This website is presented by E. J. Simmons, a personal injury attorney in Portland. If you were injured in an accident, a personal injury attorney can help. An experienced personal injury lawyer will have advised and represented injured people and their families many times.

Your personal injury case

Claims happen when someone is careless and as a result a person is injured. Car accidents, motorcycle accidents, job injuries all can give rise to a claim. As a common example, your personal injury case may have started when a negligent driver broke a rule of safe driving and this caused a car accident injury.

Personal injury attorney for your claims

Help with your liability claim is available when you are ready to contact us. Your personal injury attorney will prove your claims include lost income, lost future earning capacity, and fair compensation for the disruption of life. Compensation for pain and lost life activities can be substantial for serious injuries.

Personal injury settlement amounts

Most personal injury cases settle. Over 90 percent of cases settle at some point. However, a settlement must be for full and fair value or the case should go to trial. Your personal injury lawyer will insist on full settlement value, or the outcome will be determined in the Courthouse. Your attorney will advise you on his opinion of what your case is worth.

What your case is worth depends on

• how will a jury like or dislike what the defendant did
• how will a jury like or dislike what you did
• how bad are the injuries
• is the defendant obviously able to pay a big award

The above list is not complete, but this gives you some idea of the variables. Experienced injury lawyers know that over half of the work and emphasis in your case is about how much you were injured. If your attorney spends too high a proportion of the presentation on whether the defendant company is liable, then this can lead to a low amount awarded. A low result is a victory for the opponent.

One major benefit of a claim brought by a personal injury attorney is that the settlement is neither subject to Federal income taxes nor subject to Oregon income taxes. Personal injury claims are specifically excluded from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 104:

Compensation for injuries or sickness.
(a) … gross income does not include–
… (2) the amount of any damages (other than punitive damages) received (whether by suit or agreement and whether as lump sums or as periodic payments) on account of personal physical injuries …

Under this law, the award for personal injury is not income, and not taxable, whether the award is from a settlement, or from a lawsuit judgment after trial.

Personal injury attorneys

How do you decide on an attorney? Here are some factors to consider.

Is the personal injury attorney experienced? There are unfortunate stories about mistakes made because of inexperience.

Does the attorney handle the kind of case you have? For example, my office does larger cases with serious injuries and wrongful death cases, but does not specialize in medical malpractice. Those claims are referred to other experienced attorneys.

What to do Next

For a free case evaluation, contact us and we can have a no-obligation conversation. You should speak to a personal injury attorney promptly, because there are time limits. We can speak in person (this is usually better) or we can speak by telephone if you are not able to travel. Speaking with a personal injury attorney will help you understand your situation. If you are not ready for a conversation, you are welcome to request the free memo (it arrives quickly by email) on personal injury claims. Reading the information will help you get comfortable about the process.

This site by a Portland personal injury attorney will also help inform you when you need a car accident attorney, a motorcycle accident attorney, a construction injury attorney or a wrongful death attorney.