Blog Post

3 Types of Evidence to Collect for a Personal Injury Lawsuit

  • By Admin
  • •
  • 21 Apr, 2018
  • •
Accident — Car Accident in Aiken, SC
If you have been in an auto accident and you want to get compensation for what you have been through, you need to make sure you have the right type of evidence together in order to move forward with a legal case. Here are three types of evidence you will need to collect.

1. Evidence of What Happened

The first thing you need to do is gather evidence of what happened. When pursuing compensation, you are generally only granted compensation if you were not at fault for the accident or if you were not the party who was most responsible for the accident.

In order to prove who is responsible, you first have to prove what happened. Any photos you took at the accident scene can be used to establish what happened. Anyone who witnessed the accident can also provide a verbal account of what happened. Additionally, the police report should detail what the police saw at the accident scene and what they thought caused the accident.

Your vehicle and the other vehicles involved in the accident can also provide solid details about what happened. Your insurance company and your attorney are both going to want to inspect your vehicle to see the story that it tells.

Your attorney may want to bring in a professional who, by looking at your vehicle and the other vehicles involved in the accident, the police report, and any other evidence you collected, can help re-create or visualize what happened at the accident scene. Your vehicle has a story to tell that an adjustor or accident specialist can bring forth.

2. Evidence of How You Were Injured

Second, you need to gather evidence of how you and your passengers were hurt due to the accident. If you or your passengers were hurt, you need evidence of the damage that the accident caused to your physical bodies.

The best way to get this evidence is through the ambulance and doctor's notes from right after you were treated following the accident, as well as any other follow-up care that you received.

If you required long-term treatment for your injuries, your own record log of the medication you took, doctor's appointments, and physical therapy treatments is another great form of evidence.

You will need to be willing to share your patient records with your attorney and with the courts in order to prove who was hurt and how they were hurt.

3. Evidence of How the Accident Changes Your Day-to-Day Life

Finally, you need to collect evidence of how the accident changed your day-to-day life. For example, did you miss any work to get medical treatment for your injuries? Did you have to miss work as you healed? Provide evidence of your work schedule and days off work in comparison to your normal work schedule to show how your ability to work was compromised.

Did your accident prevent you from caring for your children or pets? If you had to get outside assistance to take care of your children or pets, be sure to provide documentation of these expenses.

If anything else was changed in your life, make sure that you wrote down this information and can prove how your life has changed.

When pursuing compensation following an accident, make sure that you have the evidence to demonstrate who was responsible for the accident, who was hurt and how they were hurt, as well as how the accident has impacted your life. It is up to you and your attorney to make your case, so make sure that you have the evidence to back it up.

If you have been in an accident and need assistance with moving forward with legal action, please contact us at Anderson & Anderson LLP for legal assistance in the state of Georgia.

What You Need to Know About Dog Bites

By Admin • 18 May, 2018
As many people know, having a family dog can be a wonderful and healthy addition to a family. Dogs can be very loyal and are capable of loving unconditionally. Unfortunately, dogs can also be unpredictable at times, particularly with people they are unfamiliar with. A dog that is normally fine with people can sometimes snap and bite someone with no rhyme or reason.

In some cases, dog bites can be extremely serious, even causing life-altering injuries. The first thought is often who is liable for the bite and the expenses that come with it. Many states have a one bite rule. This means that that the owner of the dog is liable for the bite, even if it has never bitten someone before.

The following is some information on dog bites and who will have to pay the damages caused by the injury.

Social Media After a Personal Injury Claim

By Admin • 19 Jan, 2018
Whether you're injured in an auto accident or as a result of a faulty product, the steps you take after you're injured can either help or hurt your personal injury claim. While social media has become a regular part of our daily lives, using it can complicate your claim and have a negative impact.

Here's what you need to know about the ways using social media can hamper your personal injury claim.

Accident Aftermath: What to Do in the Days and Weeks After a Car Collision

By Admin • 21 Nov, 2017
Car accidents seem like the type of thing that we only hear about happening to other people, so it can be devastating to be a victim of a collision yourself. One moment you're driving and thinking of your various obligations, and the next you're off the road wondering how everything changed so fast. Even if you were in a minor collision where the car was damaged a lot more than you were, you need to take care of yourself.

The trauma that can occur during an automobile accident can cause problems that show up days later, and of course there's the emotional aspect of coping with the fear of the moment and the hassle of having to get your car fixed or replaced. Below are a few things you should focus on now that the worst is over with and you're recovering from your injuries.

What Impact Could the Federal Tort Reform Proposal Have on Personal Injury Judgments?

By Admin • 10 Aug, 2017
With healthcare costs continuing to rise, tort reform has been a hot topic in the news – so hot that the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed House Resolution 985 (HR 985), a bill designed to limit recovery and sometimes even litigation in certain types of personal injury lawsuits.

Although this bill must still pass muster with the Senate Judiciary Committee before being sent to the president and potentially signed into law, it represents a key part of Congress's plan to make the legal market more business-friendly and enjoys a broad base of support. What could passage of this bill (or a similar one) mean for a current or future personal injury claim?

Read on to learn more about how this type of tort reform could affect your ability to proceed in certain types of personal injury cases.
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