Virginia Dog Bite Lawyers

Virginia Dog Bite Lawyers 

Dogs are the most popular companion pet in this country. Some say there is nothing more loyal than a dog. However, dogs can be unpredictable. When dogs are mishandled or not properly trained, people can get seriously hurt.

If you or someone you love has been seriously harmed because of a dog, you are entitled to justice.

After a dog bite, you could be watching your medical bills pile up. You may be permanently scarred or disfigured. The aftermath of this attack could have left you in rough mental state.

We want you to know that we are here for you. Our Virginia dog bite lawyers have successfully handled many cases like yours in the past. We want to help you to that same success.

We are going to guide you through some of the biggest mistakes that we have seen people make in dog bite claims.

Then you can get to know the story of a client of ours who we helped get justice.

Do not hesitate to reach out to us right away. We offer free first consultations.

Read all the way until the end to learn more about your case.

NovaLegalGroup, P.C. also helps residents of Virginia with Legal Matters in: Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Burke, Centreville, Fairfax, Mclean, Oakton, Reston and Springfield.

Dog Bite Claim Mistakes

It is natural for people to make mistakes. However, in a dog bite claim, there is not much room for error. Even small mistakes can ruin your case.

When you are looking for justice, please be cautious to avoid making the following mistakes.

Waiting to See a Doctor

When you are hurt by a dog, unless you can prove that the dog was fully vaccinated, you are going to need to take precautionary treatment for rabies.

Aside from the risk of contracting rabies from a dog, you can also contract serious infection if not treated correctly.. Dog bites are usually very deep wounds that can easily get infected if left untreated.

In some cases, getting immediate medical care can also reduce the risk of scarring or disfigurement.

If you do not get to a doctor right away, you are putting your health in jeopardy. Dog bites can cause nerve, tendon, or muscle damage. You don’t want anything going unchecked.

Also, delaying seeing a doctor means that you are going to raise the suspicions of the liable party’s insurance company. They will think that the delays in seeking medical care means you were not as badly hurt as you say you were. That means they can reduce your compensation award.

Forgetting About Evidence

Evidence is going to be very important for us for a few reasons.

First, it helps paint the picture of what happened. If you have photos and/or videos of the scene and your injuries, we can better understand what took place.

We can also use your evidence to definitively prove that you were not at fault for the accident. If your evidence can show to us where the loose fence was or that the dog was off leash when it should not have been, you can have a fairly solid case against the dog owner.

Evidence collection can be done with the help of a friend or family member. You can also call on animal control to come and help make an accident report.

Speaking About the Incident with Insurance Company Reps

Something we need you to know about insurance companies early on is that they are not your friends.

We understand they have done a great job with their television marketing to make themselves appear like they are a friend to all. They want you to believe that when things get tough, they will help you.

That is not the case at all.

When you have been through something really awful, like a dog attack, they look at your claim as an expense they need to save money on.

At the end of the day, insurance companies are businesses that want to make money.

If they reach out to you for a statement about the dog attack, do not fall for their friendly demeanor. They are trying to get you to say something that will ruin your claim.

They have been specially trained to get specific case-ruining answers from people.

In Virginia, if you are blamed for even 1% of this incident, you can guarantee that the insurance company will attempt to throw away your claim.

When they call you, do not speak to them. Do not offer them any statement about the dog attack. They will use your words against you to deny your insurance claim.

Instead, allow our Virginia dog bite lawyers handle the communications with them so you are always protected.

Delaying Calling a Lawyer

Two years is not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things. Two years is all you have from the date of your dog attack to file your claim.

You are likely going through a lot right now due to your accident. It is very important that you reach out to a Virginia dog bite attorney right away. . If you do not prioritize reaching out to a lawyer to set up a free consultation, it would be all too easy to forget to do it.

The hardest part will be over when you pick up the phone and make the call. Everything after that will get easier. We handle all legal aspects of your case for you.

Choosing the Wrong Lawyer for Your Claim

It would be a huge mistake if you chose a lawyer without knowing which ones are going to be better suited to your claim.

You do not want to throw away your one and only opportunity to get justice.

When you are looking for a lawyer to handle your dog bite claim, you need to think about who is going to be able to get you the best possible results.

You may be thinking about lawyers who you already know. Maybe you have a family law attorney, real estate lawyer or traffic ticket lawyer you are thinking about calling up. While someone like that who specializes in other areas of the law may be able to help you out, they are not be the best person for this job.

Think about it this way, if you were looking for someone remodel your kitchen, are you going to call someone who remodels homes, or would you call a friends of a friend who  fixed their leaky faucet.  It seems an easy answer. You would pick someone who does remodels on a daily basis.

You want someone who handles dog bite and personal injury claims every single day.

Even if someone is a great lawyer in the field of family law or real estate that does not mean that they are going to be a great personal injury lawyer. 

Carefully select a dog bite lawyer with a proven list of successful claims they have handled in the past. They should be able to tell you about all of the stories of people they have won results for.

Once your case is resolved, you cannot go back and try to get a better result.

The lawyer you choose to represent you is going to have a lot of power over what those results will be.

Choose wisely.

We hope you have learned a bit about what to do and not do after your dog bite. Please call and set up a free consultation with us right away to learn even more.

Virginia Dog Bite Client Story

Disclaimer: Our client’s names and details have been changed to protect their identity.

Before the incident, Ali woke up at 6:30 a.m. every day to run. It was a huge part of her morning routine. She was training to run a half marathon in the spring, so getting an early morning run in was something she had been doing for months.

Today was going to be about four miles. She wanted to put some variety in her route so as she ate a light breakfast, she mapped in a route on her phone that would get her home in plenty of time to get ready for the workday.

She knotted up her laces and headed out the door, turning left instead of right this morning.

As her feet hit the pavement, she thought of a few dozen things she needed to get done at work today.

She was a physical therapist at an orthopedic office.

Ali looked down at her smart watch to check her pace. She was faster today than yesterday morning which excited her to pick up the pace even more, though she reminded herself that she needed to learn to pace herself even in moments like these.

She had only ever watched marathons but never raced one before. But she knew that the crowds made people get amped up. Sometimes that meant they burnt out.

That was her biggest fear about the race.

As she turned the first corner on her new route this morning, she could hear someone’s dog barking in their yard. The noise barely registered with her as she often hears barking while running in the neighborhood.

She then noticed, out of the corner of her eye, the dog up against the fence practically foaming at the mouth while barking at her. She turned to look ahead of her and kept on running.

Out of seemingly nowhere, there was a sharp pain on her arm.

Eyes wide, she turned to see the dog clamping down her arm.

Horrified, she tried to push it away, but it was on top of her before she could even process that she fell.

Ali put her arms up over her face as the dog snapped and tore at her. There was not much she could do but scream for help. The dog was going after her legs as Ali bent them up over her stomach to try to kick the animal away.

It felt like an eternity later when someone was wrestling the dog off of her and dragged it back into the house where it came from.

The man who got the dog off of Ali was apologizing profusely. He said something about how he should have fixed the gate. He mentioned that his dog was a former police dog. Then again said how very sorry he was.

The damage was already done.

Ali went to the ER that day where she learned she had nerve damage to her left arm and left leg as well as a fracture to her right elbow. It seemed that during the attack, Ali landed on right elbow as the dog knocked her to the ground. The dog ripped through her left side. It was going to leave some ugly scarring. She could expect that she was going to need some serious treatment to get her back on her feet.

Her first night home, she cried in her bed. She saw all of her progress for the marathon being flushed down the drain.

This was a huge loss for her all because some guy left his dog unsupervised with an unsecure gate.

She wanted justice for her damages. She did some searching on her phone and found us online.

We got her set up with a free consultation right away.

She had three big questions for us during this first meeting.

1. Who am I bringing this claim against?
2. How soon will I get results?
3. What is this case worth?

You likely have similar questions. Please read until the end to learn more about how these dog bite accident claims work.

Who am I bringing this claim against?

After hearing about the gruesome attack Ali survived through, we really felt for her.

She had big dreams that got crushed because this dog owner was irresponsible.

She asked us how these cases work and who would be the one to provide her with a compensation award.

A lot of people have a misconception about personal injury cases where they think that, in an instance like this, the dog owner is going to be paying for Ali’s medical bills.

However, when we file a claim for a dog bite, as we explain to Ali during her consultation, we are naming the liable party as the dog owner, but his insurance company would be responsible for covering the compensation for the damages.

She nodded to show she understood.

How soon will I get results?

Ali was understandably concerned, about her mounting medical bills paired with the pay drought she was about to be in.

She asked us, “When will I get the compensation award?”

We told her that she would have a resolution to her claim once we knew the full extent of her injuries and once we could get the insurance company to come to the table with an offer that reflected all of her damages.

It was imperative that we do not rush into a settlement. It would be a tragedy for us to rush to get her an award right away then find out a few months later that she would need to continue treatment. Any expenses and losses she experienced after the case resolved would not be covered. That is why we take our time to ensure the fullest possible results.

What is this case worth?

Ali asked us near the end of our appointment how much money her claim would be worth.

The value of a dog bite claim is going to be based on a few different factors.

We need to know how much money you will be losing because of this attack. That includes everything you paid before meeting with us to everything you will be expected to pay in the future. All of Ali’s medical bills would be covered.

We also need to know if you lost money in wages from having to miss work. Ali was going to be out of work for a couple of weeks. She worked part-time at the orthopedics office so she did not get the same paid time-off days as full-time employees which meant she would go without a paycheck for the weeks she missed.

We assured Ali that we would fight to the bitter end to get her results that were full and fair.

Call Our Virginia Dog Bite Lawyers Today

If you have suffered serious injuries after someone’s dog attacked you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Virginia dog bite lawyers as soon as possible. We would like to get you set up with a free consultation right away. You deserve justice for your losses. Let us help you get that. Call today for your free consultation.