Philadelphia personal injury lawyers know that one of the most important actions they can take to increase the value of a personal injury case is to aggressively pursue and preserve evidence. They know what actions must be taken early in the process such as ordering medical records; reviewing police reports; and collecting witness statements, photographs, and videos. The presence or absence of these crucial forms of evidence could determine whether your lawsuit is successful or not. Much of the critical evidence is in the possession of the defendant and if those items aren’t requested early in the process, the defendant might destroy them, even inadvertently. And of course sometimes the defendant has the evidence in their possession and still fails to hand it over. In that case, your personal injury attorney can file a motion to compel the production of the evidence. If the motion is successful, the court will order the defendant to hand over the evidence. Thus, you need an experienced Personal Injury Attorneys in Philadelphia to know what to ask for, how to ask for it, when to ask for it, and what to do if the defendant fails to produce it.
And while personal injury attorneys will aggressively seek as much evidence as possible, the clients, themselves, need to do some work too. Personal injury clients usually have firsthand access to medical records, financial documents, police reports, photographs, and videos, and all of these items can be useful in increasing the value of your personal injury case.
Your Philadelphia negligence attorney will review medical records, health summaries, hospital notes, lab results, police reports, workplace reports, insurance documents, and all other necessary paperwork to fully understand what took place that led to your workplace injury, slip and fall, car accident, or other catastrophic personal injury case. Your personal injury lawyer knows how to analyze piles and piles of records and determine which pieces of evidence are key to the success of the case.
An experienced catastrophic injury attorney evaluates your case with knowledge of all possible causes of action and claims for damages, and will draft your Complaint utilizing that key knowledge. The Complaint will also comply with all applicable statutes. In other words, an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney knows how to craft your claim in the way that puts you in the best position to win.
Even if you file your personal injury lawsuit promptly, there will still be a wait time of at least a couple of years before your case goes to trial. Between the time your attorney files the Complaint and the actual trial date, there is a lengthy period called “Discovery.” Discovery is where both sides to the lawsuit request, exchange, and examine information and evidence pertaining to the case. This includes depositions of parties, experts writing reports, and often a series of motions and hearings on evidentiary issues.
And notwithstanding the considerable length of the discovery period, another delay looms large in Personal Injury Attorneys in Philadelphia: cases are backlogged due to the COVID pandemic. So, there is a long line of postponed trials that get priority over recently-filed cases.
This is why it’s essential to connect with a Personal Injury Attorneys in Philadelphia as soon as you are injured; it will help your personal injury lawyer to get the ball rolling so that you can be compensated for your injuries as swiftly as possible.
To find an experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorney, contact the lawyers at VSCP Law.