Motorcycle Traffic collision Personal injury lawyer in Gwinnett County

Our Norcross Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Can Help You

If you were injured in a motorcycle accident that was someone else’s fault, our personal injury attorneys are ready to help you seek the compensation you deserve. Our motorcycle accident attorneys will provide you with honest counsel and aggressive representation.

The Norcross motorcycle accident attorneys of Adamson & Cleveland, LLC are prepared to guide you through the complicated paperwork and legal process needed to pursue your claim for compensation and justice.

Our firm is known for providing personalized service and experienced legal representation to personal injury victims. We’ve recovered over $150 million for our clients, and we’re ready to get to work on your case.

If you’ve been hurt in a motorcycle accident, you need an attorney who is going to give you the one-on-one attention you deserve. Our team of professionals will take the time to listen to your concerns, explain your legal options for pursuing compensation, and advise you and answer your questions at every step of the process.

We’ll do everything it takes to pursue the full compensation you are owed. We prepare every case for trial and are ready to fight for you all the way to a verdict, if necessary.

At Adamson & Cleveland, LLC, our motorcycle accident attorneys have over 25 years of experience in helping seriously injured clients like you. Call our Gwinnett County motorcycle accident attorneys or contact us online today to schedule a free consultation to learn more about your legal rights and options.

How Our Motorcycle Accident Attorneys Can Help You

It’s a hard reality that motorcycle accidents often result in severe injuries to bikers. Motorcycles don’t provide protection like cars do in crashes. The devastating injuries that riders suffer can often be disabling or even fatal.

If you were injured in a motorcycle crash, your focus should be on healing and getting back to normal life – not on spending your time and energy collecting evidence about the accident, compiling paperwork of your medical treatment and lost wages, negotiating with the insurance companies and lawyers, and filing and pursuing a lawsuit.

The motorcycle accident attorneys at Adamson & Cleveland, LLC stand ready to take on the work of pursuing the compensation you deserve while you focus on your physical and mental recovery.

Why Are Motorcycle Crash Claims More Complicated?

Pursuing a motorcycle accident claim can be more complicated for a rider than for a driver of a car or truck. Unfortunately, some people still have biases against motorcycle riders that paint them as reckless rebels who take unwise risks on the road. Insurance companies and attorneys for the at-fault driver often play on these prejudices to shift the blame to the biker and minimize what they have to pay on a claim.

At Adamson & Cleveland, LLC, we won’t let them get away with blaming the victim. We know most bikers are responsible and cautious. It’s often other drivers who are reckless around bikers. Many motorcycle accidents occur because car and truck drivers don’t give motorcycles their fair share of the road.

Motorcycle accidents also often result in severe, long-lasting injuries. Other parties may try to avoid liability for certain injuries if the rider was not wearing a helmet or other protective gear, even though what the biker was wearing had nothing to do with the cause of the crash. Because medical expenses can continue to accrue long after a motorcycle accident claim is resolved, it can be challenging to ensure that the injured rider receives compensation to fully cover their future expenses.

What If I Am Being Blamed for the Crash?

The other driver or their insurance company may blame you for the crash or argue that you are at least partially responsible for it. Georgia motorcycle law uses a contributory negligence principle, under which a factfinder at trial will determine the percentage of fault – if any – of each party in an accident.

If the plaintiff’s percentage of fault is less than the other parties in the accident combined, they will be entitled to recover damages. However, those damages will be reduced by the plaintiff’s percentage share of fault for the accident.

It is important to note that if you are found at least partially at fault for your motorcycle accident, you will not be able to recover the full amount of damages you’ve suffered. That’s why you need an attorney who will build a strong case to show that the crash was not your fault in the slightest.

What Compensation is Available for Injuries and Losses in a Motorcycle Accident?

As with most other personal injury claims, compensation for injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident fall into four primary categories:

• Medical expenses – This compensation should cover all expenses from the date of your accident through the indefinite future for treatment for injuries suffered in the accident, including surgery, hospital bills, doctor’s visits, physical and occupational therapy, medications, medical equipment, and even modifications you make to your home to accommodate any disabilities arising from your injuries
• Lost income – Not only should lost wages due to missed work be covered, but if you return to work and work fewer hours than before your accident or if you can’t return to your old job and have to find a new one that pays less, lost income compensation should cover the income that you’ll miss out on.
• Pain and suffering – In addition to compensating you for the pain and mental anguish caused by your injuries, this compensation cover the loss of enjoyment of life, such as if you are unable to participate in sports and recreation activities that you enjoyed before your accident.
• Loss of companionship – Your family may also be entitled to compensation for the loss of your companionship and services to the family and household caused by your injuries. When brought by a spouse, this claim is commonly known as loss of consortium

In addition, you might be entitled to recover two different types of damages:

• Property damage – You may be able to recover compensation for damage to or destruction of your motorcycle in the accident.
• Punitive damages – Georgia law requires a claimant seeking punitive damages to request such damages in their complaint and prove by clear and convincing evidence that the other party acted willfully, wantonly, or recklessly. These damages are rarely awarded.

Finally, a close relative was killed in a motorcycle accident, you may be entitled to bring wrongful death and survivorship claims on behalf of your deceased loved one, yourself, and your family.

What is Georgia’s Statute of Limitations on Motorcycle Accident Claims?

In Georgia, the law places a limit on the time you have to file a lawsuit for your motorcycle accident. This is known as the statute of limitations. For personal injury claims arising from a motorcycle accident, the statute of limitations is two years from the date of the accident. If you fail to file a lawsuit within this time, your claim will likely be dismissed.

If you need to bring a claim against the state, a county, or a city or town, you must also provide notice of your claim within a certain period of your accident before you can file a lawsuit. For claims against the state of Georgia, this notice period is 12 months from the date of your injury. For some counties and cities, the notice period can be as short as six months.

In some cases, the court can toll, or extend, the statute of limitations. If the injured party is a minor or legally incompetent person, the statute of limitations may not start until they turn 18 or their period of incompetency ends. A court may toll the statute of limitations if the defendant leaves Georgia and cannot be served with court documents.

What do You Need to Know about Dealing with Insurance Adjusters?

When talking to insurance adjusters, whether they’re from the other driver’s insurance company or your own, you should always remember that insurance companies are in business to make money. They can’t do that if they pay out large insurance claims, so they’ll offer you what they believe is the smallest amount of money that you’ll accept.

The hope is that the pressure of medical bills and being out of work will force you to take whatever cash you’re offered. Insurance adjusters may also try to argue that you were at least partially responsible for the accident to convince you to accept less money than you’re entitled to.

An experienced motorcycle accident attorney can advise you as to what your claim is truly worth and push back against the efforts to place blame for your accident on you.

Alan Cleveland

Alan is a Gwinnett County native who proudly serves his community and provides skilled representation to injury victims and their families as a founding partner of the personal injury law firm of Adamson & Cleveland, LLC. Alan earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and went on to graduate, summa cum laude, from Atlanta's John Marshall Law School. He is also a graduate of Gerry Spence’s renowned Trial Lawyers College (TLC) in Wyoming. In his free time, Alan frequently speaks at continuing legal education seminars. He also volunteers as a youth baseball coach and assists his local high school's moot court competition team.