Most people never think about injury law until the day they need it. Then, all at once, they’re dealing with doctors, a car that won’t start, a boss asking when they’ll be back, and an insurance adjuster who wants a recorded statement by Friday. This is a short guide to what’s actually happening and what you can do about it.
What counts as a personal injury case
In Maine, an injury claim usually comes down to one question: did someone fail to act with reasonable care, and did that cause you harm? The “someone” might be a driver who ran a light on Hogan Road, a store that left ice on its steps, or a dog owner who let a dog loose.
The most common cases we see are:
- Car, truck, and motorcycle crashes, which make up the bulk of injury claims in Maine
- Medical mistakes, like a missed diagnosis or a surgical error
- Wrongful death, when negligence costs someone their life
- Dog bites and animal attacks
What a claim can pay for
A claim is meant to cover what the injury has actually cost you. That usually includes your medical bills, now and in the future, wages you lost and any earning ability you won’t get back, and the pain, limits, and disruption the injury has caused in your life.
That last part is the hardest to put a number on, and it’s where insurance companies push back the most. Keeping a simple journal of how the injury affects your days, like what you can’t lift, how you sleep, and what you’ve missed, can help more than you’d think.
Maine’s fault rule
Maine uses what’s called modified comparative negligence. You can recover as long as you were less at fault than the other side, but your award goes down by your share of the blame. If you were 20 percent at fault, you’d recover 80 percent of your damages.
Insurers know this rule well, and many will try to shift a little more blame onto you. That’s one reason to be careful about what you say before you’ve talked with a lawyer.
Deadlines matter
For most injury claims, Maine gives you six years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit. That sounds like a long time, and it is. But wrongful death and medical malpractice claims have shorter deadlines, generally three years, and evidence fades fast. Witnesses move. Security footage gets erased. The skid marks wash away after the first rain.
When to call a lawyer
You don’t need a lawyer for a fender-bender with no injuries. You should talk to one if:
- You needed medical care beyond a quick checkup
- You missed work or expect to
- The insurance company is disputing fault
- The other driver had little or no insurance
- Someone died
How it works with us
Every personal injury case we take is on contingency. We don’t charge an hourly fee, and if we don’t recover money for you, you don’t owe us a fee.
Gray & Palmer is a two-attorney firm in downtown Bangor. When you call, you’ll talk to a lawyer, and that lawyer will be the one handling your case. We’ll gather the records, deal with the insurers, and give you a straight answer about what your case is worth.
If you were hurt in Bangor, Brewer, or one of the towns around them, call us at (207) 945-5502.
This article is general information about Maine law, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. If you have a specific question, call us at (207) 945-5502.
