How to Win a Personal Injury Case

A personal injury case is a claim for injured compensation based on someone else's negligence. If you attempt to navigate Florida law and negotiate with insurance companies without an experienced attorney you could miss out on valuable compensation for your injuries.

Like all civil claims, injury claims start with a complaint. The document identifies the parties in the case, explains the harmful incident, and details the compensation you're requesting.

Medical Treatment

You should receive regular medical examinations as part of your injury claim. This is essential to determine the severity of your injuries as well as the extent of them in order to receive a fair settlement for your claim. There are a myriad of occurrences that can prevent you from making and keeping your doctor's appointments. This includes unrelated illness or work commitments, transportation issues, and a host of other things that could affect your schedule for appointments with your doctor.

Generally, any significant diagnosed injury or illness must be documented at the time of diagnosis regardless of whether medical treatment is suggested or postponed. Cancer, chronic irreversible illnesses and fractured or cracked bones as well as punctured eardrums are considered to be significant diagnoses for record-keeping purposes.

Certain procedures are not considered medical treatment. These include hospitalizations for observation, X-rays, and examinations. HIV and HBV tests for antibodies related to exposures to occupational hazards, as well as counseling for psychological stress are not included. However, wound treatment, multiple soakings, whirlpool treatment and antibiotic therapy are considered medical treatments.

However, gaps in medical treatment should be avoided as far as possible. Insurance companies may use the lack of consistency in treatment to claim that you're not really injured or haven't been as badly affected as you claim. This is why it's important to keep track of each visit, symptom and medical bill for your injury.

Documentation

Documentation is a crucial element of any injury lawsuit. If you're involved in a car accident or truck accident, or other kind of incident that leads to injuries, the more documentation that you provide the easier it will be for your attorney to show the negligence of your side and prove that you suffered damages as a result the incident.

Medical records are crucial for proving the extent of your injury. These records include medical invoices medical receipts, injured receipts for prescriptions and other treatments, such as the use of physiotherapy, imaging studies like MRIs or CT scanners.

A written incident report prepared by law enforcement on the scene of the crash is important documentation. You should also take photos of your injuries as well as the scene of the accident from various angles and distances in order to capture as many details as possible.

Last but not least, you should document any lost wages with a letter on company letterhead from your employer indicating the number of days or hours that you have missed due to your injuries. In addition, your attorney can consult with an economist or a life care planner to help you estimate the future losses that might be attributable to your injury and to demonstrate the need for compensation to cover these costs. Expert testimony can be very effective in a personal injury case. The more evidence you are able to gather, the more likely your attorney will be to successfully negotiate on your behalf a fair and comprehensive settlement with the insurance company of the at-fault person.

Witnesses

Witnesses are a crucial part of any injury case. They can either make or break your case. They can provide more evidence of the accident, and their testimony can show how the accident impacted your life. The more witnesses your lawyer has, the stronger your case will be.

The first type is known as an expert. An expert witness is a person whose education, experience, training and reputation in a particular area make them uniquely qualified to offer an opinion in the course of a trial. For example an expert witness could be a doctor who can testify about the extent of your injuries as well as the treatment you'll require in the near future.

A surgeon or someone else who can explain your injury could also be an expert witness. For example, if you have a leg injury an orthopedic surgeon could explain to the jury how the injury occurred. Experts can also be used to explain why a defect in a vehicle can be risky or to help jurors to understand medical questions.

An experienced personal injury attorney is aware of the experts to call in an instance. They can also find witnesses with the right credentials. A skilled lawyer can persuade many witnesses to give an official statement. Your lawyer may also threaten to start a lawsuit and issue a subpoena which is often enough to convince witnesses to take part in an injury claim.

Social Media

It can be tempting for a person recovering from a serious accident to post on social media about how content they are. However, this could cause harm to your personal injury claim. A recent article in Slate did a great job of giving real-world examples of the way the social media habits of a victim can affect their court cases. For instance, if you're claiming serious pain and suffering from your injuries and post a photo of yourself smiling and laughing on Facebook or Instagram the lawyer representing the defendant will make use of that evidence to prove that your claims of extreme suffering are exaggerated.

In a personal accident claim, a large portion of the compensation you receive is for non-economic injuries like suffering and pain. The insurance company of the party at fault will make use of any evidence that they can to decrease your claim's monetary value. This includes your social media accounts, profiles photographs, as well as private messages.

The best way to avoid this from happening is to restrict your use of social media and encourage your friends and family to do the same. If you intend to use social media platforms be sure to set your privacy settings to ensure that only those who are connected to you are able to view your content. Your lawyer might advise you not to use social media while you're in court.