Do You Need a Lawyer for a Dog Bite Claim in 2024

They say a dog is a man’s best friend, and we find that to be very true, however, not every dog is given equal love, especially not those that grow up on the street. Stray dogs are not treated like those with owners, and that’s pretty unfair. This is why according to the statistics, stray dogs are more likely to bite a person on the street. Especially those stray dogs that were hurt in some sort of way and now they fear going through the same thing once more.

Dogs in general are beings that live by only one code. Have your property and protect it. Although no person deserves to be bitten by a dog for no reason at all, sometimes people are aggressive towards these animals and that’s the reason for the accident.

But, dogs with owners sometimes bite people as well, and no matter what the reason for it was, you may benefit a lot from a lawyer. Financial compensation for your injury is always more than welcome, especially in these difficult times when money is the most important resource. Let’s take a look.

A lawyer has exceptional knowledge of the law

This is pretty obvious but it still needs to be mentioned. Without a lawyer, a “regular Joe” won’t know what needs to be done in such a situation. A lawyer that specializes in something like this knows immediately which people to contact and how to start the procedure. Please note that a procedure of this type may last for more than a year, and there will be multiple obstacles along the way. Thankfully, an experienced lawyer can help you get through them. If you happen to be in the same scenario at the moment and you don’t know where to start looking for help, here’s a dog bite lawyer example that you can view at www.pilaw.com

A lawyer can negotiate with other individuals included in the process

Although this type of case seems like something that’s “black and white”, it isn’t really like that. The injury itself can be slightly “overdramatized” by the doctor for a better chance of getting financial compensation if it’s a stray dog. If it’s a dog with an owner, chances are that person will hire a lawyer as well, so things will be a bit fairer for both sides.

Your lawyer however will be able to contact people who can help and hopefully speed up the procedure, because as we said above it sometimes takes more than a year to finally get the compensation for your injury. If it’s a stray dog, the dog itself has to be examined, and your lawyer can easily set it up for you through their connections. In translation, you won’t have to go and pick up the stray dog by yourself, which is quite helpful.

Negotiating is a huge factor for the final amount of money you’ll receive as compensation. A lawyer can help you come up with a better sum by negotiating, but be wary that you’ll have to pay a part of that sum as compensation for their service.

A lawyer has access to helpful resources

Not every dog bite situation is the same. Sometimes the dog attacked for no reason, sometimes it was self-defense, needless to say, a lawyer has access to helpful resources that can help you learn more about what your options are. These cases require a lot more research than you think, and that research is easier when you have access to helpful resources. Proof and evidence are also really important factors in such a case. Even if it wasn’t your fault and the dog bit for no reason, it still doesn’t matter that you’ll be compensated for the injury one hundred percent. You still need to prove a lot of things.

It’s impossible to get the compensation without a lawyer

Many people thought that hiring a lawyer is an unnecessary cost so they decided to take on this case without one. Well, most of them failed because it’s almost impossible to get compensation without a lawyer. You see, if it’s a stray dog, it’s the state or the city that needs to pay the compensation, and they all have many lawyers by their side who will do their best to not pay you. For a person who doesn’t understand the law and how these things work, it’s difficult to end up winning the case, especially if things escalate and people end up filing lawsuits.

Depending on the company you want to hire for your case, they should do the following things for you:

• Keep you up to date with any changes regarding the case
• Prove the dog was aggressive and it wasn’t your fault for the attack
• Collecting evidence on the spot by sending out a team of professionals
• Covering all costs upfront so you don’t have to spend your time doing it
• Answering any legal questions if you have them
• Research any previous similar events with the dog

A lawyer will tell you whether your case is valid in the first place

Whenever a person gets bit by a dog, it’s pretty logical to start thinking about some sort of compensation. After all, you need to pay for treatment and that’s not cheap if you live in the United States for example. Well, in a perfect world every person should be compensated for the damage by automation, without the need for lawyers, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. A lot of people end up wasting their time and not receiving any compensation for what happened and that’s why we always recommend talking to a lawyer first. They’ll tell you whether it’s worth pursuing or not.

Conclusion

Getting bit by a dog is something that can happen to any person, regardless of the dog is a stray one or it has an owner. Getting compensation for it is pretty impossible without a lawyer so we suggest calling one as soon as the unfortunate event happens.