Evidence and Case Value Considerations

Truly great personal injury lawyers have as much knowledge and experience in the fields of anatomy and medicine as they do in the fields of law and trial practice. Legal dominance and leverage is best applied with thorough medical expertise. Insurance companies always seek to minimize or trivialize victims’ injuries. To overcome the defense, medical evidence must be developed and utilized to prove the full extent of all injuries. Skilled physicians must be involved to show the relationship between the collision and the injuries, the full cost of all past and future care, and the likely course of future pain and medical problems that will remain over the full span of the victim’s life. This approach is the only path toward securing full compensation in a serious injury case.

Claims adjusters receive very little medical training. They use their limited medical knowledge only to cherry-pick medical records and conversations with the victim to find weaknesses in the claim. They look at pre-accident medical records to argue that the injury is a “preexisting condition.” They pull and highlight only those medical notes where the victim reports “mild” or “slight” pain. They look for missed appointments and “gaps in treatment.” They never dig beneath the surface to explore the true severity of your injuries or to consider the potential permanent effects of your injuries.

To collect fair payment for serious injury, which is money you truly may need for health reasons later, you must demonstrate superior medical knowledge and provide thorough medical evidence to prove all negative impacts that the collision imposed on your quality of life. In this chapter, we explore medical and legal issues relating to the most common traumatic injuries arising from motor vehicle or pedestrian accidents. Every injury victim should analyze and research his or her injuries and carefully develop medical evidence to compel full and fair payment on all personal injury claims. When multiple injuries exist, care should be taken to show the overlay of multiple injuries and the cumulative effect of all injuries on the victim’s health, abilities, and quality of life.

The following are the most common injuries confronted by pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers involved in roadway collisions.