Are you looking for a slip and fall lawyer? Some people call them personal injury lawyers, some people call them accident attorneys, sometimes they are aptly referred to as a “slip and fall lawyers.” At any name, their job is to help you get the compensation you need to recover after sustaining an injury as a result of someone else’s negligence.
While a slip and fall lawyer can do a lot to fight for your cause, most of the leverage they have is tide to the actions you take immediately after you sustained your injury. For that reason, there are a few things your slip and fall lawyer wishes you knew before you ever need to contact a personal injury law firm. To help you achieve the best possible outcome in your personal injury claim, we’ve put together a list of things you should know in advance.
Four Things Your Accident Lawyer Wishes You Knew
- You should always seek medical attention right away.
Many times, your injury might not seem obvious at first. Sometimes, the shock of the accident leaves you kind of numb to the pain you’re actually experiencing. And then, after a few days, you realize you aren’t just achy, you’re legitimately injured. However, now it’s a lot more difficult to make a case that the injury is a direct result of your accident. Not to mention, the attorneys for the defendant will make a case that the extent of your injuries are more severe because of your own negligence in getting medical care. This will have a substantial impact on the settlement that your lawyer is able to negotiate for you.
No matter how you feel after being part of an accident, you should always get medical care right away. For the sake of your health, and the sake of getting the settlement you need to heal and recover without stressing about money. - Capture the environment of the accident.
Most of the time, the environment of the accident is to blame for the injuries you’ve sustained. The stairs did not have proper anti-slip grip on them. The hand rail was loose. There was water on the floor without a caution sign. Your lawyer needs to have evidence of this to make a case that negligence led to your accident, but almost always, the property owner is going to quickly remediate the damage to cover up their negligence. If you are able to, immediately after the incident, take photos of the environment. Capture factors that seem inconsequential, you never know if they are going to become a hinge pin that cracks the case down the road.
If you are unable to because of your injuries, ask someone in the vicinity to do it for you. - Write down a summary of what happened.
As time passes after sustaining your injury, critical details will become a blur. As soon as you are able to after your accident, write down a timeline of events that led to the injury. Include any minute details that cross your mind. Your lawyer can pick the meat off the bones if there is information they don’t need in your account, but they can’t add details you don’t give them. - Collect witness contact information.
It is also important to get the contact information from any witnesses in the area. Depending on the circumstances of the incident, you might have no way to ever track them down after they’ve left the scene, but their testimony could be critical to the outcome of the case. If your personal injury case were to go to trial, the testimony of witnesses who don’t have any stake in the situation will hold a lot of weight with the judge or jury, as they are less likely to have a bias.
Just as you should write out an account of the incident, you should ask any witnesses to the accident to immediately jot down the details they remember from the accident. The minor details that they will likely forget down the road could have a big impact on the outcome of the case.
We want to hear from you! Have you ever been through the personal injury case process? Do you have any tips to share? Please add them in the comment section below!
