Need an Injury Lawyer Iowa
We help residents and visitors who have suffered serious injuries in accidents all over the Hawkeye State.
Iowa’s location near the middle of the United States makes it a logical place to see numerous visitors in addition to the millions of residents engaging in a number of activities. Accidents can occur in a variety of different scenarios in any one of a number of different aspects of a person’s life.
An accident is frequently result of the negligence of another party, and it is critical for victims in accidents to immediately seek legal representation for their personal injury cases. Need an Injury Lawyer Iowa represents people who have sustained severe injuries as well as the families or other legal representatives for people killed in accidents caused by another party’s negligence.
Personal Injury Attorneys Serving All of Iowa
Our experienced personal injury lawyers are familiar with all kinds of catastrophic injuries, and our firm can conduct a thorough investigation into the cause in order to hold the negligent party accountable. We represent people who live or were injured in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Iowa City, Waterloo, Ames, and many other surrounding areas of the Hawkeye State.
Victims who sustain particularly serious injuries not only face overwhelming medical bills, but they are unable to pay many other expenses because of time away from work. In some cases, people need several months or even years to recover, and certain victims are completely unable to regain any gainful employment.
Do not let concerns about money prevent you from contacting an attorney. Need an Injury Lawyer Iowa handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning that you do not pay our firm any fees unless you receive a monetary award.
Insurance companies are notorious for contacting victims and encouraging them not to bring attorneys into resolving claims, but insurers will also use that lack of legal counsel to pressure victims into accepting settlements that are usually much less than what they are actually entitled to. Our experienced personal injury attorneys know how to negotiate with insurance companies, and we are not afraid to file lawsuits when insurers are unwilling to provide fair and full compensation.
Personal Injury Laws in Iowa
Under Iowa Code § 614.1.2, legal actions can be brought for injuries to persons within two years of the accident or incident that caused the injury. This two-year time limit is known as the statute of limitations, and a person who does not file a legal action within the statute of limitations is usually unable to hold a negligent party legally liable for his or her injuries.
The Iowa Code does make some limited exceptions to the statute of limitations. For example, Iowa Code § 614.6 provides that the statute of limitations does not apply when the defendant is a nonresident of Iowa or the case involves a felony or indictable misdemeanor in which the identity of the defendant is unknown.
Iowa Code § 668.3 establishes that a plaintiff’s contributory fault does not bar recovery in a legal action, so long as the percentage of fault attributed to him or her is not greater than the percentage of fault assigned to the defendant. Jury awards can be reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to the plaintiff, and a plaintiff is unable to recover any damages when his or her percentage of fault does exceed the defendant’s.
Personal injury actions generally require plaintiffs to prove all four of the following elements:
- Duty of Care — The negligent party had a legal or moral duty of care to conduct him, her, or itself in a reasonable manner;
- Breach — The negligent party breached the duty of care to the victim;
- Causation — The negligent party’s breach of duty directly caused the victim’s injuries; and
- Damages — The victim suffered physical or financial harm as the result of these injuries.
Unlike criminal cases, in which a defendant’s guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, a defendant’s guilt in a personal injury case can be proven by a preponderance of the evidence. This simply means the greater weight of the evidence (or more than 50 percent) supports the plaintiff’s claims.
Common Kinds of Iowa Personal Injury Cases
Need an Injury Lawyer Iowa understands that people can be harmed in a wide variety of different activities in an assortment of settings. Some of the types of accidents are firm handles most frequently include:
- Car Accidents
- Operating While Intoxicated (OWI, DUI, or DWI) Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Commercial Vehicle Accidents
- Uber Accidents
- Bicycle Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Bus Accidents
- Wrongful Death
Personal Injury Damages in Iowa
No limitations exist for compensatory damages arising from personal injury claims in Iowa. No caps exist for the amount of economic damages or noneconomic damages that may be awarded in these cases.
Economic damages are losses that can be calculated and easily proven. Medical bills, lost wages, and property damage are three common kinds of economic damages.
On the other hand, noneconomic damages are much more subjective, but they are awards for other important considerations relating to how a victim’s life has been impacted by an injury. Noneconomic damages include pain and suffering, disfigurement, and loss of consortium.
In some cases, punitive damages may be awarded. Punitive damages are intended to punish defendants for intentional acts to harm or acts demonstrating willful and wanton disregard for the victim’s rights or safety. Punitive damages cannot be unconstitutionally high.
Personal Injury Attorney for Victims Throughout Iowa
Need an Injury Lawyer Iowa helps clients injured in communities throughout Polk County, Linn County, Scott County, Black Hawk County, Johnson County, and Woodbury County. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Our firm offers a free, no obligation consultation to have our personal injury attorneys review your case and help you understand all of your legal options. Contact us before speaking to any representatives from insurance companies representing the negligent parties. Many of these agents are seeking to get you to make recorded statements that can be used against you later on, but our lawyers will fight to protect your rights and hold all negligent parties accountable.
