Captain Cook Personal Injury Lawyer

Today’s world is increasingly busy. With so much to accomplish every day, accidents are more likely than ever to occur, and the resulting injuries can alter the course of your life. A serious personal injury can not only leave you with physical challenges but also financial ones.

Fortunately, for those who have been harmed by a negligent person, legal recourse is available. An experienced personal injury attorney will be able to fully investigate your accident and help you construct a strong case to make sure you collect the financial compensation you are entitled to.

We Obtain Meaningful Results For A Wide Variety Of Personal Injury Cases

At the law firm of Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner, we specialize in helping our clients get back on their feet after a serious accident. Our firm represents clients involved in many different kinds of personal injury accidents, such as:

Car Accidents

Thousands of car accidents take place every year in Hawaii. Car accidents happen for a variety of reasons. The most common causes of car accidents in Captain Cook, HI include speeding, driving under the influence, and distracted driving. The car accident lawyers at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner can help you reach a settlement with the insurance carrier, get your hospital bills paid, and acquire financial coverage for any necessary long-term care.

Motorcycle Accidents

The Aloha State is a wonderful place for motorcyclists. Featuring a comfortable climate year-round and miles of scenery along our roadways, it is no surprise that Hawaii has a large number of registered motorcycles. Regrettably, the state’s roadways are not always safe for bikers. Many car and truck drivers are not as mindful as they should be of motorcyclists on the road. Our Hawaii motorcycle accident attorneys can help you recover for your injuries if you were hit by a negligent driver.

Pedestrian Accidents

Thanks to the lovely weather, it’s almost always a good time to take a walk in Captain Cook. The climate and scenery provide an excellent incentive to get out and explore on foot. Nonetheless, pedestrian safety is often compromised by negligent drivers.

When thousands of pounds of steel collide with someone on foot, catastrophic injuries are almost always the result. Reach out to the pedestrian injury lawyers at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner to find out about your legal options.

Slip-and-Fall Accidents

Whether or not they are aware of it, property owners and landlords are legally required to make sure their premises are free of potential hazards. If you or a member of your family were hurt after a slip and fall that occurred on someone else’s property, you could be eligible for financial compensation. Our Captain Cook slip and fall attorneys can help you get the financial recovery you are entitled to when you fall and sustain an injury as a result of a property owner’s negligence.

Rideshare Accidents

Many don’t realize that car or pedestrian accidents involving rideshare vehicles, such as Uber and Lyft, are handled differently from other car accident cases. Sometimes the liable party from whom we obtain compensation for your injury will be different than in a non-rideshare accident. That’s why it is so important to obtain legal representation from an experienced rideshare accident attorney to ensure you get the maximum compensation you are entitled to.

Dog Bites

They may be man’s best friend, but not every encounter with a dog will be pleasant. Unprovoked dog bites sometimes cause severe injuries that require considerable medical care. A dog bite transmits harmful bacteria and diseases to the victim, which could lead to life-changing injuries. A reputable Hawaii dog bite attorney can help you collect the compensation you need after a traumatizing attack.

Schedule Your Free Consultation Today

Since our law firm opened in 1971, Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner has helped recover millions in compensation through personal injury action all across Hawaii. Our personal injury lawyers will do their best to investigate your accident, organize your medical records, explain your rights, prove liability, and achieve a successful outcome. Contact Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner today to schedule your free consultation by calling (808) 537-2525.

How Can I Prove Liability For My Injuries?

In order to prove that someone else is responsible for your injuries, you must establish four main elements in your case. Your personal injury attorney will need to show the following:

Duty of Care

You must first establish that the person who caused the injury had a duty of care in the situation. For example, all drivers owe a duty of care to all other drivers on the road. For them, the duty of care involves following all laws, not driving while under the influence, and not succumbing to any distractions while they are operating the vehicle.

Violation of Duty

After you establish that a duty of care existed, you will then have to prove that the duty was violated when the respondent failed to meet their responsibility.

Cause of Injury

After it is proven that the duty of care has been breached, you must show that it was the cause or partial cause of your accident.

Damages

Lastly, it must be shown that damages such as physical pain or emotional trauma were brought about by the accident. These damages are what a personal injury victim is ultimately compensated for. This is usually the easiest element to prove, because things like medical records and bills help establish proof.

What Kind of Damages Could I Receive?

Each accident is different. However, some of the damages you may be able to receive, depending on the circumstances of your accident, include:

• Medical Costs

  The most common form of damages in a personal injury claim are medical costs. Medical costs include surgery, hospitalization, medical devices, and prescription medications. You may also be able to claim future medical costs if your doctor anticipates you will need ongoing care well into the future.

• Property Damage

  If you experienced property damage during your accident, you can receive compensation to cover the cost of the damaged property. For example, in car wreck cases, the damage to the plaintiff’s vehicle is usually included in their claim.

• Lost Income

  Serious injuries sometimes prevent you from physically being able to work for a period of time after you are injured. When this happens, you may be legally entitled to compensation for your lost income.

• Diminished Earning Capacity

  If you are injured to the point of having permanent inability to work, you may be eligible for compensation for that. In this case, your personal injury attorney can help you determine what your earning capacity was before it was diminished by your injury, so it can be added to your claim.

• Wrongful Death

  When a family member is killed in a negligence-based accident, Hawaii law allows certain surviving relatives to seek compensation. Wrongful death compensation often includes compensation for hospital bills, funeral and burial costs, lost income, and more.

• Loss of Fellowship

  When your loved one is permanently disabled or killed, you may be able to collect for loss of fellowship. This includes things like familial or intimate relations that the injured or deceased is no longer able to provide to their family member. Loss of fellowship is generally only claimed in cases involving death or serious and lasting injuries like incontinence, paralysis, or amputation.

• Punitive Damages

  Once in a while, courts will award punitive damages for certain kinds of injury claims. These types of damages are not awarded for an expense or loss incurred due to an accident. Instead, they are awarded as punishment to the offender and to deter that offender and others from similar behavior.

What Should I Do After a Personal Injury Accident?

The first thing you should do after any accident, especially one that you did not cause, is to go seek medical treatment immediately.

Get Medical Treatment

No matter what type of accident takes place, the first and most important thing you must do is seek immediate medical care. Even if you think you didn’t get hurt, you should still be medically evaluated. Not all injuries have symptoms that can be felt right away. This is true of many minor injuries and several serious ones as well. Adrenaline can sometimes mask the pain after you go through something traumatic like a terrible accident.

Make sure you keep copies of all of your medical bills and records that you receive. You may need them to prove your damages when the time comes to file your claim. You should also take pictures of your injuries, the scene and any property damage if you are able to at the time of the incident.

Hire A Personal Injury Attorney

Many times, those who get hurt in an accident wait for a full medical diagnosis or an offer from the insurance carrier before they decide they want to contact a lawyer. However, it will benefit you to contact a lawyer as early as possible after the incident occurs. That way your Hawaii personal injury lawyer can build the best case for maximum financial recovery, and get your claim filed long before the statute of limitations expires. They can also handle all communication with the defendant’s insurance company from the very beginning, which takes the burden off you.

Hiring a personal injury lawyer can seem intimidating. That is why we offer a free, no-obligation consultation. This will give you the opportunity to let a lawyer look at your case and help you determine if you should move forward with a lawsuit. Even if you do not move forward, you will gain a better understanding of your situation from a legal standpoint.

Ways a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help

There are many ways in which a qualified Captain Cook, HI personal injury lawyer can help you achieve the best outcome for your injury claim.

Gathering Evidence

Having an experienced attorney ensures that you are gathering all the necessary evidence to bring the strongest possible claim. Your attorney knows exactly what you will need and how to get it in a timely and efficient manner.

Preparing Your Case

A skilled Hawaii personal injury lawyer knows how to build the best case possible, including gathering evidence and hiring experts when needed to testify in support of your claims. This will help ensure that the insurance company makes a fair offer during settlement negotiations.

Negotiating With Insurance Companies

Having a personal injury attorney who knows and understands the law inside and out, as well as what your claim is truly worth, means you will not be susceptible to insurance companies attempting to trick you into accepting a much smaller settlement than you are rightfully entitled to. Your attorney will handle all communication with the defendant’s insurance company so you don’t have to.

Assessing Eligibility For Compensation

Our seasoned Hawaii personal injury lawyers have decades of experience handling almost every type of personal injury case. Their knowledge, background, and resources are invaluable when it comes to calculating the financial compensation you could potentially be owed. This is why you should contact us as soon as possible if you think you might have a case. We can help you determine whether you should move forward.

The Value of Your Claim

The precise value of your case and the amount of compensation can vary depending on circumstances. There are many different factors that can affect how much compensation you can get and these are unique to each case. For instance, because of Hawaii’s modified comparative negligence laws, if you are found to have contributed to your accident by more than 51%, you will be barred from collecting damages.