Charleston Personal Injury Lawyer

Personal injury law allows people who are harmed by someone else’s negligence to seek financial compensation for their losses. “Negligence” means a failure to act with reasonable care. It covers a wide range of situations: car and truck accidents, slip and fall injuries, medical mistakes, defective products, dog bites, and more. The common thread is that someone had a duty to act carefully, failed to meet that duty, and caused you harm as a result.

For most personal injury cases, three years from the date of injury under SC Code §15-3-530. Medical malpractice claims are governed by SC Code §15-3-545 and follow a discovery-based clock: three years from when you knew or should have known about the negligence, with an absolute six-year outer limit. Workers’ compensation has its own deadlines: 90 days to report to your employer and typically two years to file with the SC Workers’ Compensation Commission. If a government entity is involved, the SC Tort Claims Act requires written notice of claim within 180 days. The deadline that applies to your case depends on the specific facts.

You can still recover damages under South Carolina’s modified comparative fault rule (SC Code §15-38-15), as long as your share of responsibility does not exceed 50%. Your recovery is reduced proportionally by your percentage of fault. If you are found 51% or more responsible, you cannot recover. Insurance adjusters work to push victim fault percentages as high as possible for exactly this reason. Do not accept a fault determination without getting an independent evaluation from an attorney.

Nothing upfront. Joe Cunningham Law works on contingency: our fee is a percentage of the recovery, paid at settlement or verdict. If we do not recover for you, you owe nothing. There are no hourly fees and no retainers.

It depends on several factors: the nature and severity of your injuries, how long recovery takes, whether your injuries affect your ability to work, the strength of the liability case, and the insurance coverage available. We do not give estimates until we have reviewed your medical records and the full facts. What we do is identify and document every category of damage, including future costs, not just what you have already paid.

Most cases settle before trial. But settlement is only worth pursuing when the number reflects fair value. We prepare every case as if it will go to trial, because that preparation changes what insurers offer.

Get medical attention first, even if you feel fine immediately after the incident. Adrenaline masks injuries that often surface hours or days later. Document the scene with photographs if you can do so safely. Preserve any evidence: photos, names of witnesses, incident reports, damaged property. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company before speaking with an attorney. And contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to preserve evidence before it disappears and to evaluate your options before anything you say is used against you.

South Carolina requires all drivers to carry uninsured motorist (UM) coverage. If the at-fault driver has no insurance, your own UM policy covers your damages. If they have insurance but not enough to cover your losses, your underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage fills the gap. We review every available insurance policy on both sides to make sure nothing is left unclaimed. In premises or product liability cases, the analysis is different but the strategy is the same: identify every source of coverage.

Cases with clear liability and limited injuries can resolve in a few months. Cases involving serious injuries, disputed liability, significant future damages, or the need for litigation typically take one to three years. We do not push for early settlement to close a file. We push for the fastest resolution that produces full and fair compensation, which means waiting until your medical situation is stable enough to accurately project your long-term needs.

You can still pursue a claim. However, a gap between the injury and treatment gives insurance adjusters an argument that your injuries were not serious or were not caused by the incident. The longer the gap, the harder that argument is to counter. Get evaluated now. It protects your health and it protects your case.

Most people who do recover significantly less than those with representation. Insurance adjusters handle hundreds of claims and are trained to minimize payouts. They will offer a quick settlement that does not account for future medical costs, lost earning capacity, or non-economic damages. Having an attorney changes the dynamic: it signals that the claim will not close at the first lowball number, and it ensures every category of damage is documented and presented.

Joe Cunningham Law handles the full range of personal injury cases: car accidents, truck and commercial vehicle accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and fall and premises liability, wrongful death, workers’ compensation matters, dog bites, defective products, construction accidents, medical malpractice, and rideshare accidents. If your situation does not fit neatly into one of those categories, call anyway. The question of whether you have a viable claim is fact-specific, and a brief conversation costs nothing.