A person involved in a motor vehicle accident, slip-and-fall or other incident where injuries are sustained should contact and retain Anchorage Alaska Attorneys as soon as possible. Indeed, the laws in Alaska surrounding personal injury matters, which are primarily found in Alaska Statutes Title 28 (Motor Vehicles) and Title 9 (Code of Civil Procedure), have certain important rules and regulations that must be complied with. For example, Anchorage Alaska Attorneys will know (and inform you) that Alaska Statute §09.10.070 allows you only two (2) years from the date you are injured to file your lawsuit or, in most cases, you will be forever barred from recovering any money. While this deadline may be extended if you “discovered” your injury at a later date, there is no guaranty that a Court will grant such a request and, as such, a person involved in any incident where an injury may have occurred, should seek immediate legal advice, medical evaluation and treatment. When it comes to personal injury cases, skilled Anchorage Alaska attorneys are also able to posture a case to prevent against Alaska’s comparative fault analysis. In such a case, a judge or jury will reduce any award based on any fault the injured person is deemed to have in causing the incident. Therefore, if the injured person proves $100,000.00 worth of injuries to herself, but a judge or jury decides that she was half (50%) responsible for the occurrence, the monetary award will be reduced to $50,000.00, with the remaining $50,000.00 to come out of the injured person’s own pockets. Experienced attorneys will also let you know that, typically, awards for physical injuries may include (a) economic damages (such as lost wages, medical bills and the like), (b) non-economic damages (pain and suffering), (c) emotional distress, (d) wrongful death, and (e) loss of consortium (awarded to the injured person’s partner due to the inability of the injured party to perform as they did before). Some of these are provable through documentary evidence, while others are more subjective and take an attorney presenting the facts to a judge or jury that will aid in increased awards to the injured person. And when it comes to medical malpractice awards, Alaska sets limits thereon. Here, damages for pain and suffering are capped at the greater of $400,000, or $8,000 for each year a person is expected to remain alive. There are also $1,000,000 caps for cases of disfigurement or severe physical impairment. As you can see, there is a lot to know, which is why, in any personal injury incident, no matter how minor you believe it to be, it is important to speak with an experienced Anchorage attorney even before you speak with any representative of an insurance company, to make sure all your rights are protected from the outset.
