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How an injury case actually works at this firm

You call or fill out the intake. John C. Hubbard reviews it the same day in most cases and tells you plainly whether there is a claim worth pursuing. If there is, the firm sends the letters of representation to every insurer involved, so the adjusters call the firm instead of you, and sends preservation demands for the evidence that disappears first: video, vehicle data, phone records, inspection logs. You focus on treatment. When your doctors say you have reached maximum medical improvement, the firm assembles the medical records and bills, the wage loss, and the proof of fault, and sends a demand. Most cases settle in the months after that. The ones that do not are filed in the circuit court of the county where the injury happened and, if necessary, tried to a jury. You pay nothing up front and no attorney’s fee unless money is recovered.

The Alabama rule every injured person should know first

Alabama is a pure contributory negligence state. If the defendant proves you were at fault in any degree, you recover nothing. Every question an adjuster asks you is aimed at that rule, which is why the firm asks you not to give a recorded statement before it has reviewed the file. The rule does not apply to wanton conduct, such as drunk driving, and the defendant bears the burden of proving your fault. Texas uses modified comparative fault instead: you recover as long as you were not more than 50 percent responsible, with the award reduced by your share.

Deadlines

Two years from the injury to file suit in Alabama (Ala. Code § 6-2-38) and in Texas (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003); two years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim in either state. A claim against an Alabama city must be filed with the city clerk within six months (Ala. Code § 11-47-23), and a Texas governmental unit must receive written notice within six months or less. Minors generally have until two years after their 19th birthday in Alabama and their 18th in Texas, but the evidence does not wait, so the claim should not either.

Where cases are filed

Injuries in Birmingham, Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Homewood, Mountain Brook and the rest of Jefferson County go to the Jefferson County Circuit Court, in the Birmingham or Bessemer division. Shelby County cases are filed in Columbiana, and the firm regularly handles cases in the surrounding counties. In Texas, Houston cases are filed in the Harris County district courts and Dallas cases in Dallas County. Out of state defendants often remove cases to federal court, and the firm handles them there in both states.

What comes out of a settlement

The attorney’s fee, the case expenses, and the medical liens. Health insurers, Medicare and Medicaid have a right to be repaid from the recovery, and Alabama hospitals have an automatic lien on it (Ala. Code § 35-11-370). Reducing those liens is part of the representation, not an afterthought, and it is frequently where the largest improvement in the client’s net recovery comes from after the settlement amount is set. You will see every number before you sign a release.

The first three things to do

Get the medical care you need and follow through on it; gaps in treatment are the insurer’s favorite argument that you were not really hurt. Photograph everything, including your injuries over the following days. And send the firm what you have: the police or incident report, the other side’s insurance information, your own declarations page, and the names of the places you have treated. The review is free. Se habla español.