What Should You Do After a California Motorcycle Accident?
First and foremost, if you’ve been involved in an motorcycle accident you must call the police and seek medical attention. If you are unable – due to injuries – to get the name, contact information, and insurance information from the other person involved, please ask someone else to help you with this.
Make sure you talk with any witnesses present and get their contact information as well. Again, if you are unable to get this information on your own, a police officer or a friend can complete this for you. Next, make sure you contact a lawyer, and protect yourself by refraining from talking to anyone except law enforcement about the accident.
Make sure you know your rights. You are not required by law to give a statement to any insurance company whether its yours or the other driver’s. When insurance companies ask for a statement, they’re looking for information about the incident that can help to reduce the out-of-pocket expense to the company.
You should speak with a California motorcycle attorney as soon as possible. Prepare your case for a free consultation and then find out whether you have a case worth fighting or not. The California motorcycle attorneys at Michael Padway & Associates assess all proposed cases on an individual basis, and will make sure you are given all your options up front. If hiring an attorney is not necessary, we’ll let you know right away.
What fees are involved?
My fees are similar to other California motorcycle attorneys. I do not know of anyone that charges for an initial consultation, everyone works on a percentage fee, and the fees are normally 33 1/3% up to some point in the process, at which the fee goes to 40% of the process. The attorneys always advance the costs involved – filing fees, investigation, court reporters, jury fees, and so forth. At the end of the case, the attorneys are repaid these advanced costs. There is never a point where the client is asked to pay costs or fees unless the case settles or results in a judgment, at which point the attorney is paid from the recovery.
