Injuries can seem more painful and stressful to deal with when they are caused because another person did something wrong. You might be mulling over whether you want to file your first personal injury claim in order to recover some medical treatment costs and lost wages. If you do move forward, be aware that some of the assumptions you have could be wrong. Below are common assumptions you shouldn't necessarily make.
You Can Wait Until You're Ready
Injuries take time to heal and you might not have the energy to find out anything about a lawsuit until you feel you've healed sufficiently. However, you could be upset to realize that the state statute of limitations has passed; if that happens, you can no longer file any claim at all. Therefore, even if you're only considering legal action, be sure to contact a personal injury lawyer somewhere nearby so you're sure that you won't miss any of the state deadlines.
You Don't Have to Pay Attention to What the Doctor Says
Your physician might have a set of rules and treatments that they want you to take part in as you recover. You may deem some of them unnecessary and decide that it is your right to do so. For example, your doctor may recommend physical therapy; you might go once or twice and then stop. Doing things like that could be later used to show that your claims aren't truthful. If you disagree with a treatment or recommendation, speak with your doctor before ignoring their guidance.
You Don't Have to Divulge Certain Information
While you're not required to share every single detail about yourself, there are reasons you might want to share details of your past with the lawyer representing you. A mental health issue or alcohol problem could be discovered by the other party's legal representation, and they might decide to use that information in their own case. If that happens, your own attorney is going to have to play catch up, losing valuable time to come up with a defense that would have been ready if you had only shared that information. It is in your best interest to give your lawyer as many details as you can about yourself.
You Can Ask for as Much Money as You Want
You might think you can seek as much cash as you feel you deserve through punitive damages in addition to the verifiable financial damages that you have suffered because of what happened. However, that is very rarely true. It's smart to consult your attorney about what type of range you can realistically expect.
With the information here, you know more about the process of filing your first personal injury claim. A lawyer who has a lot of experience with personal injury cases can give you a better understanding of what could happen with your particular claim.
