When you’re injured due to someone else’s actions in Albuquerque, NM, you may be entitled to compensation. Recovering fair compensation isn’t always easy. Our experienced Albuquerque Albuquerque personal injury lawyers at Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers can help you through the entire process.
Collectively, we have over 55 years of experience in personal injury law. We’ve used that experience to help injured clients recover over $30 million in compensation awards.
You probably have many questions if you were injured in an accident. Below are some Albuquerque personal injury FAQs that can help when you’re considering hiring a personal injury attorney.
How Can a Lawyer at Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers Help With Your Albuquerque Personal Injury Claim?
You may be in a difficult spot if you were injured in an accident. Medical bills tend to add up quickly. You may not be able to work while you recover. The insurance companies might be badgering you with questions.
An experienced Albuquerque personal injury lawyer can make the process run much more smoothly. At Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers, we’ve been handling complicated personal injury claims since we founded our law group back in 2011. We’ve achieved a 98% success rate when it comes to recovering fair compensation for our clients.
You can benefit from hiring our lawyers because we will:
- Provide quality legal advice and guidance at every stage of the personal injury process
- Launch a detailed investigation into your case
- Compile and analyze all available evidence, including police reports, witness statements and video footage
- Hire experts and specialists in various fields to interpret complicated evidence
- Calculate the fair value of your personal injury claim
- Protect you from any allegations that you caused your own injuries or failed to mitigate damages
- Negotiate with the insurance companies on your behalf
If the insurance company won’t offer an acceptable settlement, our Albuquerque personal injury attorneys will fight for you in court.
Ready to learn more about frequently asked questions in this area of law? Call our law firm for a free, no-obligation consultation today.
Do I Have a Valid Personal Injury Claim?
You may have a valid personal injury claim anytime you were injured due to someone else’s careless, reckless, or wrongful acts.
Most of the time, personal injury cases are based on negligence theories. However, you may have a valid case based on strict liability or intentional wrongdoing.
If your case is based on negligence, you must prove:
- A legal duty of care existed, meaning that the defendant was required to exercise reasonable care to prevent causing you harm
- A breach of duty occurred, meaning that the defendant failed to exercise reasonable caution under the circumstances
- Causation, meaning that the breach of duty directly caused your accident or injuries
- Damages, meaning that you suffered some type of physical, financial, or emotional harm because of the breach of duty
If you were injured in an accident, calling an experienced lawyer is the best way to know whether you have a valid claim for compensation. Call Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free case review today.
How Much Does Hiring an Albuquerque Personal Injury Lawyer Cost?
Like most personal injury lawyers, our team at Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers works on a contingency fee basis. That means our fees are contingent on our ability to recover compensation in your case. In plain English, you only pay attorney’s fees if we recover money for you. Your fees are deducted as a percentage of your settlement or verdict.
The rationale for this fee structure is simple. Most personal injury victims have plenty of financial costs to worry about after an accident or injury. If they were forced to pay up-front attorneys’ fees, many would not be able to afford legal representation.
What Is My Albuquerque Personal Injury Case Worth?
The value of your personal injury case depends primarily on the amount of damages you sustained due to your injuries.
Factors that could impact your case value include:
- The severity and type of injuries you have suffered
- Your actions following the accident and injury
- The cost and nature of your medical treatment, rehabilitation, and other care
- Your lost wages during recovery
- How the injury will impact your future, considering your earning capacity and quality of life
- The amount of insurance coverage that’s available
- Whether the insurance company can prove you were partly to blame for your injuries
- The strength of the evidence your lawyer can locate to prove your case
Insurance companies almost always undervalue personal injury cases. If they can convince victims to take less than they deserve, the insurance company makes more money.
Our personal injury lawyers know how to properly assess your case value. We know the types of evidence that convince insurance companies to offer a fair settlement deal. To learn more about your case value, contact us today for a free case evaluation.
What Are the Most Common Types of Damages Available to Accident Victims in New Mexico?
Two key types of damages are available in New Mexico personal injury cases: economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages should compensate for all of your financial costs, including:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced earning potential
- Physical therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Property damage
- Out-of-pocket expenses
Non-economic damages attempt to provide compensation for your personal suffering and emotional damage, such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Mental conditions, including anxiety and depression
- PTSD
- Diminished quality of life
- Physical disfigurement and scarring
- Damages for wrongful death
Punitive damages are rarely awarded by New Mexico courts. When these damages are available, they’re awarded specifically to punish the defendant for gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing.
How Can Shared Fault Impact My Case Value if I’m Blamed for an Accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico?
New Mexico is a pure comparative negligence state. If you share some blame for your own injuries, you won’t lose your right to compensation. However, you will be assigned a percentage of fault. Your compensation will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
Dividing blame between multiple parties to an accident is not an exact science. It’s important to have an experienced lawyer by your side if you’re being blamed for your injuries. Further, remember that insurance companies don’t always have strong evidence to back up their claims.
Our experienced personal injury attorneys know how to protect you from unfair blame-shifting tactics. We’ll gather evidence to downplay your role in the accident. Give us a call today to learn more about this area of law.
What Are the Most Common Types of Injuries Victims Sustain After an Accident in Albuquerque?
The types of injuries that victims sustain in accidents can vary dramatically. Your injuries will depend on your overall health, the type of accident, and the severity of the accident.
At Curiel & Runion, we often represent clients in Albuquerque who have suffered:
- Broken bones
- Whiplash injuries
- Concussions and other traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Soft tissue damage
- Crushing injuries
- Chest injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Head and neck injuries
- Burns
- Degloving injuries
- Back injuries
- Organ damage
- Amputations and loss of limbs
- Paralysis
- Catastrophic injuries
- Wrongful death of a loved one
If someone else was responsible for your injuries, you deserve to be compensated–even if your doctor expects you to make a full recovery.
What Types of Personal Injury Cases Does Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers Handle?
Our lawyers at Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers have the experience to handle any type of personal injury case here in Albuquerque.
We often represent injured clients in cases involving:
- Slip and fall accidents
- Albuquerque car accident claims
- Motorcycle accidents
- Accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists
- Truck accidents
- Bus accidents
- Uber or Lyft accidents
- Construction accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Dog bites
- Defective products
- Medical malpractice
- Nursing home abuse and neglect
- Negligent security
- Intentional criminal assault
You may have a valid personal injury case if you were injured because of someone else’s actions or omissions. To learn more about your legal rights, contact our lawyers in Albuquerque to schedule a free case review today.
How Long Do I Have To File a Personal Injury Lawsuit After an Accident in New Mexico?
The deadline for taking legal action after an accident or injury is called the statute of limitations. If you haven’t filed an injury claim before the deadline passes, you lose your right to seek compensation entirely.
The deadline that applies in your case can depend on many factors, including:
- How you were injured
- How old you were at the time of the injury
- The identity of the responsible party
Under New Mexico law, most injured parties have three years from the date of the injury to file a lawsuit for damages. While exceptions to the rule are rare, it’s possible that a shorter or longer statute of limitations period could apply.
Contact an Albuquerque Personal Injury Lawyer To Schedule a Free Case Evaluation
Most injured parties have many questions after an accident. Contact an experienced personal injury lawyer at Curiel & Runion Personal Injury Lawyers by calling (505) 594-3621 for additional Albuquerque personal injury questions. We offer free consultations so you can get the legal advice you deserve.