Tips for Maximizing Your Personal Injury Settlement or Award
Hire an Experienced Personal Injury Attorney – We cannot stress the importance of choosing a skilled attorney to handle your personal injury case! The value of your case, negotiation, and trial all rely on available evidence. Gathering that evidence requires that attorney to work with different parties to gather evidence, such as medical records, police reports, photographs, video recordings, and insurance communications. It can take agencies a long time to respond to these requests
Preserve Evidence for Trial – In a personal injury case, the plaintiff has the burden of proof. This means that the plaintiff is responsible for presenting sufficient evidence to prove their claim at trial. In order to do this, it is incredibly important to begin preserving evidence as soon as possible following an accident. Failure to do so may result in physical evidence being lost or misplaced, memory of the parties involved and witnesses may fade away over time, etc. Take pictures, take detailed notes, obtain the necessary contact information, obtain relevant documents, records, videos, etc.
Obtain the Needed Medical Treatment – Be sure to obtain the proper medical treatment for your injuries following an accident. The treatment received by the victim is often a huge factor used to determine what the value of a personal injury claim may be. A doctor’s recommendations, treatments, etc. can all be used to support your case as evidence of the injuries alleged in a claim. So, it is important to follow your doctor’s orders regarding treatment and care of your injuries.
Be Honest About Any Prior Accidents and/or Injuries and About the Extent of Injuries – Prior accidents and/or injuries may prove to be potential problems in your case if you are not honest about them upfront. This is relevant because sometimes, preexisting conditions can be aggravated or worsened by an accident/new injury, or you may have healed from the prior accident or injury and the new incident may have upset things further. While these preexisting conditions or the extent of new injuries themselves cannot be completely held against you, it is important to address them to maintain your credibility.
Social Media – Check out our blog related to how your social media posts can affect your case, here: https://kendricklawgroup.com/can-my-facebook-affect-my-case/.
If you are hurt in an accident, please contact attorney Don Morrell at the Kendrick Law Group 407-641-5847