Durham Personal Injury Lawyer

Injured in Durham, NC?

Kreger Brodish LLP is a Durham personal injury law firm with a unique understanding of how insurance companies handle injury claims.

Founder and attorney Tom Kreger spent four years as a claims adjuster and team leader at Progressive Insurance, giving him direct experience in evaluating claims, investigating accidents, and assessing settlements.

Our Durham personal injury lawyers combine insurance industry experience with knowledge of the Durham County court system to build stronger cases for our clients throughout Durham County.

We’ve recovered millions of dollars for clients, including $120,000+ for an accident on MLK Jr. Parkway and $115,000 for negligence at a Durham rehabilitation facility.

Our firm also has 240+ five-star Google reviews.

Contact Kreger Brodish today for a free consultation, or visit our Durham office at 5003 Southpark Drive, Suite 200, Durham, NC 27713.

You pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.

What Our Client Said

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had a great experience working with Ben and his team at Kreger Brodish, on my personal injury case.

From the beginning, they were professional, responsive, and incredibly thorough. He took the time to walk us through each step of the process, explained everything clearly, and made sure we always felt informed and supported.

Legal situations can be overwhelming, but they handled everything with real confidence and care, which gave me a lot of peace of mind.

I’m very grateful for their help and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a personal injury lawyer.

– Jonathan Cortright

 

Why Choose Kreger Brodish LLP?

We know you face a critical decision when looking for an attorney to represent you after an injury accident.

At Kreger Brodish LLP, we’re committed to providing outstanding legal support to those harmed by other parties’ actions or carelessness. Our personal injury law firm in Durham, NC, is recognized for the following:

• Our firm focuses exclusively on personal injury cases. Every case we take involves helping an injured person pursue compensation.
• You have direct access to our attorneys by phone, text, and email, with virtual and in-person meetings available at our Southpark office.
• We prepare every case with litigation in mind. We investigate the claim, gather evidence, document injuries and losses, and build the case needed to pursue compensation through settlement or, when necessary, in court.

Our Personal Injury Case Results in Durham

• $227,000 Recovery — Renaissance Parkway, Durham: A client injured in a crash on Renaissance Parkway sustained serious injuries that required treatment from an orthopedic spine specialist and surgery. We pursued compensation for the resulting medical care and other losses, ultimately securing a $227,000 recovery.
• $50,000 Policy Limits — Guess Road Near I-85, Durham: After being injured on Guess Road near I-85, our client needed ongoing treatment from an orthopedist and chiropractor. Our Durham personal injury attorneys helped the client obtain the full $50,000 available under the applicable insurance policy.
• Confidential Recovery — Chapel Hill Road Near University Drive, Durham: A client suffered significant injuries in an incident on Chapel Hill Road near University Drive and faced substantial hospital expenses. We successfully obtained a confidential settlement that covered the client’s medical bills and other related losses.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. See all our case results

Do You Have a Strong Personal Injury Claim?

Only some accidents will result in a personal injury lawsuit.

However, you will need to be able to show that someone else was responsible for your personal injury accident and that you suffered damages as a result. The value of your Durham personal injury claim depends on various facts unique to you, your injury, and your legal issues.

The following questions will help you determine if you have a strong personal injury claim:

• Was someone else responsible for your personal injury accident?
• What personal injuries do you have?
• Have you received treatment for your injuries? What other medical treatments do you need?
• Will the insurance company cover your injury (for example, another driver’s auto insurance or insurance for a negligent property owner)? What are the policy limits of the insurance coverage?
• Were you at work when you were injured?
• Will your personal injuries result in you missing work or losing income?
• Have your personal injuries resulted in permanent impairment or disability?
• Are your personal injuries affecting your quality of life?

The most brilliant move you can make after any accident is to speak with a trusted Durham personal injury lawyer.

How Our Durham Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After an Accident

After a serious accident, you may be left dealing with medical treatment, lost income, and pressure from insurance companies.

The Durham personal injury lawyers at Kreger Brodish LLP are ready to work with you to pursue the compensation you’re entitled to under North Carolina law. We can help by doing the following:

• Investigating how the accident occurred and collecting evidence such as police reports, medical records, photographs, and witness statements to support your claim
• Identifying the parties who may be responsible for your injuries and reviewing all applicable insurance coverage
• Communicating with insurance companies and handling claim negotiations on your behalf
• Calculating the full scope of your compensable losses, which may include medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other accident-related losses
• Working with medical providers or other professionals to obtain the documentation necessary to support your injury claim
• Preparing your case for trial if the at-fault party doesn’t offer the settlement you deserve

Types of Personal Injury Cases We Handle in Durham, NC

Common Injuries Our Durham Personal Injury Lawyers See

• Broken bones and fractures from collisions
• Whiplash and soft-tissue injuries
• Traumatic brain injuries and concussions
• Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
• Burns, scars, and disfigurement
• Catastrophic injuries and permanent disabilities

Establishing Liability in North Carolina Personal Injury Cases

Establishing liability in personal injury cases means determining who bears legal responsibility for causing an accident and the resulting injuries.

To pursue compensation, you must show that another party acted negligently and that this conduct caused you harm.

Establishing liability requires a thorough investigation and a review of all available evidence showing how the incident occurred and the extent of your injuries. Whether you can identify the responsible party and support your claim with clear evidence is the key to recovering compensation.

Complicating matters is the fact that North Carolina law generally bars an injured person from recovering compensation if they contributed to the accident in any way, no matter how minor.

Because this rule can affect the outcome of your claim, it’s important to work with a Durham personal injury lawyer who can establish the other party’s fault and push back against attempts to blame you for your own injuries.

How Much Is My Personal Injury Case Worth in North Carolina?

North Carolina law allows accident victims to recover damages from the party responsible for their injuries. Some damages are available in personal injury cases, and some are only available under limited circumstances.

As part of your case, the personal injury law may entitle you to:

• Compensation for pain and suffering
• Reimbursement for missed paychecks if you had to take time off work to recover
• Payment of your outstanding medical expenses
• Reimbursement of your out-of-pocket expenses, co-pays, and other payments you have made toward your medical treatment
• Payment for permanent injuries, impairment, or disabilities you have suffered as the result of your accident
• Payment for future medical care, physical therapy, surgery, or other treatment
• Reimbursement for medical devices, such as canes, crutches, prosthetics, wheelchairs, wheelchair ramps, or walkers
• Costs to repair or replace personal property damaged in the incident, such as your vehicle, cellphone, glasses, or clothing
• Reduced earning capacity for the future if you cannot return to your previous level of work
• Payment for disfigurement or scars your injuries have caused.
• Compensation for the negligent infliction of emotional, psychological, or cognitive distress or harm caused to you
• Punitive damages, which may be awarded to punish the defendant in personal injury cases of extreme recklessness or negligence

At Kreger Brodish LLP, we focus on maximizing the value of your claim. Our Durham personal injury attorneys will work with industry-leading experts to thoroughly assess your damages and demand the compensation you deserve.

What Factors Can Affect the Value of Your Personal Injury Lawsuit?

The value of your Durham personal injury case depends on:

• The severity and permanence of your injury,
• The types of medical treatment you have received and will receive in the future, and
• The overall effect your injury has had on your life and will have on your life going forward.

Is There a Formula to Calculate My Settlement?

There is no formula for valuing a claim. A jury determines the value of a claim.

When a jury decides how much money to award a Durham personal injury victim, the jury is not given any formula to use.

Instead, the jury is given evidence, typically in the form of testimony, regarding the harm done to the victim. Using this evidence, the jury has to decide how much money to award the victim.

How Do Insurance Companies Value Personal Injury Claims?

However, although there is no formula for a jury to use, insurance providers certainly have an approach to valuing personal injury claims for negotiated settlements.

When your insurance evaluates your Durham claim, it compares the circumstances of your injury to injuries that the insurer has previously settled. Then the insurance provider compares the factors in your injury case to other personal injury cases that it has paid for or taken to trial.

Key Factors That Affect Your Claim’s Value

Many factors can influence how the insurance carrier values your injury claim, such as:

• The severity of your injury
• The type and amount of your medical expenses
• Whether you have any permanent injuries or scarring
• How has the injury affected your employment and lifestyle
• Whether you will make a good witness
• Whether the person who caused the accident will make a good witness
• Whether your doctor will make a good witness
• Whether you failed to follow your doctor’s medical advice
• Whether you received unnecessary medical treatment

The Importance of Having an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney

The insurance provider will also consider whether you have an experienced personal injury attorney prepared to go to trial. Litigation is time-consuming, risky, and expensive for these companies.

Therefore, reaching a full settlement is usually in their best interests rather than letting a jury decide.

If you’d like to talk more specifically about the value of your claim, please contact us today for a free consultation with a Durham personal injury lawyer.

What to Expect During Personal Injury Claim Process

The personal injury claim process can seem complex. But our Durham personal injury lawyers handle all the details of your legal case from start to finish. Here’s what you can expect:

1. We will start by notifying the insurance carrier that we represent you. We will ask them to direct all of their communications to our personal injury attorneys.
2. We will then investigate and assess your personal injury claim. Typically, we will call witnesses, visit the scene of your accident, and obtain medical records and bills, wage loss records, and other documentation of damages.
3. Our team of personal injury lawyers will consult with you to evaluate your personal injury claim and decide an amount to demand from the insurance.
4. We’ll then send a demand to your insurance provider and attempt to negotiate a settlement of your personal injury claim.
5. If we cannot reach a fair personal injury settlement, we’ll file a lawsuit and prepare for a trial.

Your role during this entire process is to continue treatment and focus on your recovery. A personal injury lawyer should take care of the rest.

When Should You File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in North Carolina?

Generally, you have three years from the date of your injury to file a personal injury lawsuit in North Carolina, as provided under North Carolina General Statute § 1-52.

If you fail to file your lawsuit within the applicable limitations period, you may lose your right to pursue compensation through the courts.

For this reason, it is important to speak with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible after an injury rather than waiting until the deadline approaches.

What Does It Cost to Hire a Durham Personal Injury Lawyer?

Like most North Carolina personal injury attorneys, our law firm works on a contingency fee basis.

This means that we earn a percentage of your recovery (i.e., we only make a fee if we get you a winning verdict at trial or a negotiated settlement). Our contingency fee varies and is set case by case. It is typically one-third, but it depends on how your issue is resolved.

In addition to our contingency fee, there are certain costs, such as expert witness fees, court filing fees, or medical examination fees, that we will pay for and only be reimbursed if we get you a winning settlement or verdict for your pain and suffering.

Most legal fee arrangement rules are set by the North Carolina state bar association.

If you have any questions regarding our fee structure, please contact us. We’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Can I talk to Kreger Brodish LLP about my case for free?

Yes. We offer free consultations on all injury matters.

If you want to talk to our legal team, just call us or contact us online. Our personal injury attorneys can do phone consultations, email consultations, or in-person consultations.

We handle personal injury cases right here in Durham and the surrounding Research Triangle. We are happy to meet at our Southpark Drive office, on call, or wherever is most convenient for you.

How Insurance Companies Handle Durham Personal Injury Claims

Dealing with insurance providers after an accident is tricky. Remember, the insurance adjuster’s job is to minimize the value of injury victims’ pain and suffering or deny it altogether if they can.

Here are some of the questions people typically ask about talking to an insurance adjuster.

Should You Speak With the Insurance Adjuster After an Accident?

No.

The insurance adjuster is seeking information that can weaken your legal claim (such as your failure to describe all of your injuries adequately) or information that can lead to a denial of your legal case.

By speaking to you and gathering information about you, the insurance adjuster and the company they represent are gaining leverage on you.

They are learning about your prior personal injuries, accidents, where you work, and live, marital status, version of what happened in the incident that caused your damage, etc.

The flow of information is entirely one-sided. Your insurance won’t answer any of your or your Durham personal injury attorney’s questions, such as the at-fault party’s insurance limits, etc.

You are not obligated to cooperate with an adjuster from someone else’s insurance. (The same is not valid if the adjuster calls from your insurance, though.) You should avoid speaking to an insurance adjuster until you decide how to handle your legal claim.

If you are considering speaking with an adjuster, discuss your case with a North Carolina personal injury attorney first to get some counseling on what questions and answers to avoid.

What Should You Say When an Insurance Adjuster Calls?

First, regardless of what you say, always be polite and civil.

Although the insurance adjuster is not trying to help you in your legal case, the adjuster is the one with whom you will ultimately have to try to settle. So now is not the time to make an enemy.

Our suggestion is to simply thank the insurance adjuster for calling and let them know that you:

1. Haven’t decided on whether you’ll hire a personal injury attorney
2. Haven’t decided on whether you’ll give the insurance adjuster a recorded statement
3. Are focusing on recovering
4. You will call the insurance adjuster when you have any updates

If you are receiving calls from an insurance adjuster and are having difficulty getting the calls to stop, talk with a North Carolina personal injury attorney about your options.

Should You Sign Medical Authorization Forms From an Insurance Adjuster?

No.

These medical authorization forms are comprehensive and allow the insurance provider to obtain all of your prior medical records (from your visits to the doctor long before you were injured).

Giving the insurance adjuster your old medical records is terrible because they may see previous injuries you sustained and suggest that your new damage was not caused by your recent accident. (Therefore, the adjuster will argue you shouldn’t be compensated for your injuries.)

The insurance adjuster needs to obtain all of your medical records and bills specifically related to your injury, though, so you will have to hand those over.

A Durham personal injury lawyer can help you provide a medical release that limits the insurance access to specific medical providers and only bills and medical records related to your particular injury.

Frequently Asked Questions About Personal Injury Claims in Durham

I’m receiving medical bills, and I don’t know what to do with them. Should I use my own health insurance or wait?

First, use your own health insurance policy to pay your medical bills.

If you are receiving medical bills and are not sure what to do with them, contact your doctor’s office or speak with a North Carolina personal injury attorney about your options. The last thing you need is for your medical bills to end up in collections.

Ultimately, either you or your health insurance company will typically get reimbursed for the payment of your medical bills when your personal injury case is resolved.

Can I handle my case without hiring a North Carolina personal injury attorney?

Sometimes, yes. Many attorney advertisements suggest that you will always get more money if you hire a lawyer, but that’s not always true.

In some cases, you can get more money by handling your own case and avoiding having to give 25% to 40% of your award to an attorney.

An example of a case you can do just fine handling yourself is one where you had very minor injuries, very limited medical treatment, were fully recovered upon your release, and there is no dispute regarding who is at fault.

Paying an attorney to negotiate on your behalf really isn’t going to increase the amount of money you are able to recover, as the total value of your claim typically isn’t very high and is not the subject of a significant dispute.

The more severe or complex your injury, or the more uncertainty around who is liable for your injury, the more value you will get out of hiring an attorney.

If you are wondering whether you need an attorney for your case, we’d be happy to guide you through the process. Just contact us for a free consultation, and we’ll give you our thoughts on your case.

How long will it take until my personal injury case is finished?

Most cases take time to resolve. So unfortunately, you’re going to have to have some patience.

In terms of a time frame, we typically split the phases of your personal injury case into three categories:

1. The medical treatment phase
2. The negotiating phase
3. The trial phase

Once you have finished your medical treatment, we’ll prepare a demand to send to the person liable for your injuries (or their insurance company). Following our demand, we’ll negotiate to see if we can reach a settlement on your case.

This negotiating phase can be very quick (if our demand is met or if it becomes apparent that our demand will never be met), or it can take several months.

If we reach an impasse negotiating and can’t reach a settlement, then we will move to the trial phase.

This phase can take about two years from the filing of your lawsuit to the end of your trial, and this time frame can vary depending on your case and the court docket.

Meet Our Durham Personal Injury Attorneys