Fresno Bodily Injury Claim Lawyer

Bodily Injury Claim Lawyer in Fresno California – Free Consultation

Damages (Proof)

The general rule is that for the typical accident, the at fault party (or their insurance company) has to pay for all consequences of the crash. That’s not only for the damage to the vehicles, but also for damages to people. And, like auto damage, they have to pay for the “cost of repair” of the person too. These are known as medical expenses (past and future), lost wages, etc. But the claimant (that’s you) not only has to prove the existence of the injuries, and reasonableness and necessity of medical bills and treatment, but also that they were actually caused (or brought about) by the crash. Proving all this typically requires some sort of medical evidence: doctor’s reports, hospital and doctor’s bills, deposition testimony, and even trial/arbitration testimony.

Causation (Proof)

This is an element of your proof of which most people are unaware. It may seem obvious to you that you were hurt in an accident because you didn’t have any pain or problems before the accident. However, it’s not quite that simple in the eyes of insurance companies (or juries for that matter). For example, you may have a pre-existing condition that allows the insurance company to argue that the accident was not the cause of your pain; that the pain pre-dated the accident. This will be frustrating to you since you know you didn’t have any pain before the accident, and who are they to tell you that you did! But the argument is raised quite often. And sometimes arbitrators and juries believe the insurance company’s argument. That’s another reason we have to act quickly to get the medical proof we need to nail down the issue of causation on your case. There are many other types of issues relevant to the causation element, but this gives you an indication of its importance.

Property Damage (Surprisingly, it’s related to Bodily Injuries too)

You may wonder how damage to your car has anything to do with how bad you were hurt, but it does. Take, for instance, a situation where very little visible damage is caused to a car, but the driver is hurt. The insurance company will take many photos showing the lack of auto damage, and use those against you to argue, for instance, to a jury the following: “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we see no damage to the plaintiff’s car. See, I’m showing you the blow-up of the car showing no damage. There is no way anyone in this car could be hurt. So, the Plaintiff wasn’t really hurt either.” That argument may sound unfair, but insurance company attorneys make that argument all the time, and frequently successfully. Sometimes the insurance company even hires their own expert witnesses against you called Accident Reconstructionists or Biomechanical Engineers. These “experts” testify that given the minimal forces to your vehicle (based on little or no visible cosmetic damage to your car), you could not have been injured in this accident. These “scientific” opinions reinforce the jurors’ “common sense” beliefs that minor property damage equals no bodily injuries to the occupants. These are further reasons you need to contact us now so that we can hire our own experts, if necessary, to anticipate and deal with these arguments of the insurance company in advance. 

Don’t Delay 

There are many, many reasons to contact us now. These are only a few examples of damage to your case by not letting us get to work on your case right now. Remember, we can’t turn the clock back; what’s done is done; what wasn’t done, wasn’t done. We can’t go back in time and do something that should have been done, or undo something that should not have been done. But we can minimize the affects of damage done to your case by inaction, or incorrect action. In some ways a case is like a minefield to the inexperienced: you don’t know you’re stepping in the wrong place until it’s too late. Although you have the legal right to represent yourself in your case, if you don’t understand the significant complexities and nuances of personal injury law(which is no less a specialty as any area of law) and litigation, then you could be making a serious mistake (or serious mistakes). Even Lawyers hire Lawyers to help them with their cases, and there is an old saying: “A Lawyer who represents him/herself has a fool for a client.” It costs you nothing to talk to us, and you can obtain some free advice even if we don’t take your case. So, you have nothing to lose by talking to us.