Columbia Personal Injury Attorneys

Columbia successfully merges the old and the new to form the heart of South Carolina. An eclectic mix of trendy shops, late-night music, river sports, and culture brings students, locals, and visitors together. With so many people enjoying the excitement, accidental injuries happen when you least expect them. People slip and fall due to property maintenance issues.

Negligent drivers cause crashes on local streets. Our Columbia personal injury lawyers want to help if a negligent person injures you. Our law firm can determine if the responsible parties owe compensation for your injuries.

We don't offer empty promises when you establish a working relationship with our personal injury attorneys. We take the necessary steps to protect your legal rights while you focus on getting better.

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Why Choose Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers

At Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers, we give each client the aggressive, dedicated, accessible legal services they deserve. As an injured victim, we understand that you need an advocate to speak on your behalf. When you become our client, we manage the legal issues and deal with the complications while you recover from your injuries. Our lawyers and staff collaborate on every case to give each client the legal assistance they need.

We Conduct an Independent Investigation

We begin by preparing each new case in anticipation of its future outcome. When we investigate your accident as soon as possible after it occurs, we gain valuable insight into the circumstance that caused your injuries. Our personal injury attorney listens to you, documents the details, and initiates an independent investigation. We are not only legal professionals, but members of our communities. We understand the accidents and injuries that occur in Columbia and where they happen. We also boast an in-depth knowledge of local law, insurance companies, and the legal landscape that affects our clients' cases.

Early action allows us to access and preserve critical evidence that disappears over time. We conduct a site investigation, interview witnesses, and request official reports. We work as a team, evaluating the liability issues and identifying all the responsible parties. When the evidence shows that more than one party contributed to our client's injuries, we place all entities on notice of our client's pending claims.

We Give Our Clients Personalized Attention

Our attorneys understand that open, honest communication is critical to maintaining mutual trust. That's why our personal injury attorney establishes contact as soon as possible after we begin handling a case. We keep our clients apprised of their case status, and we always have time to speak when they call.

As we manage our client's cases, we learn as much as possible about their treatment and recovery. We document recovery struggles and spend time with our clients to see first-hand how their injuries affect their lives. Our personal attention allows us to properly evaluate your injuries and provide the strongest case possible on your behalf.

At Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers, we are dedicated to providing personalized legal services to every client. We remain committed to your case, from the initial review through to its resolution. Your experienced personal injury lawyer can provide critical guidance and assistance with medical liens, subrogation matters, and other post-settlement issues.

Our Law Firm's Results

Our personal injury attorney achieves results because all of our attorneys work together on every case. We collaborate and brainstorm throughout the investigation, evaluation, and negotiation stages. We interact with insurance companies, self-insured entities, and their legal representatives when appropriate. We resolve each case using a strategy that produces the best results for our injured clients.

Our deep commitment to resolving our clients' cases has allowed us to win when other law firms could not.

Our attorneys have successfully negotiated settlements during informal sessions. We have presented our cases at mediation, arbitration, and other Alternative Dispute Resolution frameworks. When necessary, we have filed personal injury lawsuits on our client's behalf. Our lawyers worked together to present our clients' evidence in court, and we let a judge and jury decide the outcome.

As each injured victim comes to us with unique circumstances and trauma, we can't promise a specific result.

We are committed to putting in the effort necessary to produce successful outcomes.

• Pedestrian accident: Our law firm resolved the injured victim’s case for $2 million.
• Wrongful death: We recovered $725,000 in compensation for the surviving loved ones.
• Rear-end collision: We recovered $600,000 for the injured victim.

We also invite you to view our testimonials page to see what our clients say.

We're Available Whenever You're Ready

If someone injured you, contact Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers, as soon as possible. We have convenient offices serving clients in Richland, Horry, and Aiken Counties, and throughout the state. You may contact us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for your free consultation.

How Our Columbia Personal Injury Lawyers Help You Seek Compensation

You sustain a personal injury when a person or entity causes an incident that harms you. The circumstances that cause personal injuries vary widely. Incidents occur on private property, in the workplace, in entertainment venues, and in many other locations. The types of injuries vary as well, from minor to catastrophic. Potential compensation for your injury depends on several factors.

We prove liability against the responsible parties

When someone negligently or intentionally injures you, a timely investigation helps us assess the legal issues and determine the responsible parties.

Many personal injury cases involve negligence, so we use a traditional negligence formula to determine if someone owes you compensation.

• Who was responsible for keeping you safe: another driver, a property owner, or a manufacturer?
• Did their actions fail to meet that duty? Did they run a red light, fail to correct a maintenance issue, or manufacture a defective product?
• Did their failure cause or contribute to your accident: you fell, a vehicle hit you, or a product injured you?
• Are your injuries related to the person’s failure to keep you safe?

Dog attacks follow a different liability standard

Under South Carolina’s Animals, Livestock, and Poultry statutes, 47-3-110, a dog owner is liable for their dog’s attack under most circumstances. Unlike dog liability cases in other states, our attorneys don’t have to prove that the dog has a history of similar attacks.

However, we must produce evidence on behalf of an injured victim to show:

• The dog attacked them in a public place.
• The victim was lawfully on the dog owner's property: a mail person or government representative.
• The victim was an express or implied invited guest or had permission to enter the property.

The statute treats a person with a dog in their care or keeping as a dog owner. The owner has no liability if a bite victim provokes an attack, the dog is involved in a law enforcement operation, or under other statutorily-sanctioned circumstances.

We Determine What Compensation is Recoverable

When negotiating a personal injury case, we seek financial compensation for our injured clients. In most situations, we can recover economic and non-economic damages. Under rare circumstances, we may also recover punitive damages. 

Economic Damages

This damage includes out-of-pocket expenses incurred during treatment, recovery, and rehabilitation. When treatment is ongoing, an economist helps us calculate the value of future costs.

Economic damages often include:

• Lost income
• Medical bills
• Medications
• Hospital expenses
• Mobility structures and devices
• Prosthetics
• Physical and psychological therapy
• Medical transportation
• Replacement services
• Funeral and burial expenses

General Damages

General damages consider the value of emotional, psychological, and other issues that are personal to the individual's experience. Your attorney negotiates this portion of a personal injury claim based on the client's input.

They often include:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Psychological trauma
• Changes in marital and family relationships
• Functional losses
• Scarring and disfigurement
• Temporary and permanent disabilities

Punitive Damages

A South Carolina jury may award punitive or exemplary damages if we produce clear and convincing evidence of a defendant’s reckless, willful, wanton, or malicious conduct.

We Assess the Injury Value

Accidents occur under an infinite number of circumstances. They cause personal injuries ranging from minor to catastrophic.

We carefully assess all relevant information when we evaluate our client's injuries.

• Emergency room records
• Doctor and hospital notes
• Treatment and prognosis projections
• Rehabilitation and physical therapy reports
• Psychological evaluations
• Income loss documentation
• Physician’s narrative report of the treatment, healing, and recovery process.
• Injury research: recent court judgments, past case experience, etc.

Our law firm uses medical documentation and other resources to prove and support a claim's value. Maintaining communication with our injured clients teaches us how pain, suffering, disabilities, and emotional trauma affect their daily lives.

Statute of Limitations: We Protect An Injured Victim’s Right to Make a Claim

When someone injures you, South Carolina's Statute of Limitations, 15-3-530, gives you up to three years to finalize a claim. If you don't settle your claim or file a lawsuit by the three-year deadline, you lose your right to make a claim.

Three years seems like plenty of time to resolve your legal issues. When seriously injured, you easily fill those three years with doctor visits, physical therapy, mind-relaxing medication, and rest. Time seems to pass quickly while you're doing what you need to do to heal.

Your statute of limitations is a critical milestone, so we track the date. If appropriate, we file a lawsuit to give you more time to make the required settlement decisions.

Personal Injuries in Columbia, SC

When someone injures you, South Carolina's Statute of Limitations, 15-3-530, gives you up to three years to finalize a claim. If you don't settle your claim or file a lawsuit by the three-year deadline, you lose your right to make a claim.

Three years seems like plenty of time to resolve your legal issues. When seriously injured, you easily fill those three years with doctor visits, physical therapy, mind-relaxing medication, and rest. Time seems to pass quickly while you're doing what you need to do to heal.

Your statute of limitations is a critical milestone, so we track the date. If appropriate, we file a lawsuit to give you more time to make the required settlement decisions.

Accidental injuries occur in Columbia and throughout the state.

According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control:

• Traumatic brain injuries caused 1,492 deaths, 4,462 hospitalizations, and 8,884 visits to emergency departments throughout the state.
• Unintentional falls caused 21 percent of TBI fatalities and 44 percent of non-fatal TBIs.
• People 75 years and older have the highest TBI death rates.
• Motor vehicle accidents caused 26 percent of TBI fatalities in the state and 25 percent of non-fatal TBIs.
• Statistics from the annual SCDHEC morbidity and reportable conditions report lists dog bites, 9.434; Cat bites, 2,967; and Horse bites, 28

Columbia traffic is often dangerous as well.

The most recent annual South Carolina Traffic Collision Fact Book documents:

• Annual vehicle accidents: 4,077
• Serious injuries: 51
• Other injuries: 1,727
• Fatalities: 11

South Carolina traffic data lists the locations in Richland County where fatalities and injuries occur most frequently.

• U.S. 1: Five collision fatalities, 16 serious injuries, 337 other injuries
• U.S. 76: Four collision fatalities, 17 serious injuries, 363 other injuries
• I-20: Five collision fatalities, ten serious injuries, 202 other injuries
• U.S. 176: Three collisions fatalities, seven serious injuries, 238 other injuries

Types of Cases Our Law Firm Handles

At Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers, we believe no case is too big or too small for our law firm to handle. We provide the aggressive legal representation every injured person deserves. Our legal team handles personal injury claims for any event where another party causes avoidable harm.

Car accidents

South Carolina's most recent annual Traffic Collision Fact Book shows that Richland County law enforcement officials investigated 10,617 accidents. Of the 4,077 crashes the Columbia Police Department investigated, 1,778 people sustained injuries. Eleven people died from car accident injuries.

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety lists these most frequent contributing factors for Richland County accidents.

• Driving too fast for the conditions
• Failed to yield the right of way
• Improper lane usage/change
• Followed too closely
• Disregarded signs and signals

Drunk Driving Accidents

In South Carolina, 30 percent of all fatal accidents involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater. Twenty-one of these accidents occurred in Richland County. The state lists 503 non-fatal accidents involving drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Based on the state's motor vehicle statutes, 56-5-2930, a driver is guilty of a DUI crime when alcohol or drugs materially and appreciably impair their driving. A BAC at or over 0.08 percent infers that a person is driving under the influence of alcohol.

Product Liability

When a defective or dangerous product causes injuries, we present a claim for compensation for the injured victim. Under the South Carolina Code of Laws, 15-73-10, the manufacturer retains responsibility for product-related injuries in most situations.

Premises Liability

When property owners fail to maintain or repair their property or warn of hidden hazards, you can hold them responsible for the injuries they cause. Our law firm represents injury victims in slip or trip and fall accidents, dog bite injuries, and other premises liability incidents.

Motorcycle Accidents

Motorcycle riders are some of the most vulnerable people on the road. When a four-wheeled vehicle crashes into a biker, their lack of protection often leaves them severely or catastrophically injured. When we handle motorcyclists' injury claims, we do what's necessary to recover compensation for their injuries.

Commercial Motor Vehicle Accidents

Truck, bus, and other commercial vehicle accidents cause more damages and injuries than those involving only private passenger vehicles. The differences in size and weight place smaller car occupants in a dangerous position. A large truck can easily cause extensive damage and serious injuries, especially if the trucker travels at highway speeds.

South Carolina's most recent crash statistics show that commercial vehicles were a factor in 2,493 crashes in the state. Of those accidents, 91 caused fatalities.

Drivers who caused fatal accidents most frequently were involved in these operations:

• Transporting property
• Construction/maintenance
• Logging operations

Medical Malpractice

Our law firm handles medical malpractice cases involving all specialties and practices. South Carolina bases its medical malpractice laws on the longstanding reasonably prudent man standard. A medical professional commits malpractice if they do or do not do what a reasonably prudent healthcare provider would do in the same or similar circumstances.

Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

We represent families whose loved ones have suffered abuse in a nursing home. We understand that elder abuse is often more complicated than most people imagine.

As the Department of Justice Elder Abuse page explains, elders sometimes deal with one or more types of abuse.

• Physical: Physical harm that injures or impairs
• Psychological: Humiliation, threats, or verbal abuse
• Financial exploitation: Unauthorized use of an older adult's funds
• Neglect and abandonment: Malnourishment, dehydration, lack of personal care, overmedication
• Sexual Abuse: Non-consensual sex acts

Workplace Accidents

Our law firm handles workers' compensation cases in Columbia, South Carolina. We also pursue an injured worker's right to recover compensation from negligent third parties. Under Title 42, Workers' Compensation 42-1-550, when someone other than an employer or coworker causes a workplace injury, the employee has a right to recover damages. An injured worker may file a claim against a responsible third party while their workers' compensation claim is pending.

Types of Injuries We Handle

We work aggressively to recover compensation for our injured clients while they focus on healing. While some injured victims recover from minor injuries, others must manage conditions that leave them with permanent impairments.

Our law firm handles all types of cases, so we handle cases for clients with many injuries, including:

• Traumatic brain injury
• Anoxic brain damage
• Multiple fractures
• Spinal cord trauma and paralysis
• Sprains and strains
• Dog bite wounds
• Traumatic amputations
• Back and neck injuries
• Dislocated and herniated discs
• Skull and facial fractures
• Fire and chemical burns
• Internal organ damage
• Wrongful death claims

Dealing With a Liability Insurance Company

When we work with an injured client, we begin by notifying any negligent parties of your legal rights. You may or may not hear from their liability insurance carrier. If a liability insurer doesn't contact you immediately after an accident, it's often due to one of two reasons.

1) The responsible person didn’t turn in a claim

Sometimes a negligent person decides not to turn in a claim at all. They take no further action unless a law firm sends a letter of representation or files a lawsuit. When an insurer receives a significantly delayed claim notice, they still assign it to a claim representative for investigation. They may also contact the injured party's attorney and assign defense counsel to answer any lawsuit.

If the insurer determines their insured 

• caused the accident, they may:
• Deny coverage.
• Pay the claim or defend the lawsuit.

2) The responsible party didn’t have liability insurance

If someone injures you but doesn’t have homeowners insurance, commercial property liability insurance, or vehicle liability insurance, they have no reason to turn in a claim.

You may still have resources available to pay compensation.

• Uninsured motorist coverage on an auto policy pays personal injury damages when an uninsured or hit-and-run driver causes an injury.
• An attorney may obtain a judgment against a negligent party and try to recover the amount from their financial resources. 

A liability Insurer’s Investigation Doesn’t Necessarily Lead to a Fair Settlement

Insurers want your statement to minimize their losses.

• Insurers want your version to confirm a negligence percentage. Based on South Carolina's modified comparative negligence statute, an insurer can reduce your claim payment based on your negligence. They can deny your claim if they decide you have 51 percent or greater responsibility for an incident.

• They need to assess how you will appear if called as a witness on your behalf. When an injured person presents well, a claim representative understands they can influence a jury to award a higher judgment. If they don't come off as a strong witness, a claim representative knows it can improve the insurer's chance of winning if the case goes to trial.
• Insurers want to assess an injured person’s home and their potential need for immediate cash. When a claim investigator asks to visit you at your home, they usually want your statement. They also want to see how you live, so they can determine if you will respond to a low settlement offer.

When an insurer negotiates a settlement

When dealing directly with a claim investigator, remember that they represent their policyholder and the insurance company.

They negotiate to settle within the claim reserve (the maximum amount they anticipate paying for a claim), but they save as much money as possible.

• An insurer won’t always offer what a claim is worth.
• They try to convince injured people to take an offer and run.
• They might not offer money for pain, suffering, and other general damages unless the person specifically asks about them.
• They sometimes make low offers, so the injured victim feels that a lawsuit is the only way to recover a fair settlement. Insurers realize that injured victims often walk away instead of filing a lawsuit.

At Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers, we prepare our clients' cases in anticipation of insurance company claim strategies. Our attorneys have experience dealing with negligent parties, insurance companies, and self-insured entities. We anticipate settlement issues, so our attorneys collaborate to produce favorable outcomes.

What to Do After an Accident in Colombia, SC

Our legal team works to achieve positive outcomes for our injured clients. We take care of the legal issues while our clients rest and heal. To assist us in our recovery efforts, we ask our clients to:

Follow your doctor’s orders

A long-term medical regimen often becomes tedious to follow.

Your doctor’s reports establish your injury’s value, so follow their orders as closely as possible.

• Keep your medical appointments.
• Fill out your prescriptions.
• Discuss recovery concerns with your medical professional.
• Go back to work only if the doctor says you’re ready. 

Keep an injury journal

When you sustain a serious injury, it sometimes takes months or even years before you're ready to settle. As time passes, you forget many of the adverse experiences. That's positive, except those experiences help determine your injury's value.

You don’t have to remember all the painful details, but you should document them in a journal as they occur.

• Pain and discomfort during treatment, recovery, and rehabilitation
• Activities you couldn’t do
• Tasks you couldn’t perform
• Family celebrations you missed
• Difficulties with family relationships
• Emotional issues
• Replacement services
• Impairment difficulties

Your information helps your attorney evaluate your case. It also helps you remember your treatment and recovery details when preparing for a deposition or court testimony.

Don’t talk to liability insurance investigators

When a liability insurer contacts you after an accident, have your personal injury attorney talk to them for you. Liability claim investigators represent the person who injured you. When they ask a question, your answers may have legal ramifications that could jeopardize your case.

Remember that insurance company investigators are probably watching you

Insurance companies do whatever it takes to get information about you and your injuries.

To accomplish this:

• They monitor your actions by sitting outside your home.
• They capture your activities on video
• They talk to your neighbors seeking information.
• They study your activities on social media sites like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
• They do credit checks to confirm your financial status. 

Consult Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers

When someone negligently or intentionally harms you, reach out to an experienced personal injury attorney right away. Our legal team begins investigating your case immediately after you establish a client relationship with our firm. We intervene with insurers, negligent parties, and their attorneys when appropriate. We take care of the legal issues while you rest and recover.

Columbia, South Carolina Personal Injury Attorney

If someone injured you in Columbia, you should never deal with their insurance company alone. When you contact Morris Law Accident Injury Lawyers, our personal injury attorney in Columbia, SC, takes care of the legal issues while you heal.

When discussing your personal injury, call our personal injury law firm in Columbia at (843) 232 0944 for your free case evaluation. You may also message us on our contact page or click our chat window 24/7 to begin a real-time conversation.