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By Blaire Bayliss
After an accident or a personal injury, you might be at a loss for what to do next. With the adrenaline still pumping, documentation might be the last thing on your mind. That’s normal. But once you’re safe and out of any potentially dangerous situations, it’s never too early to start documenting your claim so you and your counsel can hold the other side to the truth. Here are just a few things you might want to consider doing to help protect your case even before you hire a Denver personal injury attorney:
If you’re in a safe position and you feel comfortable taking pictures, it might be helpful to document what is happening. If you’re in a car accident, once you determine that you’re not injured and do not need an ambulance, you may want to take pictures of the damage to your vehicle, the location where the car crash occurred, and any crash-related marks on the road or other objects around the scene. Many injuries are invisible, but if you suffered visible injuries, after you seek immediate medical attention and are in a safe place, you may want to take pictures of your injuries. If you have any lasting scarring, bruising, or other visually apparent injuries in the weeks or months following your injury, you may want to take pictures of any lasting scarring. Your attorneys may be able to use those pictures in negotiations, mediation, or at trial to help support your case. Without photos, we’ve even seen insurance company lawyers go so far as to claim that the crash never happened. This kind of dishonesty can lawfully be contradicted with your testimony, but having photos is even better.
To many people, going to the doctor after an injury is a no-brainer. But for some, going to a doctor might be a major expense or significant hurdle for any number of other reasons. But remember: any money you spend on medical treatment and care following your injury might be recoverable in damages, and corporate defense lawyers love falsely claiming that someone who didn’t go to the doctor must not be hurt. If you can’t afford care, talk to us – we can often help you find ways to pay for medical care while your case is pending, which you only have to pay back after you win your case. Every client’s case is different, so talk to us directly. But we often recommend seeing a doctor as soon as possible following an injury. Not only is it important to seek medical care to make sure any serious injuries are immediately treated; it is also important to document any injuries you might have. By going to see a doctor for your injuries and truthfully telling them what’s bothering you, you will be credibly documenting your injuries. If your doctor can testify that they documented and treated your injuries shortly following the events surrounding your case, this will significantly strengthen your case against the dishonest defense lawyer who wants to claim that you weren’t actually hurt.
Sometimes, the best evidence of continued pain, impaired movement, anxiety, or other trauma is the testimony of friends, family, and other acquaintances. Friends and family know you best, even if they are (understandably and reasonably) biased in your favor. Acquaintances who have no bias in your favor often know, notice, and remember more than you think they will. But a lot of people very naturally “clam up” when we’re going through something hard. Just remember that a dishonest company defense lawyer might try to argue that “if the victim’s family don’t know about the injury, it must not be that bad.” You can protect yourself from that by keeping the people you know updated about how you’re feeling. It doesn’t need to be anything dramatic, and you certainly don’t want to come across as constantly complaining, but a short, factual, truthful update can go a long way. This is especially true if you pair it with an optimistic report on all the work you’re doing to get back to normal.
Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or anything else, you might want to cut back on your social media posting after your injury. If you decide to hire an attorney and move forward with your case, defense attorneys might attempt to look up your social media profile. If you’ve posted any pictures of your injuries, any description of events that happened, any requests for prayers or updates on medical treatment following your injury, or anything else potentially relevant to your case, the other side might be able to find and read those social media posts. Even if your posts seemingly have nothing to do with your case, anything you post online may be used against you by cunning defense attorneys. And just about anything can be twisted out of context. If a defense attorney sees one of your vacation photos, for example, they may use that photo to argue that your injuries are not so serious as to prevent you from traveling, even if you suffered through the vacation and didn’t get to truly enjoy it. If a defense attorney sees a post about your newfound love of oil painting, they may argue that your injuries ultimately didn’t cause you pain or suffering if they encouraged you to seek new fulfillment in the arts. To avoid giving the defense any ammo, it may be wise to temporarily stop posting, or at least set your social media accounts to “private” or “friends only.” Regardless, if you don’t want a defense attorney to see it, don’t post it! And absolutely never delete relevant posts without talking with your lawyer first! Whatever the post was, it won’t be as bad as the consequence for deleting it.
If you receive any papers, emails, receipts, or other documents with information regarding your injury, try to save whatever you can. It may be worth it to invest in an expanding folder to keep hard copies of any documents you receive. Alternatively, if you have a smart phone, you may consider taking pictures or digital scans of any documents you have and storing them in a dedicated electronic folder. For example: if your doctor has given you a hand-out on caring for your concussion, or a written referral to physical therapy, keep it! If your doctor writes you a note to your employer to explain new absences or restrictions, keep it! If you receive any communication or documents regarding your injuries or the causes of those injuries, it never hurts to save and store those documents.
If you’ve recently been injured and are looking to hire a Denver personal injury attorney, by taking the steps outlined above, you can get a jump-start on protecting your case from dishonest defense tactics and preparing for litigation. But even if you haven’t taken any of the steps above to strengthen your case, our expert attorneys at Dormer Harping can work with you to determine what we can do to put you in the best possible position to win your case.