Columbia, SC Personal Injury Lawyers

The best way to find out if you have a viable personal injury claim is to contact one of our accident attorneys in Columbia, South Carolina, today for your free, no-obligation case evaluation. Every case is different, so no attorney can ethically tell you that you have a case without knowing the details of your accident or injury. Be wary of firms that say otherwise.

What we can tell you, however, is that you likely have a case if your injuries were caused by the negligence of some other party. Some of the more common types of accidents or incidents that serve as the basis for personal injury claims include (but are by no means exclusive to):

Maybe. Whether a case goes to trial will hinge on the defendant’s (i.e., the negligent party) willingness to resolve the case versus fight it. This, in turn, can depend on the nature of the negligence and the specific defendant(s) involved.

Oftentimes, whether a case will need to proceed to trial will not become clear until the personal injury claim is already well underway and there have been some attempts to negotiate a pre-trial settlement.

Nope, not by a long shot! Protection from liability via incorporation is one of the great myths of law that far too many people believe. Particularly in the case of small businesses, incorporation (or organization of a limited liability company, or LLC) actually provides very little protection from liability.

Seasoned plaintiffs’ attorneys like us are keenly aware of the slings and arrows of corporate immunity, and whether a defendant enjoys such immunity is one of our first avenues of discovery in every pending case. If you’re bringing a lawsuit against a business entity, you need to ensure that your attorney is well-versed in corporate law—otherwise, you may be missing a major weak spot in your opponent’s case.

If you’re attempting to protect yourself from a lawsuit, you need to be aware that incorporating your business still leaves massive opportunities for you to be sued personally. So, after incorporating, what can someone be sued for?

There are 2 major categories:

Even if someone has incorporated their business, they incur potential personal liabilities each and every day if they are personally involved in that business.

Another fact that many entrepreneurs, owners and business people overlook is their duties to maintain corporate or company formalities after they’ve formed their business. Corporations and companies are what the law refers to as “legal fictions.” In other words, they aren’t real people, but legally they are treated as persons completely distinct from their owners.

But there’s an important caveat:

In order for an owner to maintain the protection they receive from their company’s incorporated status, they must treat the company as a completely distinct person.

There are several relatively easy ways to maintain this corporate distinction but, again, many business owners are completely unaware. First, owners should be maintaining a set of financial records and accounts that are completely separate from their individual records and accounts. Company funds should be used to pay for company expenses rather than “siphoned off” by the owner. The company should maintain its solvency and adequate levels of capital to continue its business.

If a business owner is using their business as a mere façade or alter ego in order to provide protection from the personal liability of the business, then a plaintiff can “pierce the corporate veil” to reach the assets of the owner.

So what do business owners actually gain from incorporating a corporation or organizing a limited liability company?

There are 2 major categories of benefits.

1. Debts and liabilities of the company itself. If a business owner is smart, they’ll be careful to execute as many agreements as possible between 3rd parties and their company. Contractual agreements between a company and a 3rd party are only binding against the company so long as the business owner has been appropriately managing his business. This is a major benefit of corporate immunity.
2. Liabilities of the company’s employees. If an owner has incorporated their business, they are also personally immune from the negligent acts of their employees. In our earlier example, if John Doe hired a 2nd employee who was driving the tow truck that caused the wreck, the only 2 potentially liable parties would be the new employee and the corporation. John Doe’s personal assets would be safe.

So what does all of this mean for you?

Though subjects such as corporate law and personal injury law may seem miles apart, they’re actually intimately connected. Regardless of what side of a lawsuit you find yourself on, you need to make sure your attorneys understand the ins and outs of corporate immunity.

Another important reason to consult an attorney near you quickly is that the state of South Carolina requires most accident victims to file a personal injury claim within 3 years of the date of their injury. This deadline is referred to as the “statute of limitations.” Outside of this window of time, injured people will typically lose their chances to seek compensation via a personal injury lawsuit (though there are a few rare exceptions to this general rule).

In a medical malpractice case, the 3-year time limit starts to run from the time the victim knew or should have discovered the injuries. In a wrongful death claim, the 3-year period starts at the date of death.

After 3 years, accident victims lose the right to recover compensation—no matter how severe their injuries.

However, you should know that the sooner these cases are filed, the stronger they tend to be because there is usually more available evidence to support injured people’s claims. This, in turn, can end up meaning that injured people have way much better chances of securing the full amount of compensation to which they’re entitled when they move forward with their cases sooner rather than waiting months or years to file.

Compensation provided to victims in a personal injury case is usually referred to as “damages,” regardless of whether the amount is awarded by a court or received through a settlement. After demonstrating liability, a personal injury lawyer may help a client collect damages for a variety of different effects stemming from the injury.

• Economic damages refer to losses such as medical expenses and wages lost due to time off work. Our personal injury attorneys can calculate the value of losses anticipated in the future as well as those already incurred.
• Non-economic damages refer to compensation for intangible losses such as pain, suffering, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment.
• Punitive damages aim to compensate a victim if the harm was caused by deliberate actions or egregious neglect. Punitive damages are also intended to deter others from bad behavior in the future.

Sometimes, the skills of an experienced personal injury lawyer—or at least the threat to an insurance company that such a lawyer may present—are well worth the money you must pay that lawyer to represent you.

Perhaps you need a lawyer because of the complex legal rules involved in your particular claim or because the severity of your injuries might cause your compensation to vary greatly from the norm. Or perhaps the insurance company refuses to settle a matter in good faith.

There are countless scenarios where consulting with a personal injury lawyer can be beneficial for you and your family, but here are 3 examples when you REALLY should talk to an attorney:

1. Long-term or permanently disabling injuries. Some accidents result in injuries that significantly affect your physical mobility or appearance for a long time (such as a year or longer) or even permanently. Figuring out how much a long-term or permanent injury costs you can be a difficult business since you must also anticipate future expenses on top of calculating the loss you’ve already suffered. You’ll probably require some assistance from an experienced lawyer to get the most out of your claim.
2. Severe or catastrophic injuries. The amount of your accident compensation is mostly determined by how severe your injuries were. And the severity of your injuries is measured by the amount of your medical bills, the type of injuries you have and the length of time it takes for you to recover. As the amount of your potential compensation increases, the range within which that compensation may fall becomes wider. In such cases, it may be worth the expense to have a lawyer handle your claim and make sure you receive compensation at the highest end of the range.
3. Toxic exposure. In the increasingly chemical world, people sometimes become ill because of exposure to contaminants in air, soil, water, products or food. Claims based on toxic exposure are difficult to prove, however, and often require complex scientific data. And since chemical manufacturers and other industries have erected huge defenses to protect themselves from legal exposure while they continue to expose the public to potentially harmful chemicals, the required evidence is often very hard to come by without expert help.

Contact us today by simply filling out the form at the bottom of this page. If you have a case and choose to move forward with one of our Columbia personal injury lawyers, you can be confident that we will handle everything necessary to get your case started for you. With us by your side, you can also rest assured that you’ll be kept informed about your case as it moves forward, and you’ll have the best chance of maximizing your financial recovery.