Rhode Island Personal Injury Attorney

Contact Tapalian Law to Discuss Your Personal Injury Claim

A personal injury case can arise when one suffers an injury from an accident and someone else is legally responsible. The injury may be the result of a vehicle collision, slip or fall, dog bite, motorcycle crash, work-related incident, or any number of circumstances. If you have been hurt in any type of accident in Rhode Island, call on the expertise of Rhode Island Personal Injury Attorney David Tapalian. Every personal injury case requires four (4) essential elements and the skilled personal injury team at Tapalian Law is well-versed in each of these elements. After a free consultation to discuss your accident and injuries, our team will provide you with a brief analysis of whether or not your situation meets the elements for a personal injury claim and if so, how we can move forward to get you money for your losses.

The 4 Essential Elements of a RI Personal Injury Claim

The first element of a personal injury case is a standard of care. Most entities and people owe one another a certain standard of care. For example, when somebody is operating a motor vehicle in Rhode Island, they should exercise due caution and respect traffic signals to demonstrate their standard of care for other drivers. The second element of a personal injury case is a breach of that standard of care. An example of a breach in the standard of care is somebody failing to respect and obey traffic signals while operating a motor vehicle. The third element essential to a Rhode Island personal injury case is causation of your damages and injuries. For example, if a driver does not obey a stop sign and strikes your vehicle, that driver has effectively caused damage to you. A competent Rhode Island personal injury lawyer is well-versed in proving how that impact caused injury. The fourth element, and final piece of a personal injury case, is damages. Damages sustained can vary based on the accident, but often include physical injuries, emotional distress, and vehicle or property damage.

How a Personal Injury Claim Results in Compensation

While some personal injury cases are settled through civil court proceedings, the majority are negotiated through settlements with the insurance company. Attorney David Tapalian has the experience and knowledge to negotiate your case with insurers, defendants, and their attorneys. However, if your case cannot be properly settled to your greatest benefit, our injury professionals are well-versed in the various court systems throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts.We will not accept an unreasonable settlement from an insurance company and are prepared to enforce and protect in the courts, the rights of innocent injured people that were hurt in an accident.

Why Tapalian Law for Your Personal Injury Needs?

Hiring the right attorney can make or break your case, so how do you choose a personal injury lawyer in Rhode Island? With dozens of options, you may be overwhelmed in making your decision. If you are injured in an accident, you can feel confident that Attorney David Tapalian has the expertise and personal representation that your case demands. Here are a few reasons why our clients continue to trust us:

• Decades of experience and thousands of happy clients
  • Attorney David Tapalian has settled claims for thousands of clients in personal injury accidents. Rhode Island locals have trusted David for over 20 years, and the results speak for themselves. David has helped victims recover millions of dollars for their injuries.
• As an Ivy League Graduate, Attorney Tapalian holds himself to the highest standards
  • A graduate of Brown University in Providence, where he concentrated in Public Policy and American Institutions, David discovered a love for learning and continues to expand his knowledge of Rhode Island personal injury law every day. You can rest assured that he will handle your case with the highest level of competence.
• Experts in the Rhode Island/Massachusetts Area
  • As a personal injury attorney in RI and MA, David Tapalian was born and raised locally and, living in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts for his entire life, he knows New England very well. If you are in a car accident, David can likely picture the exact intersection that you were in and instantly understand your situation. If you are confused about the differences between Rhode Island and Massachusetts personal injury laws, he can walk you through the different proceedings.
  • Tapalian Law is conveniently located at 350 S Main Street in Providence, easily accessible for anyone in RI or nearby MA, with additional offices in Warwick, RI, and Seekonk, MA.
• No Fee Unless We Win You Compensation
  • Tapalian Law works on a contingency fee agreement, meaning that we have no up-front attorney costs. This means that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from contacting our RI personal injury attorneys.
• National & Local Recognition
  • Top 100 Trial Lawyer recognized by the National Trial Lawyers
  • Avvo Client’s Choice Awards Recipient
  • Justia 10.0 Lawyer Rating

What Types of Personal Injury Cases Does Tapalian Law Specialize In?

Tapalian Law’s personal injury experts want to help victims who have been hurt in any type of accident. When you are injured due to the negligence of someone else, we can help you. Some of our firm’s most common practice areas:

• Car Accidents—any type of auto accident. Whether you were a driver, passenger, or third party, Tapalian Law has you covered.
  • We also help injured motorcyclists, truck drivers, pedestrians, bikers, and rideshare users.
• Slip & Fall Accidents—if you fell on a slippery floor, sidewalk, or other surface because of someone else’s negligence, the personal injury experts at Tapalian Law can help you.
• Medical Malpractice—if you or a loved one received improper treatment from a medical professional, we can recover compensation for you.
• Dog Bite Injuries—if you were bitten by a dog in RI or MA, Tapalian Law can help you recover your losses.
• Wrongful Death—when your loved one’s death is caused by someone’s negligence, Tapalian Law can get justice for you.
• Pedestrian Accidents—if you are hit while crossing the street, our RI personal injury lawyers will help hold the driver accountable.
• Workers Compensation—when you’re injured at work, we can help you recover money for your losses.
• Nursing Home & Elder Abuse—if your loved one has been mistreated in a retirement home, our injury team will hold the abusers responsible for their wrongdoing.

These are just a few of the many areas where Tapalian Law’s personal injury experts can help you. If you have a question about an accident or injury, or want to set up a free consultation to see how we can help you, contact one of our legal experts today.

Establishing Fault in a Personal Injury Case

In a personal injury case, liability is determined by proving that the other party was at fault for your injury. One of the most important things that your lawyer will do at the outset is work hard to establish liability. Once liability is established, then all you have to focus on is your medical treatment and recovering from your injuries. In every scenario, there is a reasonable duty of care that cannot be breached. For example:

• Auto Accident: All drivers have a legal duty to operate their vehicles responsibly for the well-being of others.
• Medical Malpractice: Doctors and medical professionals must provide competent and reasonable healthcare and are held to certain medical standards.
• Slip, Trip, or Fall Accident: Business owners or landlords are required to keep their property free of hazards like water, ice, etc. and must remove them within a reasonable time and properly warn the public of a known dangerous or defective condition.

When someone breaches this duty of care, a personal injury attorney can help you establish how it was violated with the presentation of evidence. Essentially, this establishes how the other party is at fault for causing your injuries. This evidence may include providing eyewitness testimonies, police reports, photos of the scene, or simply your own testimony. Sometimes, fault can be shared among two or more parties. This is called comparative fault. For example, in a car accident, you may be going 15 mph over the speed limit, and someone else, distracted by a mobile device, could run through a red light and T-bone your vehicle. In this situation, you both were partially responsible for the accident. In these scenarios, the insurance companies may assign each of you a percentage of the fault, and you may only be entitled to recover that percentage. Your injury lawyer will help you negotiate to ensure that you are assigned the appropriate amount of fault.Rhode Island personal injury law is governed by the doctrine of pure comparative fault. Unlike other jurisdictions throughout the country, this doctrine entails that Rhode Island will permit you to recover compensation for your injuries, even if you are mostly at fault for the accident. In order for you to recover compensation for your injuries in Rhode Island, Tapalian Law would have to prove that the other party shared some percentage of fault. However, as in other areas of the country, it does not require that the other party be mostly at fault. Pure comparative fault can be a huge benefit because it allows you to potentially recover compensation from various insurance companies.

How Can Tapalian Law Prove Your Damages?

Once our RI personal injury attorneys are able to establish liability and fault in your case, you can recover compensation for your injuries in a number of different areas:

• Medical Bills: Any bills relating to your present and future treatment for the accident including: bills for hospital visits, ambulance services, physical therapy, chiropractors, treatments, surgeries, rehabilitation, therapists, etc.
• Lost Wages: Any current and future wages for time off that you miss because of the accident or injuries sustained in the accident.
• Pain and Suffering: Emotional distress or loss of enjoyment of life due to the accident.
• Property Damage: If your car, home, or other property is compromised in the accident.
• Other Areas: There may be additional areas where you can recover compensation in a personal injury case. Tapalian Law will assess your individual case and determine how to best proceed with recovering compensation.

Timeline of a Personal Injury Case

Although every case is different, there is a fairly standard timeline when proceeding with a personal injury case. However, every case is different, so you should refer to an attorney experienced in Rhode Island personal injury law for details regarding your individual situation.

1. You are injured in an accident. Regardless of the severity of your injuries, you should go to the hospital or a medical provider.
2. Consult Tapalian Law to help you determine if you have a personal injury case and how to proceed. During the intake, Attorney Tapalian will detail the appropriate proceeding for you. This should ideally be within the first week after the accident.
3. Treat your injuries. The lengthier and more involved the treatment, the more compensation you may receive. Tapalian Law can refer you to the best medical providers in the Rhode Island area if you don’t know where to go for treatment. Some injuries can take over a year to recover from, but thorough treatment is necessary to ensure that you can get back to feeling as good as you did before your accident.
4. Your legal representatives will negotiate with insurance companies and the defendant to settle your personal injury claim. This could take a few weeks, or a few months, depending on the situation. Attorney David Tapalian will arbitrate your claim or open a civil court case if an agreement is not reached.
5. When you are finished with your treatment, David will bring together all of the information and gather your settlement. The legal representatives at Tapalian Law will compile your demand package after requesting all the necessary records and bills from your medical provider, as well as any documentation for lost wages. Finally, you receive the compensation for your accident.

Tips for Achieving the Best Result in a Personal Injury Case

There are certain things that you can do to strengthen your RI personal injury claim. Keep in mind that every case is unique and not everything listed is always applicable:

• If it’s a serious accident, call 911 and report all of your injuries to medical experts immediately
  • Don’t worry about the costs; focus on getting better. If you have a strong case, you will be compensated for medical expenses.
  • Don’t downplay your injuries. Many injuries associated with car crashes or similar accidents have symptoms that are not noticeable for a few days.
• Consult a personal injury lawyer in RI immediately
  • In Rhode Island, in most but not all situations, there is a 3-year statute of limitations from the date of your accident to file a personal injury claim.
  • The sooner you seek legal representation, the better compensation you might receive.
• Do not accept any deals with insurance companies
  • A personal injury case expert like David Tapalian will tell you that the first deal an insurance company offers you is often negotiable and much more compensation may be recovered. Leave the correspondence for settlement to your lawyer.
• Preserve evidence
  • If you can, have witnesses report to police at the scene, recover video footage, and take photos of any damage to you or your property. Photos taken at the scene of the accident can be invaluable and can help your attorney prove causation of damages.
• Stay off social media
  • Photos and comments on social media can destroy a personal injury case. Though you may think your pages completely private, you would be surprised as to what the insurance company is able to view.

Contact a Rhode Island Personal Injury Attorney for a Free Consultation

If you are injured in an accident, no matter how severe, skilled personal injury lawyer David Tapalian can help you recover your losses. Even if you are unsure if you have a case or not, it is always better to consult a legal expert’s advice. Attorney Tapalian has helped a number of personal injury victims who didn’t think they could recover anything for their injuries, so you may be surprised to learn what you may be entitled to. Offering a free consultation, we are conveniently located in downtown Providence at 350 S. Main Street and are easily accessible to anyone in the Rhode Island area. If you are unable to travel to our office because of injuries sustained in the accident, our legal experts can visit you at home or at the hospital and we are also available to speak by phone 24/7. Instead of making a costly mistake that could hurt your chance at recovering your losses, get the help of the Rhode Island Personal Injury Lawyers at Tapalian Law. Accidents can take a severe mental and physical toll on you, and recovery is never easy; get the justice you deserve for someone else’s negligence. Call us to begin working on your case today at 401-552-5000 or contact us online. For simple questions regarding a personal injury inquiry, please refer to our FAQ page.