Below is a list of actions you either should or shouldn’t take following an accident and during any potential legal proceedings involving New York accident lawyers afterward. If you fail to heed these guidelines you will ultimately hurt your New York injury attorney’s chances at obtaining a favorable outcome for you and your family.
1. Lawyering Up Before Anyone Can Doctor You Up. How serious could an injury be if your first concern is a lawsuit rather than medical attention? A defense attorney worth his salt is going to jump on this if he discovers that you hired a Long Island personal injury attorney before going to a doctor.
2. Visiting a Doctor Who is Not an M.D. Chiropractors, acupuncturists, and physical therapists all have their place in the healing hierarchy, and can be of great help to you when your body needs healing. However, the gold standard of medical treatment is from a medical doctor. Ultimately, it is a lawyer’s job to present your case in court in order to persuade six jurors that your injuries are real. Testimony from a medical doctor is going to be more persuasive than an acupuncturist.
3. Not Taking Photographs of the Accident Scene. If you’re physically able, take as many pictures as you can of the scene. With every cell phone having a camera on it these days, it’s relatively easy for you or someone with you to get photos of the accident. If you sustained injuries, take pictures of them as soon as you can and while they heal. The more pictures the better. Your automobile accident attorney will never tell you he has too many. The only lawyer you’ll hear complaining is the one on the other side whose client has to pay out more because you gave your attorney plenty of ammunition. Jurors want to see the accident from start to finish. Seeing is believing, after all.
4. Record Statements at the Scene of the Accident. If you or the other party is injured, call an ambulance. If you’re uninjured, try to speak to the others involved. Don’t commit to anything in your statements to the other driver, but if they are apologetic or appear to be drunk, record everything they say. If your cell phone has a video camera feature, record the conditions of your respective vehicles. Look to see if the other driver was distracted in any way (Drinks, cosmetics, food). Ask for the cell phone number of the phone they have with them at the scene of the accident. Note the precise time of the accident. Let someone else gather all this vital information if you’ve been hurt. When the ambulance arrives, go with them and follow your doctor’s orders. Once you’ve been treated you can then consider contacting a car wreck lawyer, but not before.
5. Never Avoid Follow Up Medical Appointments. Remember that the money you receive at the end of a case is dependant on how badly injured you were. The severity of your injury is measured by a jury in these ways: first, the pain of the injury. Permanent effects of the injury are the second factor, such as scarring and loss of use. The last is going to be the economic impact the injury caused you, such as damage to property and vehicle, loss of job or wages, etc. The economic damages are simple to figure out. Without comprehensive medical files to back up your claims, it will be impossible to determine the extent of the first two factors. If you are claiming severe injury but you don’t bother with follow up appointments with your doctor, the credibility of your claim diminishes.
6. Mum’s The Word. Remember that discretion is the better part of valor. Don’t give statements to insurance adjusters or anyone else seeking information on your injury or legal proceedings. They want to undermine your case and get you to settle for a small amount of money. Everything you say to them is being recorded. Just remember that less is more in this case.
7. Best to Not Be Injured at All than to Fake an Injury. This has to be the absolute worst thing you can do. In the eyes of a jury, if you claim a specific injury, it had better be proven. If not, the defense attorney will hang it around your neck for the entire trial. All of your injuries from then on will be brought into question, even the ones with substantial proof to back them up. This makes the job of your motor vehicle accident lawyer that much harder.
The law offices of Charles R. Gueli supply some of the greatest New York accident lawyers available. Visit their webpage and get a Long Island personal injury attorney to assist you today. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
