What is the name of your state: NC
Hello all. My name is Kevin and I am from Raleigh, NC. On June 8th 2007, I had a car accident on S.Miami Blvd. It was a red light crash, where the lady who hit me, hit me making a left hand turn (she turned into my vehicle). I have one witness at the event who said that I had the green light, and the other lady has a witness who on the police report and says he "believed" I had a red light. However, my witness was at the scene with the officer but her witness left the scene and left a business card with the lady to give to the officer.
The officer on the police report listed the lady as at fault for "improper left turn" but did not issue a citation at the scene. At the time I did not have full coverage with my insurance company so the onus was on me to collect from her insurance company. Long story short the insurance company denied my claim, and I accrued around a $470.00 towing and storage bill while waiting for the insurance company to declare fault to go along with my destroyed car.
Its also interesting to note that at the same time my insurance company denied her claim as well so I suppose it was listed by the insurance companies as "no fault"
I called a bunch of lawyers at that point, but none of them would take my case. The injuries I sustained during the accident were minor (2nd degree burns on my right hand, and a little bit of back and neck stiffness and soreness). The couple of local lawyers that I actually went to meet suggested that I settle the claim in small claims court in Durham NC since the damages I was asking for were so minor.
After noticing that the legal limit for small claims court was $5,000.00 I decided that was what I was going to ask for. I asked for 3,200 for my car, 470 for the towing fee, 100 for my medical consultations and 1200 for pain and suffering associated with my hand and back and neck.
The court date was on August 20th 2007 (yesterday) and the insurance company brought in a Raleigh lawyer to defend her in small claims court and long story short I got owned, HARD. This guy was throwing out all kinds of legal terms, and he was objecting to all questions that I had for his witnesses while at the same time ripping mine apart. I was under the impression that small claims was very informal, but this was rough. I was constantly being denied questions due to his objections and it all around went badly for me.
Needless to say I lost. I believe that I am in the right here, the key point here is that we both had the same green light, she just had a left turn must yield sign for her left turn and a green arrow which was off at the time, I just can't handle this lawyer. I have 10 days to appeal and I'd like to do it if I can find my own lawyer, does anyone have any suggestions on what type of lawyer to look for? Accident attorneys don't seem to be interested as there isn't really any money to be gained. I'm willing to pay for one but I'm not sure if I should look for a lawyer or try again in the appeals process representing myself, any suggestions anyone has would be most appreciated. Thanks guys!
-Kevin
Hello all. My name is Kevin and I am from Raleigh, NC. On June 8th 2007, I had a car accident on S.Miami Blvd. It was a red light crash, where the lady who hit me, hit me making a left hand turn (she turned into my vehicle). I have one witness at the event who said that I had the green light, and the other lady has a witness who on the police report and says he "believed" I had a red light. However, my witness was at the scene with the officer but her witness left the scene and left a business card with the lady to give to the officer.
The officer on the police report listed the lady as at fault for "improper left turn" but did not issue a citation at the scene. At the time I did not have full coverage with my insurance company so the onus was on me to collect from her insurance company. Long story short the insurance company denied my claim, and I accrued around a $470.00 towing and storage bill while waiting for the insurance company to declare fault to go along with my destroyed car.
Its also interesting to note that at the same time my insurance company denied her claim as well so I suppose it was listed by the insurance companies as "no fault"
I called a bunch of lawyers at that point, but none of them would take my case. The injuries I sustained during the accident were minor (2nd degree burns on my right hand, and a little bit of back and neck stiffness and soreness). The couple of local lawyers that I actually went to meet suggested that I settle the claim in small claims court in Durham NC since the damages I was asking for were so minor.
After noticing that the legal limit for small claims court was $5,000.00 I decided that was what I was going to ask for. I asked for 3,200 for my car, 470 for the towing fee, 100 for my medical consultations and 1200 for pain and suffering associated with my hand and back and neck.
The court date was on August 20th 2007 (yesterday) and the insurance company brought in a Raleigh lawyer to defend her in small claims court and long story short I got owned, HARD. This guy was throwing out all kinds of legal terms, and he was objecting to all questions that I had for his witnesses while at the same time ripping mine apart. I was under the impression that small claims was very informal, but this was rough. I was constantly being denied questions due to his objections and it all around went badly for me.
Needless to say I lost. I believe that I am in the right here, the key point here is that we both had the same green light, she just had a left turn must yield sign for her left turn and a green arrow which was off at the time, I just can't handle this lawyer. I have 10 days to appeal and I'd like to do it if I can find my own lawyer, does anyone have any suggestions on what type of lawyer to look for? Accident attorneys don't seem to be interested as there isn't really any money to be gained. I'm willing to pay for one but I'm not sure if I should look for a lawyer or try again in the appeals process representing myself, any suggestions anyone has would be most appreciated. Thanks guys!
-Kevin
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I'll give it a shot thanks for the advice 