What Injury Victims Should Do Following Accident/Injury
Obtain immediate medical assistance.
Hire an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.
Write a detailed summary of all facts surrounding the accident. (Only give this to your lawyer.)
Do not give representatives of insurance companies or adjusters written statements or tape-recorded statements when asked to do so on the telephone. Have them contact your lawyer.
Obtain a doctor's note for all time taken off of work as a result of your accident, even if you are self-employed.
Save all physical evidence, and mark them with some type of identification tag. This may mean the shoes involved in a trip and fall accident, the receipt for products purchased at a store where you fell, or material or foreign objects which caused a fall.
Obtain and save the names of all witnesses and persons involved in an accident. Be sure to get the telephone number and address of the witnesses.
Take photos of all damages. This means damages to any motor vehicle, motorcycle, etc. Also take photos of all visible injuries. Be sure to develop these pictures immediately. If they do not come out well, retake the photographs before the physical injuries have healed. If a dangerous condition caused a fall, take pictures of the dangerous condition before it is changed or repaired.
Do not sign anything without the approval of your lawyer. Insurance companies and adjusters frequently request people to sign authorizations to obtain information or releases of all claims. Be sure to show these documents to your attorney before signing them.
Avoid gaps of time between medical treatments. Long periods of time between medical appointments is used by the defense to argue that the later treatment is not related to the accident. Also be sure to give each doctor you see an accurate history of how you were injured.
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The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.
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