Auto Accident FAQs

At Advocates Law Firm, we have been prosecuting serious injury and wrongful death claims caused by speeding, reckless, and drunk drivers since 1983. Since that time, we have handled thousands of motor vehicle accident claims and recovered millions of dollars for our clients.

Our firm has earned the highest rating possible from other lawyers for both Legal Ability and Professional Ethics. In short, we have the experience and know-how to help you and your family get the compensation you need and deserve for your motor vehicle accident injuries and losses.

Our Connecticut Auto Accident Law Group is lead by Attorney Ron Murphy. Ron has been licensed to practice law in Connecticut since 1983 and Massachusetts since 1985. Ron has also been trained in Auto Accident Reconstruction and is a former certified Emergency Medical Technician. Ron is also an Adjunct Instructor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he currently teaches Trial Advocacy (and where he previously taught Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility). Ron is also: one of the Staff Instructors at the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, where he teaches lawyers around the country how to get the maximum recovery for injured clients; one of the Staff Instructors at the Connecticut Bar Association's Trial Advocacy Institute; a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum (where membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for clients); a designated "SuperLawyer" (an honor limited to no more that 5% of the lawyers in any state) as chosen by his peers through a poll conducted by the national publication "Law and Politics"; a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America; and a member of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. As you can see, Atty. Ron Murphy has the experience and background to successfully handle any serious injury or wrongful death claim arising from an auto, truck, or motorcycle accident.

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury or loss caused by a car accident, motorcycle accident, or truck accident, please contact our Connecticut Auto Accident Law Group to arrange a free and confidential consultation.

At Advocates Law Firm, if we agree to take your motor vehicle accident claim, we charge NO FEES and NO EXPENSES UNLESS and UNTIL we win your claim. Our Auto Accident Law Group will do all the work and advance all the expenses to prosecute your motor vehicle accident claim but we get paid and reimbursed only from the recovery we obtain for you. In other words, we have the confidence and courage to put our time and money at risk for you and to become your partner in the pursuit of justice.

Our fees in an auto accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident claim would be based on following percentages as established by the Connecticut General Statutes Section 52-251c: 33.33% of the first $300,000 recovered for you; 25% of the next $300,000; 20% of the next $300,000; 15% of the next $300,00; and 10% of any amount exceeding $1,200,000. If for some reason there is no gross recovery, there would be no attorney's fee paid and no expenses reimbursed. All of this would be spelled out in a written retainer agreement signed by you and Atty. Ron Murphy on behalf of our Auto Accident Law Group.

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury or loss caused by a car accident, motorcycle accident, or truck accident, please contact our Auto Accident Law Group to arrange a free and confidential consultation.

At Advocates Law Firm, we have three primary goals in pursuing every serious injury or wrongful death claim arising from an auto accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident. First, we want to help you deal with the burdens, pain, anxiety, and inconvenience that result from such an accident so that you can focus on getting your life back together as best you and your family can under the circumstances. Second, we want to get you the maximum amount of justice (in the form of money damages) that we can to compensate you for all the harms, losses, and injuries that you have suffered and may suffer, so that you can deal with the future as best you can under the circumstances. Third, we want to make Connecticut's roads and highways safer by holding speeding, careless, reckless, and drunk drivers accountable for the harm they cause so that they (hopefully) will change the way they drive and not hurt anyone else in the future.

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury or loss caused by a car accident, motorcycle accident, or truck accident, please contact our Auto Accident Law Group to arrange a free and confidential consultation.

The law in Connecticut with regard to damages in motor vehicle accident claims can be summarized as follows: Insofar as money can do it, if you are a victim of a motor vehicle accident or collision (car, truck, or motorcycle) that was caused by someone else's negligence, carelessness, or recklessness, you should receive fair, just and reasonable compensation for all injuries and losses, past and future, which are proximately caused by that accident or collision. Thus, if you have been injured in an auto accident, truck accident, or motorcycle accident, you are entitled to justice in the form of money damages as compensation for ALL your losses, harms, and injuries suffered because of the accident.

Under this rule of Connecticut law, money damages are not considered an "award" for the victim or "punishment" for the driver, but rather they are considered COMPENSATION for all injuries and losses you suffered as a result of the accident or collision. The goal of this Connecticut law is to put you in the same position, as far as money can do it, that you would have been had the defendant not been negligent, careless, or reckless.

In Connecticut, these harms, injuries and losses are broken down into two distinct categories, as established by Connecticut General Statutes § 52-527h (a): Economic Damages and Non-economic Damages.

Americans measure justice in motor vehicle injury claims in terms of money damages because that is all we can give to someone who has suffered serous injury or death. But there's a problem. Insurance companies do not believe in liberty and justice for all. Insurance companies believe only in corporate profits and routinely try to deny people full and fair compensation. So what do you do? Get an Advocate to protect your rights. At Advocates Law Firm, the lawyers on our Auto Accident Law Group help people with legitimate claims get justice. That's our business. We have fought insurance companies and helped people with legitimate injuries get the justice and compensation they need and deserve since 1983. We have the experience, skills, and resources to get the job done. And we have the confidence and courage to put our money and time on the line for you - as we charge no fees or expenses unless we win. That makes us partners with you in the pursuit of justice.

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury or loss caused by a car accident, motorcycle accident, or truck accident, please contact our Auto Accident Law Group to arrange a free and confidential consultation.

In Connecticut, harms, injuries, and losses suffered by a victim in a motor vehicle collision are broken down into two distinct categories, as established by Connecticut General Statutes § 52-527h (a): Economic Damages and Non-economic Damages.

In the context of Connecticut Automobile Accident law, the phrase “Economic Damages” means “compensation … for pecuniary losses including, but not limited to, the cost of reasonable and necessary medical care, rehabilitative services, custodial care and loss of earnings or earning capacity ….” Connecticut General Statutes § 52-572h (a). In plain English, this means losses or damages that can be measured in actual dollars. Some examples would include medical bills for past treatment, anticipated medical bills for future treatment, lost wages, estimated future lost wages, lost vacation or sick time, property damage, etc. For additional examples economic losses that fall into this category, see “Examples of Economic Losses and Damages.”

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury or loss caused by a car accident, motorcycle accident, or truck accident, please contact our Auto Accident Law Group to arrange a free and confidential consultation.

In addition to Non-Economic damages, you are also entitled to receive money damages as compensation for ALL Economic Damages, Losses, and Harms that you have suffered—and will suffer in the future—as a result of a car, truck, or motorcycle accident. Here is a partial list of some typical items that are considered Economic Damages arising from a motor vehicle accident claim for which you would be entitled to compensation:

THE COST OF PAST MEDICAL TREATMENT. You are entitled to be reimbursed for the reasonable cost of all past medical treatment that you needed to fix the harm caused by the accident; examples would include the costs for medical providers or services such as:

• ambulance;
• emergency room or emergency department;
• diagnositic testing, such as x-rays, MRI, CT scans;
• laboratory testing;
• prescriptions and medications;
• hospital;
• surgery;
• anesthesia;
• doctors and surgeons;
• psychiatrists and psychologists;
• physical therapy;
• mental health counselors or providers;
• chiropractors;
• visiting nurses;
• rehabilitation specialists;
• vocational specialists;
• professional caretakers;
• medical equipment and beds.

THE COST OF FUTURE MEDICAL TREATMENT. You are entitled to receive compensation for present value of the projected cost of all future medical treatment that you will probably need as a result of the motor vehicle accident. As long as it is more likely than not that you will need the medical treatment in the future, you are entitled to the present value of the anticipated cost of that medical treatment.

THE VALUE OF INCOME OR WAGES LOST IN THE PAST. If you missed time from work and lost income or wages, or had to use vacation, personal, or sick time, you are entitled to receive compensation for the value of the losses.

THE VALUE OF INCOME OR WAGES YOU WILL PROBABLY LOSE IN THE FUTURE. If you will have to miss time from work or your business in the future, you are entitled to the present value of the anticipated value of those projected lost wages or profits that you would have made but for your injuries caused by the auto accident.

THE VALUE OF INCOME OR WAGES THAT YOU COULD HAVE MADE IN THE FUTURE - DIMINISHED EARNING CAPACITY. If you will suffer a decrease in or complete loss of your future earning capacity because of the injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident, you are entitled to recover the value of those losses. Note that the issue is NOT what you were actually earning before the accident, but what your probable earning capacity was for the future. For example, if you were a student studying to be a registered nurse and working part-time as a waitress to get through school but are so severely injured in a motor vehicle accident that you could never work as a registered nurse, you would be entitled to compensation based on what a registered nurse would have made in the future so long that we can establish that you probably would have completed your nursing degree, got your license, got a job, etc. (Note, that any amount of future lost wages or lost profits must be off-set by the taxes you would have paid on those wages or profits.)

THE VALUE OF LOST SERVICES IN THE PAST. If you have incurred expenses to pay someone else for ordinary (but necessary) services, chores, or activities that you used to do but could not do because of injuries you suffered in the motor vehicle accident, you are entitled to reimbursement for those expenses.

THE VALUE OF LOST SERVICES IN THE FUTURE. If you will continue to incur expenses to pay someone else for ordinary (but necessary) services, chores, or activities that you would have done but can no longer do because of injuries you suffered in the motor vehicle accident, you are entitled to reimbursement for those expenses.

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury or loss caused by a car accident, motorcycle accident, or truck accident, please contact our Auto Accident Law Group to arrange a free and confidential consultation.