This post may earn affiliate income from links and/or review products to help support this site from the companies .

If you have a personal injury claim, there is a good chance you’ll need to go to court. And they call it court for a reason. Taking a claim to court means you have a limited amount of time to make your case. In the few minutes, you’re allowed to present the issues you need to express yourself in a way that makes your claim appear reasonable and provides evidence to prove it to a satisfactory extent.

 

Court cases don’t get redos. Through lengthy and expensive appeal processes it’s possible to have your claim revisited by a judge in a different district or judicial level. But it isn’t easy and it isn’t guaranteed. And that means you need to get it done right the first time. And getting it right the first time takes some effort.

Hire Legal Representation

The most important thing you can do is obtain legal representation. Hiring a lawyer will increase the likelihood of you winning your personal injury case. Your opportunities to prove your claim are very limited and it’s no time to mess around with delusions of grandeur. It’s time to get down to business.

 

Of course, lawyers will improve your chances because they deal with the law and their specialization full time. They know what will and will not work. They know the standard interpretations of the law that are accepted and reliable for use in court. They know exactly what is and is not allowed.

 

Lawyers not only streamline your case. They also provide a lot of information about what you need to do to prepare. You can look here at https://www.marksandharrison.com/ to learn a lot more about the lawyer hiring process for personal injury cases. There’s one thing that you can count on. And that’s that the defendant will be lawyering up to protect their assets regardless of fault.

Document Everything

Having documentation about the event is one of the best things you can do. Often, you may not have access to lots of physical evidence. Therefore, documenting everything as soon as possible and in as much detail as possible can help you out in lots of ways. It’s good to document strange occurrences and occupational hazards even if they don’t result in an immediate issue.

 

In the modern era, it’s a good idea to document things on an online spreadsheet like Google documents. That’s because the spreadsheet records and tracks your edits and as you add a statement or revise a statement a timestamp will be reported and attached to each statement. This makes it more reliable as a form of evidence.

 

When you document things you have a better recollection of the events later. Without documentation, you may have a recollection of events that is slightly off even though you are totally in the right. That opens you up and allows the opposing counsel to exploit a minor inaccuracy to undermine your credibility. Having a watertight timeline improves your claim credibility.

 

Properly done, having the right documentation can blow the case wide open.

 

Gather Evidence

There may or may not be an abundance of evidence in your case. Regardless, you’ll want to gather as much evidence as possible.

 

There may be closed-circuit television camera feeds from your company or a facility within view of the injury event. These, of course, are indispensable as a form of evidence. Other forms of video feed are less likely but should still be considered. These include things like traffic cams, car dash cams, or live feeds from bystanders in the area.

 

There are other forms of evidence and documentation that you will require. Having all of your evidence and information on hand will greatly increase the efficiency of your claims processing.

 

Some other key forms of evidence that may be relevant in a personal injury case include eyewitness accounts, medical records, and official statements or documents received from your company if it’s a workplace injury or from the defendant’s insurance company if it’s a personal injury suit.

 

If you do get statements from bystanders, it’s important that you document it with video, audio, and have the proper forms signed. It’s best to get eyewitness statements as soon after the event as possible. Witnesses can be misled, coerced, or even bought off. The early bird gets the worm so they say.

Get Your Medical Records

Your medical records are essential for the claims process. That’s because the payout amount will likely be related to the intensity of the injury. You’ll need to prove that you have been disadvantaged or permanently rendered incapable of your previous lifestyle and occupation.