LEGAL FAQs

COMMON PERSONAL INJURY QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

• IF I WAS PARTIALLY AT FAULT, DO I STILL HAVE A CLAIM?

  South Carolina is considered a “fault” state, meaning that the at-fault party is responsible for the costs of their negligence. However, because cases are not always black-and-white, responsibility for a crash might be allocated to the drivers based on several different factors. The allocation of responsibility is called modified comparative negligence, and it is a key element of personal injury lawsuits in South Carolina.

  If you’re unsure of how much fault you carry for a crash, but know that another driver was at least partially responsible, you might consider talking to a personal injury lawyer.

• HOW LONG DOES AN ACCIDENT LAWSUIT TAKE?

  A personal injury lawsuit can last anywhere from several weeks to several months or longer, depending on the circumstances of the case. Factors that determine the length of a claim include the complexity of a case and the number of parties involved. If you want to get a better idea of your case’s time frame, speak to a personal injury lawyer in Columbia so they can learn more about your situation and give you an estimate.

• IF I WASN’T INJURED IN THE WRECK, DO I STILL HAVE A CASE?

  If you weren’t injured in a car wreck and suffered costs as a result, you should still be compensated for those costs if the crash was someone else’s fault. The damages in these cases won’t be as significant as they would if injuries were involved, but that doesn’t mean you have no right to pursue your legal options.

• WHEN YOU WIN MY ACCIDENT LAWSUIT, HOW MUCH DO I PAY YOU?

  We work on a contingency fee, which means we only charge clients if we are successful in their claims. If we win compensation, we will deduct a reasonable attorney’s fee from the award. To learn more about our contingency fee, we encourage you to reach out to our team.

• WHAT WILL IT COST?

  It won’t cost you anything to discuss your injury lawsuit with us. In fact, you will never owe us a dime in attorney’s fees until you recover compensation on your claim. If we handle your case, our fee will be a set percentage of any money we obtain for you.

• WHO TO NAME IN A LAWSUIT – AN INTRODUCTION TO "FAULT"

  Most lawsuits are filed against the person who was responsible for the plaintiff’s injuries. This means they are “at fault” for those injuries and should pay the costs stemming from them. When attorneys investigate a case, they look at all the contributing factors and decide whether someone’s negligence – or carelessness – was the cause of the incident. Once an attorney knows who is responsible for their client’s injuries, they can advise their client who should be named in the claim.

• WORRIED ABOUT THE COSTS OF AN ATTORNEY?

  Many people are concerned about hiring a personal injury lawyer in Columbia because they believe it will be costly. At the Louthian Law Firm, we work on a contingency fee basis. This means that we charge you nothing unless we win your case. If your case is unsuccessful, we carry the costs. We do this because we don’t want clients burdened financially if they don’t earn compensation, but we also work on a contingency fee because we believe in our team’s ability to deliver results.

• UNDERSTANDING SETTLEMENTS AND TRIALS

  When the person filing a lawsuit (the plaintiff) and the person being named in a lawsuit (the defendant) come to an agreement about how much the plaintiff will be paid, the two parties have reached a settlement. If a settlement isn’t reached, then the matter goes to trial where both sides’ cases are made before a judge and a jury.

  While we often resolve cases via settlement, we prepare every case to go to trial because we believe it leads to the best outcome for our clients. Ultimately, the decision to settle or go to trial is yours, and we will help you make the most informed decision possible.

• WHAT LEADS TO A SUCCESSFUL LAWSUIT?

  From the perspective of an attorney, there is no substitute for hard work when it comes to getting the best possible results for clients. Personal injury lawyers must invest a significant amount of time and effort to achieve results that reflect the hardships their client has faced. This requires conducting thorough investigations, researching other cases and verdicts, interviewing witnesses, consulting experts, preparing for depositions, working with their own client and making sure that all paperwork is filed on time and without error.