Are these considered serious injury? whiplash, herniated disc requiring fusion surgery, 2 surgeries of right shoulder,

Please, contact a personal injury attorney in your area. The injuries, as mentioned are serious enough to require attention.

Never take legal advice from a defendant,get the real information from a local attorney. Your injuries would bring a substantial jury award and most GA attorneys will likely take your case on a contigency basis meaning you do not have to pay the fee until the lawyer secures a verdict and/or settlement.
You might find my legal guide on selecting and hiring a lawyer helpful.
You might find my legal guide on Is it Legal? Is it Illegal? helpful.
You might find my legal guide on the understanding the different court systems helpful.
You might find my legal guide on legal terms used in litigation helpful.
(Even if you are not filing a lawsuit this information can be useful).


LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Mr. Sarno is licensed to practice law in NJ and NY. His response here is not legal advice and does not create an attorney/ client relationship. The response is in the form of legal education and is intended to provide general information about the matter in question. Many times the questioner may leave out details which would make the reply unsuitable. Mr. Sarno strongly advises the questioner to confer with an attorney in their own state to acquire more information.

I would encourage you to see a lawyer as soon as possible, and do not talk with the truck company or their insurer before seeing counsel.

As mentioned, you should seek legal counsel as soon as possible. Feel free to contact me if I can be of assistance.

Steven I. Goldman
GOLDMAN & ASSOCIATES
The Equitable Building - Suite 2020
100 Peachtree Street, N.W.
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 577-9555
(404) 577-9556 (fax)
Steve@GoldmanLawAtlanta.com
www.GoldmanLawAtlanta.com

You have a serious claim and you should seek a qualified attorney who focuses their practice on serious injuries and fatalities. Avvo is a good resource to help you appreciate the differences in skill level among different attorneys. You should also choose an attorney who is experience in the medicine found in these types of injuries. If the defense team cannot challenge your case on liability, they will challenge on whether all of your injuries were caused by the collision. It sounds absurd but true. For example, the defense team will find a prior back complaint or chiropractic treatment and exploit that information to argue that your current back injuries were already present. You need a skilled attorney to refute these attempts to avoid paying you the full value of your claim.

As for me, my practice focuses on helping injured people and their families who have sustained serious injuries and fatalities involving auto, trucking and motorcycle accidents. It is critical to select an attorney with experience in cases involving significant traffic accidents or significant negligence. I have eighteen years experience as an attorney and fourteen years experience representing auto accident victims. I am AV Rated by Martindale Hubble (the highest ranking for ethics and professionalism). I am a member of the national trial lawyers association (The American Association for Justice), the Southeastern Regional Trial Lawyers Association (the Southern Trial Lawyers Association), the state trial lawyers association (The Georgia Trial Lawyers Association) the local trial lawyers association (The North Metro Trial Lawyers Association) and am a former president of the North Fulton Bar Association. I hold an "advocate" designation for trial practice through the American Association for Justice. I have also been selected through the State Bar of Georgia as a member of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia (which is recognition afforded a select group of lawyers for the purpose of giving back to the community). I have a superb rating of 9.1 on this site.

I strive for excellence in the practice. I believe in client service. I immediately pursue my cases. I copy my clients on all communication (typically via email). I may be reached by email most any time, including after hours and on weekends. I have blackberry capability. Furthermore, I aggressively pursue recovery from the insurance company. This approach leads to higher recoveries and a shorter time to resolution.

It is also critical for the lead attorney to personally oversee the case. I personally investigate and prepare my cases for trial. I have significant experience in trial practice, auto and truck negligence and the medicine of crash injuries. My experience and personal attention lead to results. Please take a moment to the firm webpage at http://www.burkeylawfirm.com/.

Please feel free to call all me if you would like some additional information.

Frederick D. Burkey
THE BURKEY LAW FIRM, P.C.
770-587-5529
404-892-8510 Direct Dial
fburkey@burkeylawfirm.com
www.BurkeyLawFirm.com

Yes, they are considered serious. You should definitely contact a lawyer to discuss your options. Most personal injury attorneys will do an initial consultation at no charge. You should find a lawyer in the place where the accident occurred. If that is Georgia, I would look for one in Georgia. To pick a good one I would start by contacting the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association. Best of luck.

Eric Parker
Stotis & Baird, Chicago, Illinois

Clearly, the injuries are serious. I would assume you are approaching this from a wait and see perspective to determine whether the insurance carrier is going to treat you fairly before you decide to hire a lawyer. I think that is an intelligent approach.

Now that you know the carrier is not going to treat you well, the you should hire a lawyer. That process is a little harder. My advice is to interview at least three lawyers in person to see who you feel comfortable with. The attorney client relationship is incredibly personal and you should not entrust private matters to people you don't connect with. Here are a few articles that I wrote that may give you some good background knowledge before you begin the interview process: http://www.christophersimon.com/lawyer-attorney-1348818.html and http://www.christophersimon.com/lawyer-attorney-1323680.html

Feel free to call me with any questions.

Chris
http://www.christophersimon.com

Your injury is considered very serious. If you add up your total medical bills, lost wages from time missed at work, future medical bills for future surgeries, therapies, etc., pain and suffering, and potentially other amounts depending on your facts and circumstances, and compare it to what they are offering, you may have an idea whether their number is right or not. But an experienced trucking lawyer can advise you with perhaps more specific detail. It is very difficult to do so without knowing more information.

You should immediately contact an injury law firm with experience in handling trucking cases. Most trucking lawyers work on a contingent fee, which means you don't have to pay anything up front. The fees will be paid out of any recovery.

By the way, this is the typical behavior of a trucking company and its insurance company. They play down your injury and tell you they are working on a settlement package to give you all the compensation you are entitled to. But after a long period of time, you still don't have the settlement package. What they are really trying to do is buy time until they are allowed to destroy documents that would be critical to your case. Usually this occurs around 6 months after the accident. Sometimes, they will also try to hold you off until the statute of limitations (time limit to file a lawsuit) passes. Once the statute of limitation passes, the trucking company and its insurance company will deny your claim. At that point, you will have no legal rights against the trucking company or its insurance company.

Our firm would be happy to help you if you decide to hire a trucking lawyer. Our website address is below.

Best of luck to you.

Disclaimer: No attorney-client relationship is created by this communication. The information provided by the Studstill Firm, LLP is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice. Legal rights usually have time limits; therefore, it is strongly recommended that you seek the advice of a lawyer concerning your legal issue and the specific time limits that may apply to your case in order to preserve your rights if you wish to do so.