What Is the First Step Someone Should Take After an Injury?
Obviously, the first step someone should take is seeking competent medical advice. That means going to the emergency room, going to the hospital, a follow-up with their family physician, and making sure they get all the diagnostic tests done quickly and expeditiously, so that it becomes harder for the defendant and their representation to say that the injuries weren’t related to the accident. The first step is to get competent medical treatment or a medical diagnosis.
How Will I Get Compensated If I’m Unable To Work After Sustaining An Injury?
If somebody caused this, you have to sue them and those future damages related to your inability to walk or inability to work have to be raised as part of the claim and it’s one thing to say that you can’t work or you can’t walk and you’ll never be able to do that again but it’s another thing to be able to put a monetary value on it and the way you do that is to get a disability rating from a competent physician that can say his disability rating related to his inability to walk is a certain percentage.
From there, you use the vocational expert who talks about that disability rating, you use that guy in combination with an economist. That economist can put a monetary value on the lost wages related to that specific disability. That’s the way you do it. It’s one thing to say it but another thing to prove it and the only way you can prove that is through the use of good experts that can testify as to the disability rating in a percentage form and economic experts that can put those ratings into actual wage losses or medical expenses required.
Can You Predict How A Case Will Play Out by Reviewing the Facts in an Initial Consultation?
Yes, in general, it tells you a lot. We’re very good at sorting through how the case is going to play out based on what the victim tells us initially. You get a pretty good handle on how it’s going to go and it’s just an experience thing, you could tell, so that initial interview is critical.
If An Injury is Seemingly the Other Party’s Fault, Am I Guaranteed to Win My Case?
There’s never a guarantee that you’re going to win. There are various statutes and various issues that change whether you win or lose. There’s assumption of risk doctrine, there’s contributory negligence doctrine, and there’s comparative negligence doctrine; all of those issues come into play and sometimes you can’t know all that in the beginning but there’s never really a guarantee.
How Much Weight Do Photographs Actually Have In a Personal Injury Case?
Photographs have a tremendous amount of weight in a case if they show what you need to prove. If there is significant car damage, then those photographs are extremely important because if a car looks like that, that’s one thing but what does the person look like that was in the car? What happened to him?
It’s easy to draw an analogy to the damage that the car sustained with the damage that the person has suffered. They are tremendously helpful if they show significant damage and also liability. If it shows a very clear instance of liability like a defective product or it shows how something broke. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is absolutely 100% true.
What Should I Do If I’m Contacted By Insurance and Asked to Make a Statement?
Just tell them you’re represented by an attorney. If you aren’t, go out and get one. It’s very difficult seeing these clients go through lost wages and not having a job if they are injured. The worst part of it is that the insurance companies, they know this, they know that these clients are going through this, they know they are not working and they will intentionally drag their feet to string it along to get a reduced settlement. They will do that intentionally. You’ve got to know when they are feet dragging.
If you’ve got a good case, you’ve got to call them out on it but they know that these people are struggling and they know that there will be a point in time when they will take just about anything that’s thrown at them because they are in such a bad shape and they will lose their rights of the claim, future damages and future wage losses and future medical treatment. They will lose those rights and insurance companies know that.
Does Social Media Ever Help in a Personal Injury Case?
People need to be mindful of social media. Social media can absolutely sink your case.
What Are the Actual Chances of Winning A Personal Injury Case?
If it’s not a good case, we will turn it away. If you have a good personal injury attorney, your chances of winning the case are very high because if it’s not a good case, we will tell you and we’re going to reject it. It’s easy to know whether you have a good case or not.
For more information on First Step After An Injury, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking talk Arnold F. Phillips by calling today.