The stress of suffering a personal injury can affect all areas of your life. As a result, you need compensation not just for your medical bills but for everything you lost as a result. But how can you be sure that your claim is everything you’re entitled to?
Demonstrating how severely you’ve suffered can be a difficult task, especially if you’re still suffering. It doesn’t help that someone will be arguing against you, and attempting to trivialize your pain. If you aren’t careful, a judge may reduce your claim or dismiss it entirely.
Too many personal injury lawsuits fall short of providing adequate compensation to the plaintiff. Today, we will explain significant ways you can support and maximize your claim.
1. Document As Much Evidence As Possible
Before filing a personal injury lawsuit, you need to collect evidence to support your claim. It’s not uncommon for personal injury suits to result in smaller awards because the claimant didn’t present a strong enough case. You can reduce the chances of this happening to you by documenting the accident and injury as soon as you can.
Report the accident as soon as you can to start collecting evidence. Take as many different photographs of the accident and resulting damage as you can. No matter how minimal you think an injury may be, get treated by medical professionals ASAP. Retain all medical diagnoses, written statements from your doctors, treatment dates, and anything relevant that alters your normal course of day-to-day life.
Of course, you may not be thinking clearly at the time the accident occurs. It’s also natural for some to minimize the harm they’ve suffered because they don’t want to come across as aggressive or feel frightened acknowledging how extensive their injuries are. But if you are going to maximize your personal injury lawsuit, you need to remember to treat your accident as seriously as you can and document everything.
2. Keep Track of Your Damages
When you make a personal injury claim, you can’t just pull a number out of thin air. Instead, you and your personal injury attorney will need to argue why the amount you’re fighting for is justified. To do this, you should keep records of everything the injury has cost you.
You can claim medical costs, lost wages from work, and non-economic damages as part of your lawsuit. You can prove the first with copies of your bills and the former with past pay stubs. Unfortunately, the last type isn’t quite as easy.
Most non-economic damages fall under the umbrella of emotional damages or pain and suffering. To best support claims of emotional damages, you need to demonstrate that you’ve sought professional help in treating it, such as therapy. These bills don’t reflect a demonstrable physical injury, but they’re still important.
3. Be Prepared to Negotiate
Interacting with the insurance company can be more challenging than going to trial. They work quickly to make offers in the hopes that their clients won’t have to set foot in a courtroom. But, of course, they’ll rarely match what you’re seeking.
Don’t negotiate on your own. An experienced personal injury attorney will work as your advocate whenever you need to interact with the insurance company. They can use their experience to prevent you from being taken advantage of.
When it comes to negotiations, don’t rush to accept the first offer they give you. Your attorney will show them the evidence that justifies your claims. If, after all that, they still refuse, you can file your lawsuit and take it to trial.
4. Draw Attention to Factors That May Have Led to the Accident
Whether you’re talking to insurance adjusters or making claims in court, you need to use all the evidence you have at your disposal. We’ve already outlined how to document the accident and support your claims. However, you can also suggest that the defendant engaged in behavior that made the accident occur.
Did the investigation uncover anything that could have impaired their driving in the case of a car accident? Did any witnesses see them driving recklessly or not following basic road safety? You can use any of these to show negligence and strengthen your case.
Note that you don’t need to prove that these things resulted in the accident, just that they were present. So, for example, you only need to illustrate that the defendant was in a distracted driving environment, even if you can’t definitively prove that they were distracted while driving. Your goal is to show that any reasonable person would believe the defendant created the situation that led to the accident.
Let Hann Law Firm Handle Your Personal Injury Case
Navigating the legal system is a challenge for anyone, especially when it involves personal injury claims. However, if you try to go it alone, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage from the start. Without experienced representation, you risk losing the compensation you deserve.
At Hann Law Firm, we take a personal approach from the start. Listening to our clients is at the heart of our success in the courtroom. When you work with us, we’ll address your specific challenges, prepare diligently for the best possible outcome, and create a personalized approach to help achieve your goals.
While other firms see a case number and a bottom line, we see each client as a human being who deserves to be heard. We know your case is important to you, and we’ll take it just as personally. You and your case matters to us.
Contact us for your free consultation and get quality, compassionate legal help today.
