How To Prepare A Catastrophic Injury Claim
The possibility that an injury will leave you with long-term care needs and unable to work can be frightening to consider. If the injury was the result of someone else's negligence, recklessness, or malice, however, you may be able to pursue a catastrophic injury claim. This is one of the most difficult kinds of injury claims to pursue, though, so it's important to prepare it as well as possible. Here are three tips for preparing such a claim.
Get a Lawyer
Most applicable laws consider catastrophic injuries to be an elevated form of more basic injury claims. That means you will have to prove your case satisfies the legal requirements. It is always wise to retain counsel in an injury case, but it's especially important when it comes to a catastrophic claim. A catastrophic injury lawyer can study your case, determine which laws apply, and how you might pursue it.
Collect Medical Reports, Bills, and Documents
For a catastrophic injury attorney, documenting the extreme nature of a client's condition is a major part of the job. Whenever you receive any documents from a hospital, clinic, or doctor's practice, make copies of those and then store the originals safely. Pass the copies along to your catastrophic injury lawyer so they can use them to support a case describing your injuries and medical expenses.
Also, it's a good idea to talk with your general practitioner about obtaining your medical records from before the incident. Defendants and insurance companies will often try to prove that a claimant had pre-existing injuries or conditions to avoid paying or reduce what they'll pay. It is important to establish a baseline for your health that goes back to before the injuries involved in our current case.
Identify Locations, Dates, Times, and Names
You should also try to make as many possible notes about the incident that left you hurt. Whenever possible, try to write down as precise of a location as you can for where the events happened. If you were hurt in the pasta aisle of the local grocery store, identify that location down the letter and number assigned to the aisle. Similarly, try to get the date and approximate time of the incident as close as you can. Also, include the names of anyone you can recall who was there.
Do not push too hard to get things perfect if you don't exactly remember. If the most you can do is identify an employee as "that guy at the deli," that's fine. A catastrophic injury lawyer can usually obtain shift logs to better identify the person.
For more information, contact a local catastrophic injury attorney.
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