Whiplash Lawyer in Montgomery

Neck pain after a crash can make ordinary things such as driving, working, or sleeping uncomfortable. A whiplash lawyer in Montgomery can look at how the collision happened, what your medical records show, and whether another driver may be responsible for your injuries.

At Wettermark Keith, our Montgomery personal injury lawyers help people deal with the legal and insurance issues that follow an accident. Our firm calls its approach a “lunch pail mentality”: show up, do the work, and stay committed to the people who trust us with their cases.

You do not need to know how long your neck pain will last before speaking with us. We can start with what happened, how you are feeling now, and what treatment you have received so far.

What Can Cause Whiplash?

Whiplash happens when the neck is moved back and forth quickly and forcefully. Rear-end crashes are a common cause, although other collisions and sudden impacts can cause the same type of injury.

Symptoms are not always obvious at the scene. Neck pain and stiffness, headaches, reduced movement, shoulder or upper-back pain, dizziness, and other symptoms can begin right away or develop over the following days.

If you develop neck pain after a collision, getting medical advice can also help rule out fractures or other injuries that may need different treatment.

How a Montgomery Whiplash Lawyer Can Help

Our whiplash car accident lawyers start with the accident itself. That may mean reviewing the crash report, photographs, witness information, available video, and what each driver says happened.

We also need to understand the injury. Treatment records can show when your symptoms were reported, what your doctor found, and what care you have needed since the crash.

A Montgomery whiplash injury lawyer can then deal with the insurance claim, request relevant records, and explain any decisions that come up while your case is being handled.

What If Your Symptoms Started Later?

It is possible for whiplash symptoms to appear during the hours or days after an accident. Not having significant neck pain immediately after the collision does not, by itself, tell us what caused symptoms that developed later.

Your medical history, when the symptoms began, and what you told your healthcare providers can all become relevant. We look at those records alongside what happened in the crash.

If you are still having problems weeks or months later, the effect on your work and everyday activities may also need to be documented.

What Compensation Could Be Available?

A whiplash claim may include medical expenses connected with the injury and income you lost because you could not work. Further treatment or reduced earning ability may also matter if the effects continue.

Pain and the effect of the injury on your normal activities can form part of the claim as well. What can be recovered depends on your particular injuries and the evidence available.

Wettermark Keith can go through those losses with you rather than trying to put a value on the case before enough is known about your recovery.

How Can Contributory Negligence Affect Your Claim?

Alabama follows contributory negligence in ordinary negligence cases. If your own negligence proximately contributed to the injury, that can prevent you from recovering damages even when another driver was also negligent.

That is not the same as an insurance company simply assigning you one percent of the blame and automatically ending the claim. The facts still need to support the legal defense.

A whiplash attorney in Montgomery can look at what each driver was doing and how that conduct relates to the cause of the collision.

How Long Do You Have to File a Whiplash Claim?

Under Alabama Code § 6-2-38, many actions involving personal injury must be filed within two years. The deadline that applies to a particular case can depend on the type of claim and when it accrued.

It is worth checking the deadline well before it gets close. Records may become more difficult to obtain later, and people who saw the accident may remember fewer details as time passes.

Do Scans Show Whiplash?

Whiplash itself does not necessarily appear on an imaging test. X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs may instead be used to check for fractures, disc problems, or other conditions that could be causing or contributing to neck pain.

That means the absence of a particular finding on a scan does not tell the whole story. Your symptoms, examination findings, treatment, and medical history may all be relevant to understanding the injury.

Talk to a Whiplash Lawyer in Montgomery

You do not need to have every medical record or know what your claim is worth before contacting us. Bring what you have and tell us what has happened since the crash.

Wettermark Keith can review the accident, your injuries, and the insurance issues involved. We offer free case evaluations and handle personal injury matters on a contingency fee basis.

Contact us to speak with a whiplash lawyer in Montgomery about your accident and what happens next.