This post is from Attorney Edward A. (“Ted”) Bills who can be reached at  719.444.1000  or at   http://www.SpringsAttorney.com.

Anything provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and by no means constitutes an attorney-client relationship between a visitor and Attorney Ted Bills.  Any reader of this blog is urged to consult competent legal counsel regarding specific points of law and not construe any material transmitted via this blog as legal advice.

So What is a Forensic Psychologist?

The field of forensic psychology is the interface between psychology and the law. However, most forensic psychologists provide services which are both clinical and forensic in nature. When a psychologist treats an individual who was emotionally traumatized by an accident, the treatment is clinical in nature, designed to assist the individual in recovering from the trauma. But, when the psychologist is asked to provide a report for the court, regarding the extent of the trauma, and to assess the psychological damages incurred, then the psychologist is providing forensic services.

A forensic psychologist is a psychologist who, by virtue of training or experience (or both), is qualified to assist a court or other fact finder in arriving at a just or correct decision.

Our legal system requires that an individual accused of a crime be competent to stand trial. Further, even if an individual is competent to stand trial, he or she may have been suffering from a psychological disorder at the time the crime was committed. This could prevent an individual from forming intent to commit a crime; this is generally called diminished capacity.

Additionally, even if the individual is competent to stand trial, and was competent when the crime was committed, the presence of a psychological disorder may present a mitigating factor to be considered at sentencing. For all these reasons, psychological evaluations of criminal defendants are appropriate.

Psychological factors that are part of a defendant’s personality style and which predict a potential behavior pattern can be useful in establishing whether or not that individual was capable of committing the offense charged. The psychological assessment of sexual offenders can help determine disposition following sentencing, as well as in determining treatment needs to avoid recidivism.

Forensic psychologists often assist in a wide variety of civil matters as well. Examples would be lawsuits or insurance claims where emotional suffering is a part of the claim, where it is necessary to determine the competency of an aged or ill person to make decisions, cases where there is a question of whether a death was an accident or a “disguised suicide” in an insurance claim case, or in a wide variety of other areas.

To be a forensic psychologist one would first need a doctorate degree in psychology, often (but not necessarily) in clinical or counseling psychology.

Attorney Ted Bills has one mission – to fight for the rights of personal injury victims and those who have been devastated by the misconduct of others – he represents clients which an aggressive approach designed to provide SWIFT justice. Attorney Bills is a member of the American Bar Association, the Colorado Bar Association, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, and the El Paso County (Colorado Springs) Bar Association. He works in tandem with his clients to provide assertive, business-savvy, legal services that solve problems, reduce delays, and minimize costs.

This post is from Attorney Edward A. (“Ted”) Bills who can be reached at  719.444.1000 or at  http://www.SpringsAttorney.com.

Anything provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and by no means constitutes an attorney-client relationship between a visitor and Attorney Bills. Any reader of this blog is urged to consult competent legal counsel regarding specific points of law and not construe any material transmitted via this blog as legal advice.

Statutes of limitation: 

In law there is a provision called the “statute of limitation” and that legal provision can limit the time period in which a person can file a lawsuit.

If you feel you have a claim in Colorado for personal injury, medical malpractice, or wrongful death, contact a Colorado Personal Injury Attorney immediately regardless of whether or not the statute of limitation has passed.

While the URL listed below can provide some reference to statutes that have been operational in the state of Colorado – there is no assurance that this data is either current or complete so, again, you should contact a Colorado Personal Injury Attorney.

Colorado Statutes of Limitation: http://198.187.128.12/colorado/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=fs-main.htm&2.0

Attorney Ted Bills has one mission – to fight for the rights of personal injury victims and those who have been devastated by the misconduct of others – he represents clients with an aggressive approach designed to provide SWIFT justice. Attorney Bills is a member of the American Bar Association, the Colorado Bar Association, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, and the El Paso County Bar Association. He works in tandem with his clients to provide assertive, business-savvy, legal services that solve problems, reduce delays, and minimize costs.

This post is from Attorney Edward A. (“Ted”) Bills who can be reached at 719.444.1000 or at http://www.SpringsAttorney.com.

When you suffer a personal injury, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Legal responsibility, called “liability,” revolves around the fact that most injuries happen because someone was careless or “negligent.” Even if you were partly responsible for your own injury, it is still possible to get some compensation if someone else was also careless and partly responsible for your injury.

Common injuries in personal injury cases include head injuries, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, burn injuries, broken bones, fractures, knee injuries, neck injuries, back injuries, shoulder injuries, muscle and ligament injuries, herniated or bulging disks, reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), paralysis, paraplegia, and quadriplegia. Personal injury law areas of practice generally include motor vehicle accidents, auto accidents, motorcycle crashes, semi-truck collisions, 18-wheeler wrecks, SUV rollover accidents, drunk driving accidents, slip, trip and fall injuries, premises liability claims, construction site accidents, job-related accidents, industrial accidents, dangerous and defective products, as well as dog bites and animal attacks.

When you’re injured, you need all the help you can get, and you need it as soon as possible. Still, it’s important to pick an attorney who will care more about your well-being than in getting a quick, but low, settlement – someone that will understand that it is not just you who has issues, but your spouse, your children, and other family members.

Many personal injury lawyers provide initial consultations free of charge. Through such a process you can interview the lawyer before making a decision. What is important is how comfortable you are with the lawyer you select. Care should be taken, however, to make your selection in a relatively short period of time since the law provides strict limits and specific time period in which suit may be brought. Once engaged, an attorney should be responsive to your needs; answer questions satisfactorily, return telephone calls promptly, have an experienced administrative staff and, most importantly, represent your interests zealously. If at any time you are dissatisfied with your lawyer, you should be able to change attorneys without penalty.

While most personal injury claims are settled out of court, knowing that an attorney is both willing and able to try a case in court, if that becomes necessary, should add an additional dimension to your overall sense of security. Then if the case does fail to settle, strong and shrewd litigation skills can almost certainly precipitate a better outcome.

So what does it cost?

Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingent-fee basis, which means that you pay nothing unless the attorney wins the case or secures a settlement acceptable to you. Typical contingent fees range from thirty to forty percent of the amount of damages recovered. While it may be tempting to choose a lawyer based solely on who will take the lowest percentage, fees alone should not be the determining factor since it is often the most experienced lawyer that will ask for, deserve and earn, the higher fees.

All legal cases have associated costs and such costs need to be paid. In personal injury cases, costs are generally paid first from the settlement funds, but it there is no settlement, costs are paid by the client. Costs include such items as filing fees, expert testimony fees, deposition fees, arbitration fees, legal research fees, postage, administrative and other related costs.

This blog is provided by http://www.SpringsAttorney.com the moderator is Attorney Edward A. (“Ted”) Bills, a personal/bodily injury attorney with offices in Colorado Springs, CO 80906. If you would like to talk with Attorney Bills, please call 719.444.1000.  

Accidents happen when you least expect them.  That is why they are called accidents. 

But when an accident leads to an injury, particularly to an injury that is devastating and debilitating then there may be a legal cause of action under the general topic of ‘Slip and Fall Injuries.’

If you have been injured in a slip and fall or some other type of accident and if you have a permanent injury as a result, then the question becomes: ”Was the accident due to the fault or negligence of someone other than you?”

If you can answer this question with a resounding “Yes,” then you need to be talking with a law firm to see if they can help you get compensation for your losses. 

The Law Firm of Edward (“Ted”) Bills handles many types of personal injury cases.

Since the initial consultation – or getting to know each other session – is FREE, you should always call just to be certain that your rights are protected.

Edward Bills, “The Lawyer Who Cares”