What Sort Of Proof Do You Need To File An Injury Claim?
Posted on: 26 October 2021
Personal injury attorneys, like all lawyers pursuing civil claims, need to provide evidence to support their clients' cases. Folks often feel unsure of their claims because they don't know what sorts of evidence are necessary to back them. If you're thinking about submitting a claim to a defendant or their insurance company, it's wise to be familiar with these four kinds of proof to support a claim.
Liability
An attorney first has to justify the argument that a defendant might owe anything to a claimant. In American law, injury claims hinge on the idea of liability. A specific set of circumstances have to exist for another person or an organization to be liable for someone's injuries.
The types of circumstances will vary based on the case. Accident attorneys, for example, usually don't have to prove much more than a motorist wasn't safely operating their vehicle in the moments prior to an incident. A claimant pursuing a slip-and-fall case, however, might have to prove the defendant owned the property where the incident happened. Likewise, they'll have to prove the defendant was liable for safely maintaining it at that moment.
Medical Damages
Claimants also have to prove they suffered significant medical damages. If a person scraped their knee and just required a band-aid and topical antibiotic to treat it, they don't have a claim. You must have required medical care. Also, the care must have risen to the level it imposed significant medical costs. Someone who sustained a spinal fracture, for example, would likely have strong evidence of medical damages.
Personal injury lawyers will try to stack as much medical evidence as possible. They'll want to see lab tests, doctors' reports, incident reports from EMTs, and so on. All this proof goes into the demand package, and the lawyer will send it all to the defendant or their insurer when they submit the claim.
Records
Especially if the injury appears to be due to lack of maintenance, an attorney will want to look at the defendant's records. For example, the supervisor of a building might have logs documenting when fixtures were last inspected or repaired. You might also want to see hiring records if you believe a defendant's employee was incompetent or intoxicated.
Evidence from the Scene
Lastly, personal injury attorneys like to work with evidence from the scene of an incident. There might be surveillance video, for example. If a railing failed, the railing itself could be evidence. As with other forms of proof, lawyers want to paint the broadest picture possible of the defendant's liability.
For more information contact a company like Buckley Law Office.
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