What should you do after a car accident? Are you looking for an accident lawyer near you? Do you have questions about car accident injury settlement amounts? Are you worried because the insurance company refuses to pay your auto claim? Do you wonder, "should I get an attorney after a car accident?" These are complicated questions that can be difficult to answer.

This post is part of a three part series addressing how divorcing parents might address higher education costs.  Yesterday, we addressed the question:   “How long is a parent required to pay support?”   Today, we’ll consider whether divorcing parents should agree to share the costs of their children’s college. The laws in the states where I practice do not require parents to pay college costs, but parents can agree in their divorce agreement to share in the costs.   Consider several questions before entering into an agreement to be sure your agreement is in the best interest of your child and your family.

Yesterday, The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill that could make it much more difficult for many victims to recover medical expenses or other damages after an accident or a crime.  West Virginia H.B. 2002 abolishes “joint liability.”  Reading the bill may be pretty confusing, full of legal terms such as “comparative fault” and “joint liability.”  In this post, I’ll try to explain what it means and how this change in the law could impact you.  If you have been injured in an accident or if you are a victim of crime, this may make it more difficult for you to fully recover.

Moving on after you have suffered an injury or loss can be difficult.  Mediation is often the best way to to resolve a civil case and be able to move on.  If selected early, mediation saves time and money for both parties in legal expenses.  Our office encourages clients to participate in mediation at the earliest possible date, often BEFORE filing suit, to be sure to gain the most benefit possible from early resolution.  In many states mediation is required in all civil cases before a trial is scheduled.  Even when you don’t reach an agreement during the first session mediation can be helpful.  About 98% of all civil cases settle before trial so it is likely that your case won’t go to trial.  Sometimes the progress made in mediation sets the matter up so that it will be more likely to settle quickly and fairly following the mediation.  Sometimes a further session is helpful.  If your case is resolved in mediation, you can expect a few steps to finalize the resolution.

After an accident, most of us just want to put the whole thing behind us! But how do we move on with so many bills?  A simple trip to the emergency room may result in five or six medical bills:  the ambulance, the hospital, the emergency room doctor, the radiologist and the prescriptions.  What can you do?  How can these bills be paid? 

Can you represent yourself in court? It depends! Some matters are simple and litigants can find the resources that they need to go to court without a lawyer. In other situations, you should never go to court without a lawyer to guide you through the process. Brenda Waugh provides legal and mediation services in Virginia and West Virginia and can help you decide when you need a lawyer and what process—litigation or mediation may be best suited for your legal problem.