South Valley Car Accident Lawyer
There are few things so dangerous on the road as a negligent driver. Drivers who operate motor vehicles while distracted or impaired put you and your loved ones at risk for lifelong injuries. Fortunately, you have ways to respond to a driver’s negligence, should it result in an accident.
When you collaborate with a South Valley car accident attorney, you can take the party responsible for your negligence-based car accident to civil court. Dominguez Law can give you the means to demand compensation for the losses you endured.
Acting Quickly After a New Mexico Car Accident
Should you want to take a car accident claim to civil court, you must do so within New Mexico’s personal injury statute of limitations. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-8 limits your actionable time to two years. New Mexico implemented the statute of limitations to keep its civil court cases up to date, thereby better maintaining the memories of those pursuing competition.
For less deadline-oriented victims, or for any victims contending with severe post-accident injuries, the deadline can be intimidating. Fortunately, those collaborating with South Valley car accident attorneys do not have to worry about missing their submission dates.
Our team understands how to compile an effective case on a short deadline. You can reach out to us at any point during your two-year period to begin arranging your case. We can even discuss your possible means of compensation after your statute of limitations has passed.
The Purpose of a Car Accident Claim
The purpose of a car accident claim is to help you secure financial support in the wake of someone else’s negligence. When you are contending with expenses related to a South Valley car accident, you can take the bills you had to pay and present them to the party you believe to be responsible for your losses.
The bills generated by your essential medical care, property damage, and related expenses constitute economic losses in the eyes of New Mexico courts. Similarly, these courts allow you to include the cost of lost wages or lost opportunities to work in your complaint for compensation. You can add all of these expenses together to generate the economic value of your case.
You can further request compensation in return for non-economic losses. These losses can range from stress-related to your accident to wrongful death, should your accident result in the passing of a loved one. Our team uses state-approved multipliers to stand in for these losses and can apply those multipliers to the economic some of your case upon its calculation.
Requesting Compensation After a Car Accident in New Mexico
To request compensation for your car accident losses, you must have filed a complaint to New Mexico civil courts within the aforementioned statute of limitations. Your complaint needs to include the estimate of your case’s value as well as evidence of a violated duty of care.
Roadway “duty of care” describes the responsibility that other drivers take when operating a motor vehicle. All other drivers must take reasonable action to protect you from harm while driving. This means abiding by New Mexico’s roadway laws and reacting responsibly to unexpected obstacles.
Drivers who violate New Mexico’s roadway laws can be seen speeding, ignoring stop lights, or otherwise endangering their fellow drivers. You must submit proof of this roadway negligence if you want to bring the appropriate party to court for your losses.
Addressing On-Duty Drivers After an Accident
There is a chance that the driver responsible for your South Valley car accident was on the job when your accident occurred. If this is the case, liability for your accident does not fall to that driver. Instead, full-time employees protected by their employer’s insurance cede responsibility for roadway accidents to that employer.
In these cases, you may have to negotiate with a corporate legal team to get the compensation you deserve for your losses. These corporations and their insurance companies tend to prefer to resolve accident lawsuits out of court. As such, many may offer you settlements in return for the estimated value of your actions.
That said, there is nothing that a corporation and its insurance provider prioritize more than their bottom lines. The initial settlement offer made to you may vastly underestimate the value of your accident. You can determine whether or not this is the case by bringing your own estimate of your case’s value to negotiations. Should the car accident settlement extended to you fail to meet your needs, you can rely on an attorney to renegotiate your offer.
Taking Car Accident Losses to Civil Court in South Valley
Should settlement negotiations fall through after your car accident, you can work with our attorneys to bring your concerns before a judge and jury. To prepare for a car accident trial, you should gather the aforementioned evidence and prepare to present it before the applicable legal parties.
You gather this information through the process known as discovery. You can then cooperate with your attorney to draft an opening statement that emphasizes the need for you to benefit from financial support. A judge and jury will expect you to undergo examination and cross-examination to better elaborate on the alleged behavior resulting in your losses.
Going to court puts control over your right to car accident compensation in the hands of an attending judge or jury. The good news, however, is that in the wake of gross roadway negligence, a judge may choose to award you punitive damages. You cannot request these damages in your initial complaints. They can, however, discourage similar behaviors from both your liable party and observing parties in the future.
Speak With an Experienced South Valley Car Accident Lawyer
You cannot control another motorist’s behavior. You can, however, determine how you want to respond to an unanticipated car accident. Should you find yourself suffering due to another driver’s negligence, you can work with a car accident attorney in South Valley to take that accountable party to court.
At Dominguez Law, we have helped countless accident victims, providing them with personal communication and compassion when they need it most. You can count on us to aggressively represent you and do our best to retrieve your due compensation. You can contact us by calling (505) 850-5854 or filling out our contact form to arrange a free consultation.
We also speak Spanish.