Top Car Accident Lawyer in Northern Virginia - The Reed Law Firm

Car Accident Lawyer in Northern Virginia

Hire an Experienced Car Accident Lawyer that Will Fight for You

If you or loved one has been injured in a car accident in Northern Virginia, you need an experienced personal injury lawyer that will fight for you. Vanessa Reed is an experienced lawyer that specializes in car accident cases. She has over 20 years of experience litigating personal injury claims. She won’t hesitate to take your case to trial if the insurance company refuses to pay you every dollar you’re entitled to. At the Reed Law firm, we offer free consultations for all injury cases and attorney’s fees are only owed if your claim is successful.

Ms. Reed has represented countless victims in personal injury cases in Northern Virginia. She attributes her success to her years of experience as a defense attorney in injury-related matters, wherein she routinely appeared as counsel on behalf of insurance companies and large corporations. Ms. Reed’s former experience as a defense attorney provides her unique insight into how insurance companies evaluate their claims and determine settlement values. Ms. Reed now utilizes this wealth of experience to argue on behalf of accident victims in Northern Virginia. She has found this work to be some of the most fulfilling of her career.

Holding Negligent Drivers Responsible

As part of the Washington DC Metro area, Northern Virginia is home to some of the busiest traffic in the United States. More than 28,000 accidents occur annually on Northern Virginia roads. Last year, car accidents in Northern Virginia cities and surrounding counties resulted in 12,735 injuries, many of them serious. Any number of factors can contribute to the occurrence of an accident. Inattentive, careless or even intoxicated drivers don’t fully appreciate the risks involved in their behavior until it is too late. Similarly, reckless or intoxicated drivers who purposely throw caution and care to the wind expose the general public to grave and potentially lethal danger. They must be held to account if their behavior results in injury or death.

Holding a driver legally responsible means making them pay for the injuries and damages they inflict on others. In most cases, these damages are paid for by the at-fault driver’s insurance company. However, in some cases, it may be necessary to obtain payment from your own insurance company if the other driver is uninsured or underinsured. In all cases, negotiations to reach a settlement of an injury claim involve the injured client’s lawyer and an insurance adjuster.

An insurance adjuster evaluates injury claims and decides how much the insurance company will pay to settle them. The adjuster’s job essentially requires them to offer as little money as possible to settle claims, even when such an offer is objectively too low or even morally unsupportable. Hiring an experienced personal injury lawyer is the best way to level the playing field and assure that your claim settles for the highest value the insurance company is willing and able to pay. Typically, claims are taken more seriously when the adjuster knows that the client is represented by a lawyer that is ready and able to take the case to trial if it does not reach a settlement.

What To Do if you have been injured in a Car Accident

Seek medical attention immediately if you have any injuries, aches or pains resulting from the accident. Nothing is more important than seeking medical attention following a car accident. Obtaining early medical care is critical to diagnose and document your injuries so that you can obtain any necessary treatment. Soft tissue injuries may not be obvious or painful until several hours, or even days after the accident. Many people report feeling much worse after waking up the next morning.
Take photographs of any visible scars, bruises, or wounds to your body resulting from the accident. These photographs may provide important documentary evidence at later stages of your case, particularly if your case goes to trial.
Take photographs of the damage to your vehicle from several different angles. If possible, take photographs of the accident scene, and any other vehicles that were involved.
Contact your insurance company immediately to notify them of the accident. They may need information to assist in their investigation to confirm that you were not at fault.
File all your medical bills with your health insurance plan, if you have one. Keep a copy of any prescription receipts, and a log of time missed from work. Also keep a record of mileage for all accident-related errands and appointments. These are part of incurred expenses for which you should be compensated.
Keep a list of all the doctors you have seen since the accident. Also keep a detailed log of how you have been inconvenienced by the accident. (i.e. pain and suffering, disruption in normal routines, etc.) Such details may assist in enhancing the value of your claim.

What Does a Personal Injury Lawyer Do?

An experienced personal injury lawyer acts as a guide and an advocate for you. The lawyer can also make recommendations to you concerning your medical needs as you continue to obtain treatment. The lawyer typically assumes responsibility for all tasks involved in obtaining a settlement of your claim including opening a claim with the insurer, gathering medical records, medical bills, and obtaining other evidence related to your accident. This evidence includes police reports, copies of any video or photographic evidence that may document the accident, and copies of any records related to criminal proceedings involving the at fault driver.

Settlement of a personal injury claim requires proper preparation of a demand letter. A demand letter provides the insurance company with a summary of the circumstances of the accident, the nature of your injuries, and a detailed account of your treatment. Most importantly, the demand letter states the lawyer’s opinion as to the value of the claim and the legal and equitable reasons why this valuation is supported by the facts of the case.

Valuing the client’s non-monetary damages such as pain, suffering and inconvenience, is typically the most difficult task the lawyer engages in when they value the client’s claim. Typically, this valuation is based upon the actual monetary damages incurred by the client, the lawyer’s prior experience with similar cases and case summaries of similar settlements and verdicts from other attorneys.

In the event that your case does not settle, the lawyer is responsible for all tasks associated with litigating your claim including filing a lawsuit, obtaining service of process on the defendant, conducting written discovery, taking depositions, locating and hiring expert witnesses, and preparing the case for trial. Typically, preparing a case to go to trial takes between 100-150 hours of attorney and legal assistant time. At the Reed Law Firm, the attorney’s fee is only paid if your claim is successful. The fee is based on a set percentage of the client’s recovery.