How Maximum Medical Improvement Affects Your Personal Injury Case
If you have been injured and are pursuing a personal injury case in order to be compensated for your injuries, you need to understand how maximum medical improvement affects your case.
Understanding The Basics Of Maximum Medical Improvement
To start with, you need to understand what maximum medical improvement, commonly referred to as MMI means. MMI does not mean you are completely healed from your injuries and will not need any medical care down the road. Rather, it means you have reached a point where your body has recovered as much as it can from the injuries you sustained. Any further medical treatment will be focused on maintaining your current physical health.
Additionally, your doctor is the only person who can tell you if you have reached MMI. It is not something your lawyer or anyone else can determine.
Your doctor will use their knowledge of your case to determine when you've reached MMI. Your doctor, upon your request, will issue a written medical statement that explains that you have reached MMI and also explains how the injuries have permanently affected your physical abilities.
Starting Your Case
You should contact an attorney about representing you as soon as possible after you have sustained your injury. That way, your attorney can work with you to gather the evidence that you will need to move your case forward. However, until you reach MMI, your case will have to wait.
Reaching A Settlement
Once you have reached MMI, your attorney will be able to more accurately calculate your present and future medical expenses, as well as your lost wages and earning potential. If you move forward before reaching MMI, your attorney will have to make a best guess concerning what level of compensation you deserve. Their guess may be right-on, or it could be off by thousands of dollars.
By waiting for you to reach MMI, your attorney will have the knowledge and information they need to negotiate a fair and adequate settlement offer for you. They will use this information to draft a demand letter on your behalf.
If your attorney is not able to reach a fair settlement through their demand letter and additional negotiations, your attorney will have to take your case to court. Once again, the letter from your doctor regarding your medical condition and level of impairment will be crucial towards winning your case.
You should contact an attorney, like one from Norris, Gary G. Attorney, as soon as possible after you have been injured to start building your case. However, in order to receive a fair amount of compensation for your injuries, you are going to need to wait to reach MMI before proceeding with a demand letter and settlement negotiations.
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