Multi-State Injury Cases Are More Complicated
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If your personal injury case involves more than one state, it is more complex and requires an attorney familar with handling such cases.
Lots of personal injury cases involve more than one state. For example, if you are from North Carolina and you have a car crash just across the border in Virginia, your injury case involves more than one state. This situtation is very common in today's mobile society with the interstate highway system. Such issues especially come up in areas like Hampton Roads, Virginia, which borders on northeast North Carolina. Another common situation is where you are from one state driving on a main highway and your vehicle gets hit by a trucker from another state.
All of these situations pose special challenges for personal injury lawyers. It is important to choose a personal injury lawyer who is familar with these situations. Our firm deals with these multi-state cases routinely. The lawyers in our law firm carry licenses for VA, NC, WV, DC, KY and SC. Additionally, the lawyers in our offices handle plaintiff's personal injury cases up and down the eastern United States where we get pro hac vice admission to handle particular matters. This expertise with multiple jurisdictions is one of the main things that separates our law firm from others whose work is also focused on the area of automobile accidents and wrongful death.
Some of the complicated issues that arise in multi-state injury matters are ones that your typical attorney, even one who thinks he can do personal injury law, may not be familar with. For example, the rules on medical payments coverage under a North Carolina policy are different than those in Virginia because you cannot multiply the number of vehicles on the policy against the policy limits to arrive at the availabel coverage in North Carolina. The opposite rule applies in Virginia. In Maryland, they do not have medical payments coverage on their automobile policies, but instead have a thing called PIP, or personal injury protection. The rules for applying for this coverage are different than those that apply in med pay states.
Another interesting set of issues arises about venue in multi-state personal injury cases. Venue is what court or jurisdiction the case will be heard in. Venue makes a lot of difference to the value of the case. Some courts are known for their generous juries. Other courts are known for their stingy juries. Because we are familar with lots of different jurisdictions, we actively search for the best venue that is permissible for our client's cases.
Although I certainly hope that you, your family and friends are never involved in a car wreck, it is probably more common than you think. In fact, the average American will be involved in 4-5 car crashes in his or her lifetime. If, and when, the situation happens, it is good to know how to find the right attorney for your complex injury case.
