If you’re injured and you want to file a personal injury claim, no one has your back more than your personal injury attorney. It is, without a doubt, his or her job to get you compensation, which means every bit of information regarding your injury will be helpful in your case. Here are a few things to ensure your lawyer should be informed about during the course of your legal proceedings.
The Circumstances of Your Injury
Whether you were injured in a car accident, a slip and fall event, or on the job, your attorney needs to know where it occurred and why it happened. For example, it isn’t enough to say that your arm was broken in a car accident. Your lawyer should know what kind of break it is, what street it was on, and whether or not the other driver was injured, drunk, or not paying attention. Did you have the right of way when the other driver struck you? Was your injury sustained when a piece of work equipment broke? Whatever the circumstances, every piece of information will be used by your lawyer to help build and strengthen your case.
Any Previous Injuries
If you’ve ever been injured in any previous events, your lawyer needs to know. Likely, if you’re in court against an insurance company, the company’s lawyer will try and pin your current injury on the past trauma to your body, regardless of whether or not it’s true. Using the car accident example, if you broke your arm during the accident, but it’s the same arm you broke during a previous accident, the company’s lawyer might pin liability on whoever caused the previous break. Therefore, the broken arm in your case is not the result of the at-fault driver’s actions. Your attorney needs to be prepared for this kind of legal tactic, so make sure you tell him or her about any previous injuries.
Expenses and Lost Income
Compensation is mostly about recovering the money sunk into an accident caused by someone else’s negligence. This means that the court is awarding you for any money lost to medical bills and any income lost as a result of missing work. Likewise, if you sustained severe spinal injury that caused permanent damage, you might have had to do construction on your home to make it more accessible to you. These bills should also be presented to your attorney. He or she will use it in court to help you earn compensation. It is also helpful to keep track of the exact days you missed work.
Recent Financial Upheavals
If you’ve experienced any significant losses in income, such as bankruptcy or divorce, your attorney needs to know. In bankruptcy, creditors may try to take any settlement you receive from your personal injury case, and any spouse or former spouse might be entitled to a portion of any compensation you receive (particularly if he or she supported you after the injury).
Contact from Anyone in the Case
If anyone involved in the case apart from your lawyer attempts to contact you, the messages need to be saved and given to your attorney. For example, if you were injured in a car accident and the other driver sends you an e-mail or attempts to call you, whatever you say to them could be used against you in court and vice versa.
For more information about filing personal injury claims, or to get one started, contact our experienced Louisville personal injury attorneys today. Our lawyers at Bahe Cook Cantley & Nefzger PLC solely focus on personal injury, serious injury, and wrongful death cases. We have been fighting for the rights of injured people for years, and our devotion to the field means we get to make a real difference with each case. Our firm is not only nationally recognized for securing multimillion dollar recoveries for our clients, but we also have been named the #1 Plaintiff’s Firm for Jury Trials by the Kentucky Trial Court Review. Give us a call at {F:P:Site:Phone} or fill out our online form to talk to one of our skilled lawyers today.