Personal Injury Legal Advice: Power of Evidence

If you have a personal injury claim, evidence is going to be the key to winning or losing your case. In fact, you may have severe injuries resulting from someone else’s negligence or foul play, but if you cannot prove it, you have very little recourse. What’s more, if you fail to gather evidence early on in your claim, memory will fail to serve you sufficiently by the time an insurance company or a court is making its determinations in your case. The best personal injury legal advice suggests that the power of evidence cannot be understated, and how you handle evidence in your personal injury claim will depend on the type of claim you have.

Required Evidence

In all cases, make sure you:

Preserve all physical evidence that points to the injury, its severity, or the way in which you were injured.
Take photographs of everything, including your injury and the scene in which it was sustained.

To consider the power of evidence in your personal injury claim, begin with these types of claims:

If your child is the victim of a birth injury, or if you have been hurt because of medical malpractice: Be sure to keep all medical records regarding the injury, as well as the opinions of other physicians who have examined you or your child. Getting additional medical opinions can be helpful evidence in a future claim. If the injuries sustained are visible, remember to document such injuries with photographs taken from a variety of angles.

If you are the victim of a defective device or medicine: Keep the original, untouched device or medical prescription bottle. Keep all paperwork, including usage instructions, warranties, sales receipts, and other documents related to the defective device or medicine. Keep records of when the injury was sustained as a result of using the device or medicine.

If you are the victim of a car accident or a slip and fall: Be sure to take photographs of scene of the accident, damage to your vehicle and others, injuries you and other sustained, skid marks on the roadway, signs or partially obstructed signs, and anything else that may pertain to the case. Do your best to take these photos under similar conditions to when you sustained your injuries. If you are gathering evidence for a slip and fall, do not forget to take photos of the area in which you fell, focusing specifically on what you are claiming caused the injury. You should also have documentation of all vehicle repairs, receipts, repair estimates, and copies of the police reports.

Getting Help

A qualified and experienced personal injury lawyer can help you to better understand the power of evidence in your case. You should consult with a lawyer for expert personal injury legal advice on how to gather evidence and on specifically what type of evidence you will need to prove your claim.

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