Smyrna Personal Injury Lawyer
Accident victims in Smyrna face unique challenges, such as amount caps and statute of limitations. As the premier Smyrna personal injury lawyers, Mitch Grissim & Associates have decades of experience offering competent, compassionate care to Tennesseans who have suffered serious injuries due to the negligence of another.
If you need help with your personal injury claims, give our law firm a call at 615-255-9999 for a free case evaluation with an experienced Smyrna personal injury lawyer who is ready to fight for you.
Why Choose Our Smyrna Law Firm for Your Personal Injury Case
For over 40 years, our team of Smyrna personal injury lawyers has been representing injury victims, helping them navigate the Tennessee legal system to get the compensation they need to heal. We have helped thousands of injured clients receive a fair settlement that covers their medical bills, lost income, and emotional pain so that they can move forward with confidence.
Local Knowledge, National Strength
Our personal injury attorneys live and work right here in the Nashville area but leverage all the experience and resources of a larger law firm to give injured victims and their family members the best chance at success when they seek compensation.
As we have been serving Smyrna and additional locations for decades, we know every nuance of Tennessee law and will skillfully apply this deep knowledge during negotiations and trials. Our personal injury lawyers have a combined 75 years of legal experience and have been listed by Super Lawyers as some of the best attorneys in Tennessee.
When you seek legal advice from Mitch Grissim & Associates, you benefit from what we’ve learned over hundreds of cases taken to trial here in the Nashville area.
Comprehensive Investigation and Evidence Gathering
When an accident victim contacts us for a free legal consultation, they immediately benefit from our rigorous, methodical approach to collecting evidence and developing an action plan. We have extensive contacts throughout Middle Tennessee, working with professionals like doctors, accident reconstruction specialists, and forensics experts to get to the bottom of any case.
Our Smyrna personal injury attorneys will investigate your case with all the care and attention of a big-city firm, but with the local knowledge necessary to get a fair settlement from the at-fault party and their insurance company.
Personalized Attention for Every Client
A local law firm provides the personal touch you need during personal injury claims. You have been through a serious ordeal and are feeling vulnerable; we completely understand that and will keep in close contact throughout your case to ensure you always know what the next steps will be.
Other lawyers may negotiate on behalf of a family a state away, but our law offices are here in middle Tennessee. We get to know you and your needs, ensuring you never feel alone during the claims process.
The tight-knit community of Smyrna deserves a personal injury attorney who truly cares about your needs and sees you as a person, not a case file.
Identifying Whether You Have a Viable Smyrna Personal Injury Case
As soon as you contact us for a free consultation, we’ll identify whether you have a viable case under Tennessee law. This constitutes four factors: duty of care, breach of care, cause, and damages.
- Duty of care – The at-fault party was responsible for practicing a reasonable level of caution to avoid an accident. For example, if you’ve been in a motorcycle accident, the other driver was responsible for checking their blind spots for motorcycles and following the rules of the road.
- Breach of care – The other party neglected to uphold their duty of care. This can include things like trucking companies failing to check their fleet before sending them out, or a doctor misdiagnosing your condition, leading to medical malpractice.
- Cause – The breach of care resulted in severe injuries for you or your loved one. In the case of wrongful death, the injuries sustained directly lead to your loved one’s death.
- Damages – The injured person suffered financial hardship as a result of the injury, such as lost income during the recovery period or loss of personal property.
Tennessee law works with modified comparative fault, meaning that those who are more than 50% responsible for accidents cannot sue for damages. If you were less than 50% responsible, you can still recover damages, but your level of blame will reduce your compensation.
This is why it’s so important to have an experienced attorney at your side — we will work on your behalf to ensure that your role in accidents is fairly represented, ensuring that the responsible party will have to pay their share.
Understanding the Value of Your Smyrna Personal Injury Claim
Personal injury law is one of the most complicated practice areas because there are numerous factors that go into identifying the value of a claim. That’s why you must work with dedicated personal injury lawyers who know how to represent all the nuances of your case.
Some elements that are used to identify how much the defendant will have to pay include the following:
- Extent of injuries – If you have suffered a severe injury, such as paralysis due to back injuries, you will likely receive more. Wrongful death cases receive the highest amounts due to fatal injuries.
- Property damage – You will be compensated in part or in full for any property that was damaged during accidents. Car accidents or motorcycle accidents where the vehicle was totaled will receive more, while bicycle accidents may receive less.
- Lost wages – Your recovery time is taken into account as well. If you had to be out of work for weeks or months, your accident attorney will work to ensure you receive compensation for this loss of income.
- Medical expenses – Medical bills are incredibly expensive, so we will work to hold the insurance company responsible for compensating you.
- Emotional damages – A unique aspect of personal injury law is non-economic damages such as loss of companionship and emotional trauma. We will explain how the accident affected your life and how it has impacted your family.
- Insurance coverage – The amount injury victims receive is also related to the amount that the insurance company is responsible for. Our Smyrna personal injury lawyers will negotiate with insurance agents on your behalf to receive a fair and comprehensive settlement.
Tennessee law has a cap of $750,000 for more personal injury claims. This cap rises to $1 million for wrongful death suits or those with catastrophic injuries, such as extensive burns, amputation, or paraplegia.
There is no set settlement amount for any case, but we will work to get you maximum compensation by representing the facts of your injury in the most beneficial light.
Diverse Personal Injury Cases Handled in Smyrna
Our personal injury attorneys handle a diverse range of accidents, offering our Smyrna neighbors peace of mind. Some of our practice areas include:
- Car accidents – Sadly, vehicular accidents in small-town Smyrna kill approximately 12 people per year, but even non-fatal accidents can have a huge impact on a family. We help accident victims get the assistance they need to recuperate in comfort.
- Motorcycle accidents – Wonderful Tennessee weather and the rural roads around Smyrna can make a great biking experience, but motorcyclists are often seriously injured from even a small crash.
- Amputations – If you have been in an accident and required amputation, a personal injury lawyer in Smyrna can help you get the compensation you need to live a full and healthy life.
- Burn injuries – These can result from car crashes, workplace accidents, or boating accidents.
- Boating accidents – Lead attorney Mitch Grissim is particularly passionate about boating, with a US Coast Guard Captain’s License. You can’t find another personal injury attorney in Middle Tennessee more qualified to take on a boating accident case.
- Truck accidents – Due to a truck’s enormous size and weight, truckers need to take more precautions than the average driver. If you’ve been injured due to a trucker’s negligence, we’ll help you get justice.
- Slip-and-fall – Far from just a few bruises, slipping and falling can leave a victim with broken bones, back injuries, and even paralysis.
- Dog bites – Smyrna is incredibly dog-friendly — many hotels and restaurants allow people to bring their furry friends everywhere. However, dog owners must be in control of their animals at all times. If an owner’s negligence led to an accident, we’ll hold them accountable and get you the compensation you deserve.
- Medical malpractice – When you go to the hospital, you expect to be provided with competent care. Our personal injury lawyer team will ensure that negligent medical professionals pay for their incompetence.
- Workplace injuries – Workers’ compensation often refuses to pay victims, dodging accountability for their pain and suffering. We will negotiate so that you receive all that you’re entitled to.
- Nursing home abuse – The elderly are often preyed upon by the very professionals meant to protect and support them. If your loved one has been neglected or abused by nursing facility staff, we’ll help you get the compensation you need to heal.
- Product liability – Companies must be held accountable for producing unsafe or defective consumer goods. When you work with a personal injury attorney from Mitch Grissim & Associates, we will do just that.
- Wrongful death – Losing a family member is always tragic, but it is more so when it’s due to personal injury. Our compassionate team will help you through this difficult time and help you receive justice.
The Right Time to Engage a Smyrna Personal Injury Lawyer
If you’ve been in an accident, it’s critical that you call us at 615-255-9999 as soon as possible for a free evaluation. Tennessee has a very short statute of limitations for personal injury — it’s just one year for all accident types, including wrongful death. This is much shorter than in other states. For example, Georgia law allows for two years.
You should always let us handle the insurance company negotiations, as adjusters will use a number of underhanded tactics to reduce their liability and, thus, your compensation.
Insurance companies will begin calling you immediately after the accident, trying to get you to settle for less than you deserve. If you work with a personal injury lawyer, you have protection against these dirty tricks because we’ll talk to them for you.
Negotiations with insurance can last months, making missing this deadline a very real possibility if you don’t contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. We always strive to settle out of court first to reduce the impact on our clients’ lives, but we also want to leave the possibility of a trial open if negotiations are unsuccessful.
As such, you need to act quickly. Call a personal injury lawyer from Mitch Grissim & Associates right after the accident so that we can get to work studying your case and gathering evidence. We take clients on a contingency fee basis, so you owe us nothing if we are not able to get you compensation.
Types of Compensation in Smyrna Personal Injury Cases
There are many types of compensation that a Smyrna personal injury victim can receive in a settlement, and our attorneys will seek to get the maximum amount possible in your case.
Your settlement compensation is typically separated into two categories: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages include the following:
- Property loss – If you lost personal property due to someone else’s negligence, they will be responsible for repairing or replacing it.
- Medical expenses – This includes things such as surgeries, medications, adaptive equipment, and physical therapy. We’ll work closely with your insurance company and medical care team, whether that is at TriStar StoneCrest, Ascension Saint Thomas, or anywhere else, to get an accurate accounting of your medical costs.
- Loss of income – The time you spent out of work recovering should be recouped, and we’ll work to get you everything you deserve. You can also be compensated if you are no longer able to perform at the same capacity as before due to your injury, such as if you had to switch from a manual labor job to a desk job.
There are also non-economic damages that a personal injury attorney can recover, which include:
- Pain and suffering – Being injured can be incredibly uncomfortable as you work to heal. This should be accounted for in your settlement.
- Emotional damages – Trauma, depression, anxiety, and PTSD are all very real issues after an accident. We’ll explain how being injured caused you distress and ensure that this is considered in your settlement.
- Loss of enjoyment of life – Whether you’re no longer able to head out for fishing on the West Fork Stones River or can’t play tennis at Lee Victory Recreation Park because of your injuries, we will accurately represent this to a judge and jury so they understand how this has impacted your overall well-being.
- Loss of companionship – While this often comes into play during a wrongful death case, it can also apply to other personal injury suits. For example, if you are no longer able to be emotionally present for your loved ones or can’t cheer on the Bulldogs at Smyrna High School because you’re recuperating, this should be considered, too.
Contact Our Experienced Smyrna TN Personal Injury Lawyers
Our client reviews make it clear — we’re a highly experienced legal firm that offers excellent communication, deep compassion, and extensive experience to all of our clients. We work hard to hold responsible parties accountable and to ensure that insurance adjusters pay what they should.
As we work on a contingency fee basis, you owe us nothing unless we can get a settlement for you, meaning there’s no risk to accessing our high-quality services.
If you need a personal injury lawyer in Smyrna, contact Mitch Grissim & Associates at 615-255-9999 for a free consultation. You’ll soon see why we have been listed as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in the country, thanks to our excellent track record and total dedication to our clients.
