a full list of your hardships since the accident. This list must be complete, because anything left off is damage that the insurer can ignore and leave for you to cover. That’s never going to be acceptable to our attorneys.
We’ll be fighting to make sure these and other losses factor into any settlement agreement:
- Money to pay all of your medical bills
- Money to pay for the care you’ll need in the future
- Support to cover life with a permanent physical disability
- Support for the pain you’ve endured and may continue to deal with
- Support for the emotional upheaval caused in your life
- Money to pay for travel to see specialists and surgeons in Asheville or further
- Reimbursement for every cent you’ve lost while being out of work
- Money to replace or repair your personal property, such as a car, motorcycle, truck, or bicycle
Frequently Asked Questions
What sort of support should families demand after a wrongful death accident?
Families can have a precious loved one taken from them, and face tough times financially almost immediately. With a wrongful death claim, victims can seek money to help pay funeral expenses and cover the medical bills that may remain. They should get immediate help in replacing the income the victim may have provided to the family each month. The loss of companionship and care in the future must receive consideration in a wrongful death settlement. A Waynesville Wrongful Death Lawyer can assist the deceased’s personal representative in filing a claim and seeking justice for the family.
How long do I have to file a claim after a personal injury accident?
North Carolina allows injured victims to wait up to three years before filing a claim. If personal injury victims wait beyond three years, they’ll usually lose their ability to hold an at-fault party responsible.
What if I can’t afford to pay a Waynesville personal injury lawyer?
After an accident and injury, you may not have the money to hire a lawyer, and that’s okay. We will still be there for you and your family. Melrose personal injury lawyers work on a contingency basis. It means we only get paid if we win your case. If we lose, you don’t owe anything. If we win, our fee actually comes out of the settlement money that an at-fault party must pay you.
Contact a Waynesville Personal Injury Lawyer
Your Melrose Law attorney will fully investigate your accident and those responsible. The evidence gathered can make a big difference in the outcome of your case and the level of support you and your family receive. Victims with the same general injury can receive very different settlement amounts. A lawyer can help tip the scales of justice in your favor.
Our lawyers are happy to go over your case with you to determine the best course of action to help you rebuild your life after an injury.
Melrose Law offers a free case consultation to all Haywood County personal injury victims. There’s no obligation for your case review, and it will remain confidential. Tell us what happened to you so we can figure out if we can help you earn more. If not, we can still direct you in the right direction for filing a claim yourself.
