Hibbing Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injury law is a broad area of the legal world that focuses on helping accident victims recover compensation for their injuries and anguish. Whether a car hit you, a business neglected to warn you of hazards, or a collision put you in the hospital, getting the help of an experienced lawyer can help you fight for your rights and ensure justice is served.
Recovering from a personal injury after an accident is a major hurdle that far too many people go through in life. Here in Hibbing, we see countless personal injury cases that change lives in mere minutes. From car accidents to dog bites, anything can happen. When it happens to you, know that justice is still possible when taking legal action.
While it’s not always easy to seek legal guidance after suffering injuries, our Hibbing personal injury lawyers are here to help you with your personal injury case at Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers.
Injured in Hibbing? Get Nicolet.
Working With Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers
Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers has focused on helping accident victims since 2007. Our knowledge and experience set us apart, enabling us to receive over thousands of five-star ratings and featured content in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Cornell University.
Built on family and focused on pursuing justice, our team is more than our media presence. We are passionate and hard-working, putting our clients’ needs first and always prepared to face a challenge. Though we cannot make any guarantees about future case results, to date, we have recovered over $51 million in rewards for our clients. Call us for your free case evaluation.
Why Hire Us After Your Accident?
Our commitment to giving you justice and our sense of empathy for your injuries are but a few reasons why you should hire us. After your accident, things are not going to stay the same as they were. Most likely, you have life-altering injuries that mean numerous difficulties ahead, including financial challenges due to medical bills. How are you going to pay those, not including possible additional bills for rehabilitation in the future?
You have all legal right to seek a settlement from the negligent person or company causing your accident. That’s what we’ll help you do when armed with the proper evidence proving another party’s responsibility for the harm you suffered.
Proving Your Case
Often, we’ll first visit the scene where your accident occurred. Was your personal injury a car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, or a product liability? No matter the category, we look for the evidence that proves you deserve compensation for your injuries.
At car accident sites, we’ll interview witnesses, gather video footage, and protect your medical records to definitively prove your injuries. Thanks to video footage being more ubiquitous nowadays, visual proof is an essential piece of evidence to have if you decide to take your case to trial. If there was Traffic video footage here in Hibbing that would help.
After evidence is gathered, the biggest challenge often comes in negotiating with the defendant’s insurance company.
Negotiations With Insurance
From the outset, insurance companies are immediately going to look out for the best interests of their owners and shareholders. This means they’ll usually try to minimize the severity of your injuries after you file a claim with them.
An unfortunate trick they pull is contacting you to get you to settle early. Never take that small amount, because you probably deserve so much more.
Another thing to avoid is speaking to the insurance adjuster on the phone. They may try to ask you how you’re feeling while offering an early settlement. Anything you say that insinuates you’re doing better than you claimed could end up being twisted in court later.
Thanks to our vast experience negotiating with insurance companies, you’re in good hands represented by Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers.
Types of Accidents in Hibbing That Can Result in a Personal Injury Claim
Personal injury law covers many accidents, primarily where someone's carelessness or recklessness causes another person to become injured. Here is a look at some accidents that can result in a personal injury claim in Hibbing.
Traffic Accidents
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, St. Louis County sees more than 3,000 accidents yearly on roadways in Hibbing and the surrounding area, causing injuries to around 800 people.
We may blame Minnesota's long and harsh winters for traffic accidents involving passenger vehicles, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, or pedestrians.
However, fewer than a quarter of all accidents in Hibbing and throughout the state occur on wet or icy roads, far fewer than the number that occurs during the 100 deadly days of summer that extend each year from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Accidents Involving Recreational Vehicles
Hibbing is near the 38-mile ATV trail system known as the Chisholm Trail, and the town is a welcome stop for those seeking to enjoy the easy to moderate trails. Unfortunately, negligence on the part of land owners or managers and reckless drivers results in dozens of serious injuries or fatal crashes each year.
Premises Liability Issues
While the wet winters in Minnesota do not cause as many car accidents as many people believe, they can lead to premises liability issues for property owners in Hibbing, including those who own private residences, commercial buildings, and even the agencies who manage public property such as the Hibbing City Hall or Hibbing High School.
The most common type of premises liability claim is a slip-and-fall claim when a person becomes injured due to a negligent property condition such as ice or water on the floor or stairs, cracks in sidewalks, or potholes in paved parking lots.
Other common types of premises liability issues in Hibbing include:
- Injuries caused by elevators or escalators
- Swimming pool accidents
- Dog bite injuries
- Injuries resulting from fires, flooding, or chemical exposure
- Injuries caused by negligent security, which is the property owner’s failure to take measures to protect guests from becoming injured due to criminal activity
- Inadequate maintenance of the premises, such as failing to replace a malfunctioning appliance in an apartment rental
Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse
There are three nursing homes in Hibbing and another dozen or so located nearby and providing service to Hibbing residents. According to Senior Advice, obtaining a room in an area nursing home runs between $192-$317 per day.
This results in a yearly cost of around $96,000—well above the national average. However, higher-than-average nursing home costs do not always equate to better-than-average nursing home care.
In Minnesota, elderly and vulnerable nursing home residents can become injured due to several different types of negligence, including:
- Failure of the facility to provide enough staff to properly supervise all residents, which can result in falls, fights, elopement (the resident wandered away from the facility), or even abandonment (the resident was left outside of the facility)
- Failure to follow a resident’s care plan regarding issues specific to the resident, such as a high risk of falling or special dietary needs
- Failure of the facility to ensure that the staff working with the residents is properly licensed and trained to provide their needed assistance.
- Failure to prevent the spread of infectious diseases by adhering to a vaccination program and following sanitary procedures when cooking or cleaning wounds
- Failure to protect the resident from physical, mental, or sexual abuse occurring at the hands of nursing home staff or other residents
- Failure to provide the resident with food, hydration, and the medication prescribed for them
Catastrophic Injuries
Some types of injuries present a high likelihood of permanent disabilities that will cause the sufferer to be unable to earn an income in the future simply due to the body part where the injury occurred. Some examples include brain or spinal cord injuries, severe damage to the spinal vertebrae or discs, traumatic amputations, and injuries involving the primary senses, such as loss of eyesight or hearing.
Catastrophic injury claims follow the same process as other types of injury claims, but they require a higher level of compensation to account for the future impacts of the injury.
For example, maybe an individual paralyzed from the neck down cannot work or pay for their care. They require medical treatments throughout life due to the complications of the injury, such as the inability to cough secretions from the lungs to prevent pneumonia or frequent urinary tract infections resulting from incontinence.
The Potential for Accidents in Hibbing
We who live here in Hibbing know it as a great city center for shopping, dining, and recreation. Almost anything can happen in those places to cause injury.
For instance, shopping can mean someone slipping on a slick floor and causing spinal cord injuries or traumatic brain injury. Dining can also cause injuries, including illness from food poisoning or perhaps an accident in the parking lot.
Recreational locations also have plenty of hazards. Our numerous sports clubs in the city pose considerable accident potential and range from bowling alleys to snowmobile clubs.
Harsh winters in Minnesota contribute far too much to serious car accidents and similar scenarios.
Personal Injury FAQs
What Settlement or Award Will I Receive?
We invite you to look at our case results over the years to see what kind of outcomes we’ve reached for our clients. We’ve won major settlements that go as high as six figures.
Keep in mind, though, that all cases are different. The evidence you have for your personal injury case is likely different from someone else’s, and past results are no guarantee of future success. Based on this, it’s best to not place all hopes on a set amount.
You may receive more or less than our typical results.
What Happens if I Take My Case to Trial?
Sometimes insurance companies refuse to budge on giving you a settlement offer you deserve. When this happens, we respect your wishes if you choose to head to a trial.
A major benefit to going to trial is you can present your case to a jury, rather than insurance adjusters. Some clients prefer this, since a jury may relate more to your plight. Sympathy and empathy from a jury can help win sizable compensation.
Just remember that trials can take longer than settlement negotiations.
Can I pursue Punitive Damages?
Your injuries are perhaps serious enough to warrant suing the negligent person or company for punitive damages. Punitive damages, also called exemplary damages, allow you to recover more compensation directly from the defendant.
Compelling evidence makes all the difference in whether a court may order punitive damages. Regardless, many courts use this option to send a stronger message about the particular accident never happening again.
Will I Have Legal Bills to Worry About?
We do free consultations from the start, and also work on a contingency fee basis. It means we’ll work on your case without requiring attorney fees until and unless we secure compensation for you.
We want you to take time to recover from your injuries without worrying about financial stress.
Get Legal Help Now
Contact Nicolet Law Accident & Injury Lawyers now at (218) 217-0659 if someone injured you in an accident in Hibbing. We’re not afraid to take on major companies and insurance agencies to win you the compensation you need.