The Biggest Mistakes You Can Make In A Personal Injury Case
When you sustain a serious injury, it isn’t pleasant to say the least! There’s a lot of physical pain. Both immediately and in the long term. And this is coupled with the stress and frustration of having such a big hindrance on your day to day life. What makes it even worse, however, is knowing that it was someone else’s fault. Then you get tied into the lengthy legal process that it takes to get compensated. Personal injury claims can be extremely long and complex processes, with many different factors affecting it. If you’re planning to mount one, here are some of the biggest mistakes claimants make.
Failing to Seek Proper Medical Attention
There’s only one way to go about mounting a successful personal injury claim, and it should always start with you seeking the medical attention that you need. Don’t put it off for anything, even if the injury is fairly minor and you know that you’ve recovered from worse in the past. When you first incur the injury, any legal action should be the least of your worries. Get yourself to a hospital or lesser medical institution, and get all the professional attention you need. Remember, the court may hold you partially responsible for the severity of your injuries if it finds that you didn’t seek proper care. This is more of an obstacle than ever with so many people believing that we live in a “suing culture”.
Failing to Choose the Right Legal Counsel
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Having been to a physician and received all the necessary care for your injury, you need to get the right legal counsel to help with your personal injury case. This means finding a lawyer from an established, reputable law firm, who has proven experience dealing with claims like yours. Law firms like SiebenCarey, for example, provide a lot of information on their site about the kinds of cases they handle, as well as the individual attorneys they hire and their practice backgrounds. A lawyer who’s had one or two injury cases, but mainly works with traffic violations, may be able to get you the compensation you’re going for, but they certainly won’t be the prime choice. The worst thing you can do is wave away all legal aid, and try to mount the case yourself. It might seem like there’s only one side to the case, true. However, it’s a sad fact that a lot of these cases come down to who has the best legal representation, rather than who’s actually right. Get some expert advice from a lawyer who’s negotiated similar settlements, and won’t leave you short.
Not Keeping Track of Expenses
Being injured, particularly in the Land of the Free, certainly isn’t cheap! When you’re injured in an accident, you’re likely to have a number of expenses which you’ll need to make up for. From forfeited wages to damaged property to medical bills, you need to make sure you’re keeping a record of all the different expenses that have been incurred due to your accident or injury. These records need to be official, and in the form of receipts, invoices and so on. It can also help to keep your own written records of any kind of expenses which you’ll suspect will spring up further down the line, or simply ones that haven’t been officially recorded. They may not hold as much sway over how things play out in court, but it’s still a good idea to keep your own records nonetheless. Personal injury cases, like anything that makes it into court, are decided on evidence. You need to be collecting as much as possible if you want your claim to be a success.
Going in With No Understanding of Legal Procedure
Yes, when you have a lawyer in your camp, they’ll be dealing with the bulk of the legal procedure on your behalf. However, it still helps to go out of your way and learn a little about the legal procedure ahead of you. This will allow you to cooperate more effectively with the lawyer at every turn of your case, and will help you to avoid any major blunders which could hurt your legal position. It’s surprisingly common for personal injury claimants to blurt out one little detail in front of the wrong people, and drive their whole case into the ground. When you have a better understanding of the road ahead, you’ll be able to keep important information in mind, understand the facts that are going to have the most influence on your case, and generally increase your chances of success.