Knowing your legal rights is very valuable with personal injuries ---
What you don’t know can cost you. Every day, people are injured in accidents that cause pain and suffering along with unexpected medical bills. People are usually focused on their medical needs and getting back to their regular life – they often don’t think much about their legal rights or the long-term impact of their injury. Knowing their legal rights and being proactive in getting legal help can make a big difference in how an injury affects their health and finances.
Roseann Torres is a lawyer in Oakland who is known as a family and consumer advocate in many ways. Whether it’s a widowed mother at risk of losing the family home or someone injured in a car accident, Torres is passionate about protecting people’s rights and educating them about important legal matters. Though she also handles criminal and civil law cases, Torres has a strong focus on personal injury.
“After an injury, many people accept the first payment amount the insurance company offers,” says Torres, who does not approve of how many insurance companies pressure people into accepting small payments that do not fairly reflect the injury or its long-term impact on the person.
“The goal of the injured person should be to receive full payment for present and future medical bills, pain, suffering, lost wages and other damages,” says Torres, who is one of the few Latina lawyers in the East Bay who handles personal injury cases.
Torres says that insurance companies often take advantage of people’s ignorance of their rights in order to settle an insurance case for a small amount of money.
“Insurance companies pressure people to close cases quickly and cheaply so lawyers don’t get involved and evaluate the case for what it’s really worth,” she says.
Torres adds that pressuring people to accept small payments happens often with Hispanics who don’t speak English.
“It saddens me that insurance companies use bilingual adjusters to trick injured people out of medical treatment that they are owed. Once you have a lawyer, they can’t manipulate you anymore because they must speak only to the lawyer and you can focus on getting medical treatment.”
Personal injury cases include car or motorcycle accidents, slip and fall accidents, and even wrongful death. According to Torres, the most common personal injury cases are car accidents, then falls, and product liability. Dog bites are also very common.
The amount of money a person can receive for an injury differs greatly, depending on whether or not they have a lawyer negotiating the settlement amount.
“Settlements with a lawyer would be anywhere from ten times or more than without since there is no ability to judge value without an attorney explaining the areas to recover,” says Torres. These areas include past and future lost wages, past and future medical expenses, and pain and suffering.
A recent client of Torres received a settlement of $29,000 for a slight wrist fracture in a car accident. She had to wear a cast on her arm for six weeks and missed a few weeks of work for a wage loss of about $3,500. Medical expenses were close to $10,000.
Through her law firm, Torres Law Group, Torres has negotiated hundreds of such cases, though it remains a very common mistake for people to deal with insurance claims on their own. The biggest challenge may be that people often wrongly believe they have to pay a lawyer at the start of the process.
“No legal fees are paid upfront to retain a lawyer in a personal injury case - legal fees will be paid from the insurance settlement,” says Torres.
What you don’t know can cost you. Every day, people are injured in accidents that cause pain and suffering along with unexpected medical bills. People are usually focused on their medical needs and getting back to their regular life – they often don’t think much about their legal rights or the long-term impact of their injury. Knowing their legal rights and being proactive in getting legal help can make a big difference in how an injury affects their health and finances.
Roseann Torres is a lawyer in Oakland who is known as a family and consumer advocate in many ways. Whether it’s a widowed mother at risk of losing the family home or someone injured in a car accident, Torres is passionate about protecting people’s rights and educating them about important legal matters. Though she also handles criminal and civil law cases, Torres has a strong focus on personal injury.
“After an injury, many people accept the first payment amount the insurance company offers,” says Torres, who does not approve of how many insurance companies pressure people into accepting small payments that do not fairly reflect the injury or its long-term impact on the person.
“The goal of the injured person should be to receive full payment for present and future medical bills, pain, suffering, lost wages and other damages,” says Torres, who is one of the few Latina lawyers in the East Bay who handles personal injury cases.Torres says that insurance companies often take advantage of people’s ignorance of their rights in order to settle an insurance case for a small amount of money.
“Insurance companies pressure people to close cases quickly and cheaply so lawyers don’t get involved and evaluate the case for what it’s really worth,” she says.
Torres adds that pressuring people to accept small payments happens often with Hispanics who don’t speak English.
“It saddens me that insurance companies use bilingual adjusters to trick injured people out of medical treatment that they are owed. Once you have a lawyer, they can’t manipulate you anymore because they must speak only to the lawyer and you can focus on getting medical treatment.”
Personal injury cases include car or motorcycle accidents, slip and fall accidents, and even wrongful death. According to Torres, the most common personal injury cases are car accidents, then falls, and product liability. Dog bites are also very common.
The amount of money a person can receive for an injury differs greatly, depending on whether or not they have a lawyer negotiating the settlement amount.
“Settlements with a lawyer would be anywhere from ten times or more than without since there is no ability to judge value without an attorney explaining the areas to recover,” says Torres. These areas include past and future lost wages, past and future medical expenses, and pain and suffering.
A recent client of Torres received a settlement of $29,000 for a slight wrist fracture in a car accident. She had to wear a cast on her arm for six weeks and missed a few weeks of work for a wage loss of about $3,500. Medical expenses were close to $10,000.
Through her law firm, Torres Law Group, Torres has negotiated hundreds of such cases, though it remains a very common mistake for people to deal with insurance claims on their own. The biggest challenge may be that people often wrongly believe they have to pay a lawyer at the start of the process.
“No legal fees are paid upfront to retain a lawyer in a personal injury case - legal fees will be paid from the insurance settlement,” says Torres.