Anahola Personal Injury Lawyer

Thousands of people visit the Anahola area every year to swim at the picturesque Anahola Beach, hike near the Kalalea Mountain, aka “King Kong Mountain”, and enjoy other sites in the area. Although most people are able to avoid any problem, occasionally, accidents happen that cause severe injuries. 

When someone is injured due to the negligence of others, they have the right to file a personal injury claim to recover compensation. Expenses add up quickly when you get hurt in a car wreck or some other type of incident. You may be faced with emergency room and hospital bills, physical therapy, and lost wages from having to take time off work to recover. When another person’s reckless or negligent behavior puts you in this situation, they should be held responsible for it. Otherwise, you may experience enormous financial challenges that can be disruptive to your family’s life. 

At Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner, our dedicated personal injury attorneys have been advocating for the residents of Anahola and surrounding areas for decades. If you need help filing a claim to collect fair compensation after being injured through no fault of your own, we want to help. 

Taking Legal Action After Being Involved in an Accident

There are several reasons why you should consider taking legal action after being harmed. The main reason is that you risk being left with expenses and other losses that could cause harm to the quality of your life if you don’t take the legal action necessary to compel a fair settlement. Insurance companies are notorious for denying valid claims or offering a settlement far lower than what the injured person will likely need over the course of their recovery journey. While a lump sum may sound great within weeks after your accident occurs, it likely won’t be enough to cover all the ongoing expenses you will face, particularly if your injury is severe. 

When it comes down to it, filing a personal injury case is often the most effective way to secure the financial resources that you need throughout the recovery process and beyond. The unfortunate truth is that any type of accident has the potential to result in tens of thousands of dollars in lost wages and other damages. Though nobody likes the thought of filing a lawsuit, keep in mind the person responsible likely has an insurance policy that has the resources to pay you what you are rightfully owed. 

A lawsuit can also provide you with a sense of closure and peace of mind. It provides you with the ability to have your voice heard. It can also help to promote safer behavior among other residents and visitors of the Anahola, HI community.

Statute of Limitations

Residents of Anahola typically have up to two years to file a personal injury claim following an accident. However, various situations can impact the actual amount of time that a person has to file. This makes it critical that you reach out to a knowledgeable personal injury attorney as soon as possible to see how long you have to file a claim after being harmed. You may be able to recover compensation to help you overcome the damages that you face.

Dealing with Damages after an Accident

After being involved in an accident, there is a significant chance that you will be left with physical injuries that take a major toll on your mental and financial well-being. During this very difficult time, it is important to have the guidance you need to recover from your damages. There are many challenges our attorneys can help you address. 

• Getting Proper Medical Care: Whether you are dealing with broken bones, head trauma, back injuries, or burns, your path to recovery demands time, rest, and the highest quality of medical care. We can help make sure you get the care you need from any specialists and other healthcare providers, and the resources to pay for it. 
• Repairing or Replacing Property Damages: It is only natural to be concerned about the damage to your motor vehicle, home, or other personal effects after being harmed in an accident. While obtaining compensation for your damaged or destroyed property may not be an integral part of the personal injury claims procedure, it is a service that our personal injury attorneys at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner routinely provide to many of our clients. 
• Dealing with the Loss of Income: Should your injuries force you out of work for an extended period, the income that supports you and your family will be interrupted. Our personal injury lawyers can explore the disability resources available to help you get the money you need to help cover your expenses during the recovery process. We can also pursue a claim for compensation for lost wages or lost earnings when filing your personal injury claim.
• Managing Medical Costs: After an accident, you will likely face towering medical expenses. This is made even worse when you are unable to work. Unfortunately, without adequate medical care, it can be quite difficult to overcome your injuries. For this reason, it is important to recover compensation for the costs of medical bills you face for medical expenses, both immediate and long-term. Our personal injury lawyers can communicate with healthcare providers and insurers on your behalf to help ensure you are fairly compensated for these damages.
• Pain and Suffering: The law allows you to seek compensation not only for your medical expenses and lost wages but also for the pain and suffering you have endured. Though there is not a specific dollar amount tied to this loss, our attorneys know how to calculate the maximum possible compensation you are entitled to based on your specific injuries.

If the negligent actions of another person have caused an accident that left you hurt, you should seek guidance from a qualified legal team that has experience handling complex personal injury cases. This will ensure you have the best chance of a positive outcome for your situation.

Types of Cases We Handle

Having a legal team that is well-versed in handling the complex litigation process of personal injury claims is crucial. Our personal injury attorneys have decades of experience helping Anahola residents as well as those that came to visit get justice after being harmed in an accident. Some of the cases we have helped our clients achieve a successful outcome for include those involving:

• Dangerous or Defective Products
• Premises Liability Claims
  • Slip and fall accidents
  • Dog bites
• Auto Accident Cases
  • Car accidents
  • Truck accidents
  • Moped accidents
  • Bicycle accidents
  • Pedestrian accidents
  • Motorcycle accidents
• Medical Malpractice
• Catastrophic Injury Claims
  • Brain injuries
  • Internal organ damage
  • Spinal cord injuries
• Wrongful Death

Hiring an attorney to represent you means you can stay focused on your recovery while we handle the rest. Our dedicated personal injury attorneys at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner are committed to putting your legal rights and best interests at the forefront of every decision we make regarding your case. We will keep you informed throughout the entire legal process to ensure you always know what to expect throughout the course of your claim. 

Proving Liability after Being Harmed

Identifying the individual or entity that is liable for your damages is imperative. Your attorney will conduct an investigation based on the evidence available to establish who was responsible for what happened. The investigation will analyze various aspects of the accident to determine whether the elements of negligence existed. These elements include:

• Duty: Duty is a term used to describe the legal obligation that one person owes to another. In personal injury cases, this term generally refers to the duty of care that a person or entity owes to others to prevent unreasonable harm or dangerous situations intentionally. For example, drivers are required to provide a duty to other vehicles when they operate their vehicles, medical professionals have a duty to provide competent care, and property owners have a duty to maintain safe premises for guests who visit. It is crucial to prove this element of negligence in order to prevail.
• Breach: Once you are able to prove duty existed, the next element of negligence is to demonstrate that the defendant breached their duty of care to you. This involves showing that the defendant’s actions or inactions did not meet the standard of care that was expected of them under the circumstances. This typically involves determining whether the defendant acted reasonably or proving that they did not. This element often involves presenting evidence that demonstrates that the defendant’s conduct fell below the expected standard.
• Causation: After proving the breach of the duty of care, it is crucial to prove that this breach was the direct cause of your injuries. You must be able to demonstrate that had the defendant’s breach of duty not occurred, you would not have suffered the injuries.
• Damages: To have a viable personal injury claim against the defendant, you must have suffered actual damages. Establishing damages is essential as it puts a value on the harm that you have suffered and forms the basis for the amount of compensation that you may be entitled to receive. Damages aim to provide you with a remedy for the losses incurred due to the defendant’s negligence.

In a personal injury lawsuit, successfully proving all these elements is crucial to holding the at-fault party accountable and recovering compensation for your losses and expenses. Proving these damages successfully can help you receive a fair settlement or a verdict for the losses and damages that you have experienced. 

Understanding Comparative Negligence

After being harmed in an accident, there is a chance that the insurance company for the defendant will try to shift the blame for the accident onto you. Unfortunately, insurance companies often do not have the best interest of innocent victims in mind. Instead, they will do everything they can to avoid paying fair compensation for the losses and damages that have been caused.

In Hawaii, individuals who are harmed in accidents can pursue compensation for their losses and damages even if they contributed to the accident taking place. This is due to the fact that Hawaii follows the comparative negligence doctrine when it comes to providing compensation for damages. This doctrine states that a person is able to recover compensation for the damages they face so long as they are less than 51 percent responsible for the accident.

This means that even if you did contribute to your accident taking place in some way, you may still be able to collect a portion of the damages you incurred. However, due to this law, it is critical that you are able to prove that the defendant was responsible for a majority of the fault for the accident. 

When recovering compensation for an incident in which you shared the fault, your total payout will be reduced by the percentage you were responsible. For example, if you contributed 20 percent of the fault to the accident that you were involved in, the amount of money you recover will be reduced by 20 percent. Having a strong legal team on your side can help to ensure that you are able to get the maximum amount of compensation for your damages.

Our Personal Injury Attorneys Are Here To Help

Seeking guidance from a skilled law firm can make a big difference after being harmed in an accident. Although we hope that you never find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being injured in an accident, we want you to know that our personal injury lawyers for Anahola at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner will be here during your time of need. 

Our team has decades of experience litigating complex personal injury cases for residents of Anahola and across the Hawaiian Islands, and we are fully committed to helping those harmed get justice and protect their legal rights. 

If another person’s reckless actions have caused an accident that left you harmed, you deserve justice. For more info, reach out to our dedicated legal team by calling 808-537-2525 to schedule a free consultation to explore your legal options.