West Valley City Car Accident Attorney

Whether you’re at an intersection or driving on the interstate, negligence poses a risk to your and your loved ones’ safety. That said, Utah law allows you to hold negligent drivers liable for their actions in civil court. Should you get into a car accident, you can work with a car accident attorney in West Valley City to fight for financial support.

You can bring your car accident concerns to the 1Law team. Our attorneys can meet with you, discuss the extent of your accident losses, and develop a plan to bring your case to fruition. Whether you want to pursue settlement negotiations or a traditional trial, you can count on our team to stand by you.

Car Accidents are Personal Injury Accidents

Car accidents are a subset of a larger category of civil cases. Should you choose to pursue your case in civil court, it will be considered a personal injury case. This is the case regardless of the kind of car accident you’re in or who the liable party may be.

With that in mind, the deadline for filing your car accident complaint is the same as it would be for other personal injury cases. The deadline set forth in Utah Code § 78-12-25 allows you to spend four years gathering evidence to submit your claim. If you don’t file your car accident complaint within those four years, though, you waive your right to legal recourse.

This is why it’s important to act quickly after getting into a car accident. The faster you contact us about your losses, the sooner our team can take over the heavy lifting of an investigation for you.

How to File a Car Accident Complaint

When you bring a car accident to the attention of West Valley City’s civil court, you need to do so with all your case’s essential information on hand. This means detailing:

• Liability and evidence thereof
• Your preferred compensation and evidence to support your losses

When you file a car accident complaint, you leave your documentation with a county clerk. The applicable parties then review your paperwork and determine whether or not to move your case forward. 

With that in mind, a comprehensive complaint can more effectively outline your circumstances and desire for action. You can work with a West Valley City car accident lawyer to determine what information you can integrate into your overarching claim.

Building a Case for Liability

When you file a car accident complaint, you must first know who it is that you want to hold liable for your collision. You can determine this by assessing the evidence found at the scene of your accident. This evidence can include footage of the accident as well as witness statements from bystanders and experts.

There are several parties that can be held liable for your car accident losses, though. Some of the most common include:

• Other drivers
• Pedestrians
• Government officials who haven’t fixed or updated the road
• Automotive manufacturers
• Mechanics
• Motorcyclists
• Truck drivers
• Rideshare agencies
• Corporations

The nature of the party liable for your losses can occasionally influence to what compensation you may be entitled. As such, let our team take a look at the scene of your accident before coming to any conclusions on your own. There is a chance that you may have the right to more financial support than you initially believed.

Calculating Car Accident Compensation

Car accident complaints allow you to pursue compensation for your accident that matches, if not exceeds, the losses you endured in your collision. Before you can submit a complaint, though, you need to know what kind of financial support it is that you’re asking for. In general, your estimate can include:

• Medical bills
• Property damage
• Lost wages or opportunities for work
• Upcoming treatments related to accident-based injuries

It’s important to have evidence of these losses on hand when you go to submit your complaint. If you can include documents such as doctor’s bills or a repair shop’s receipt, car accident attorneys in West Valley City can more readily fight for your aforementioned compensation.

Our team can also fit your case with an applicable non-economic multiplier. A multiplier allows you to request financial assistance in the face of losses that wouldn’t normally generate bills. These losses can include pain and suffering and emotional distress. You can discuss what multipliers car accident cases most commonly use with a member of our team.

You Can Request Car Accident Compensation via Negotiations or a Trial

Once a county clerk approves your complaint, you get to choose how you pursue compensation for your car accident. If you want to manage conversations independently, you can work with an attorney to arrange settlement negotiations. Our team can mediate these negotiations and ensure that an allegedly-liable party respects your estimated damages.

Car accident civil trials tend to run longer than negotiations. That does not mean, however, that they’re less effective. In negotiations, you have to prove your right to support to the liable party. In a trial, a judge can uphold your right based not on subjective observations but rather on evidence.

If you’re not sure which of these paths to car accident compensation you should pursue, consider scheduling a case consultation with our team. We can work with you to better understand your accident. We can also help you switch between tactics as your case moves forward.

We Hold Other Drivers Accountable for Their Actions

Every driver who takes to the road needs to act with others’ best interests at heart. Drivers who deliberately or negligently endanger other people can and should face the consequences for their actions. If you want to move against someone you believe to be liable for your car accident, our legal team can help you get started.

You can discuss your right to legal action with a car accident lawyer in West Valley City. 1Law’s team can elaborate on your options during an initial case consultation. Contact us through our website or over the phone for more information about our services today.