Lawyers have the unfortunate reputation of muddling up the simple and complicating the straightforward. As a result, an injured motorist may feel it is unnecessary to hire an attorney to assist him or her – especially if the motorist believes his or her case to be “straightforward.” While there is no law in South Carolina (or anywhere else) that requires an injured motorist to retain an attorney, hiring a lawyer does give an injured motorist several distinct advantages:
- The lawyer is familiar with the laws applicable to your car injury case, which saves the injury victim from having to look up and understand complicated statutes and regulations;
- The lawyer likely has access to important resources (such as engineering experts, medical experts, and/or reconstruction experts) that will assist the lawyer in identifying all parties responsible for contributing to the crash;
- The lawyer is familiar with how to file a claim, respond to the other party’s answers, and file necessary motions with the court to keep your claim moving; and
- The lawyer is able to assess the “worth” or “value” of your claim, including economic losses and damages as well as noneconomic losses and damages.
Therefore, while hiring an attorney is certainly not required by law in car accident injury cases, many car accident plaintiffs find that an attorney is able to provide invaluable assistance to them throughout the life of their lawsuit.
