• Auto Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Serious Injuries
• Wrongful Death
• Motorcycle Accidents

Blog

General

• OHIO TO JOIN 38 OTHER STATES THAT BAN TEXTING WHILE DRIVING
• APPLYING THE COMMON FUND DOCTRINE TO REDUCE MEDPAY LIENS HELD BY INSURERS
• INSURANCE BAD FAITH CLAIMS IN OHIO
• OHIO WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIMS REQUIRE SWIFT ACTION

View More

Library

General

• The Importance of Witnesses in an Ohio Personal Injury Case

View More

THE FOUR PHASES OF A PERSONAL INJURY (AUTOMOBILE, TRUCK, MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT) CASE. Part 2 of 4

As we have discussed in the first article, a non-fatality personal injury case can be broken down into 4 distinct phases:

1. Treatment Phase
2. Record Gathering Phase
3. Settlement Phase
4. Litigation Phase (if necessary)

Phase 2: The Record Gathering phase:

Usually, once you are done treating, the next phase consists of gathering up all the medical records from all of the medical providers you have seen, such as the ER, chiropractors, physical therapists, specialists, to comb through them for the documented medical evidence necessary to get you a fair settlement. This documented medical evidence is the key to your claim. Remember, you rarely can sit at home for a year in pain and say you were hurt without getting any treatment and expect a large settlement. Now at Chester Law Group, we have on staff at least one nurse to assist the injury lawyers and paralegals in this process of reading records, gathering medical evidence, etc.

Now most times, your injury attorney will need additional information from the doctors to get all the necessary documented medical evidence, and this can take time. An accident attorney will usually request additional information. Your injury attorney will want to know such things as
Does the doctor feel your injuries are from the accident?
Are you still having problems?
Will you fully recover?
What is your prognosis?
Do your injuries cause you permanent impairment?
Will there be future treatment? How much?
Did past injuries play a part in the current injuries?
Gathering all the necessary medical documentation can take weeks or months for the doctors to produce and usually cannot be done until you are done treating. You see, for anything other than the most minor injuries, a competent injury attorney cannot determine the real value of your case until they know exactly what is wrong with you, how long it took to recover, and how long your life was harmed by the accident, etc. This cannot usually be done until you recover. A client who takes a year to recover from an injury has quite a different case than someone who recovers in a week with little or no treatment and no negative impact on their life. You almost never can know the actual value of your claim until you have recovered or a doctor says will never recover because you are permanently impaired. Of course, there are always exceptions to this rule, like catastrophic injuries, but in general it is true. Of course, no article can address the particular issues in your exact case, but this article is meant to give an overview of the issues a typical person faces in an Ohio personal injury claim. You should talk to an injury lawyer to discuss your particular case.

Contact us today for a FREE, NO OBLIGATION consultation about your personal injury legal needs.

Videos

General:

• What Does a Personal Injury Attorney Do For You?
• Do You Really Need a Lawyer? - Ohio Personal Injury Attorney Answers
• Ohio Personal Injury Attorney Discusses How a Lawyer Protects You
• Legal Fees Explained by Ohio Personal Injury Attorney
• Can You File a Personal Injury Claim if You Caused the Accident? Ohio Attorney Says No

View More