What do you do if you have been bitten by a neighbor’s dog? What if the dog owner is a friend or family member? You have still received an injury and possibly a permanent scar, you have still suffered damages. Usually, the neighbor has insurance to cover the costs of your damages and suffering. Often your neighbor, when realizing the damage you have suffered will want that the insurance premium he has been paying for years to finally cover something. Many times we can recover a significant settlement without costing your neighbor anything. Kind of a win-win result in a bad situation.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE THE OUTCOME OF YOUR CASE?
- The single thing that will effect the outcome of you case is retaining an attorney with significant dog bite practice to represent you throughout the case
- Gather documentation from the incident. (photographs of your wounds, medical reports and bills, police report, etc.)
- Keep a diary listing significant events, problems you have experienced, loss of work, alteration of your lifestyle, and pain you experience.
- Review your case with your attorney
- Don’t make any more statements until after consulting with an attorney
- Remember, your neighbor’s insurance company does not care about you and will try to do anything they can to give you the least amount of money possible.
- Write down information that you believe will help your case. Often your gut instincts are very helpful later in the case.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?
- Early preparation, including legal research and issue identification
- Advise you of your rights under existing dog bite laws
- Help arrange for payment of your medical bills through insurance money and possibly settlement liens
- Early investigation and identification of all facts helpful to your case
- Interview witnesses to help lock in their testimony
- Hire expert witness that can help establish liability and damages
- Keep you updated on all aspects of you case, including possible settlements or mediation alternatives
- Advise you of when and what is a reasonable settlement amount
- If settlement doesn’t work, we will file suit
- We will provide you with experienced trial advocacy to help you win your case
- DISCLAIMER
The statements above are not legal advice! This statements are not intended to be a comprehensive statement of law of your particular case. This statement is intended to give you a very general understanding of what is involved in this type of crime. Please consult an attorney to find out what law applies to your particular case.