As your representative and legal advocate, your personal injury attorney should be privy to certain information. Specifically, they will need you to share any information that could affect the proceeding of your personal injury case or your ability to obtain any awarded damages.
Disclosing this information to your attorney as soon as possible is in your best interest. The earlier you are able to prepare for potential complicating factors, the better. Additionally, your disclosures will be held in confidence thanks to attorney-client privilege rights. You can elect not to share this information, but withholding it will severely hurt your lawyer’s ability to manage your case as new information comes about for which they were not prepared.
For the sake of your case and for the ability of your San Francisco personal injury attorney to represent you as ably as possible, make sure to discuss any of the following issues, if they exist, as you begin to strategize your injury case.
Full Medical History, Including Past Injuries and Especially Injuries Since the Case Incident
One of the prime targets defense attorneys will go for in a personal injury case is the plaintiff’s medical history. By looking at past conditions and injuries, they can allege that part of a plaintiff’s claimed damages were actually prior conditions or that injuries were made worse because of these conditions.
For instance, if a person was suing for damages from a car wreck related to multiple leg fractures, the defense may point out that the plaintiff had sprained their ankle in high school, which means that some of the injuries may not have been as severe without the prior condition. Even worse, defense attorneys may try to connect chronic conditions or previous hospital stays with current injuries, such as saying that the plaintiff would not have had serious leg damage if they did not have diabetes.
Most important are injuries that have occurred since the incident in question. The judge and jury should be made absolutely clear in regarding any recent medical incidents that are not included in the claimed damages.
While disputes related to all of these facts may arise between parties, informing your personal injury attorney of them immediately helps you strategize and prepare for expected defense arguments.
Criminal History and Any Past Lawsuits
People who have made mistakes still have the right to access the civil justice system, but those with prior convictions or even charges should be aware that their history can come up during a trial. By revealing your criminal history, defense attorneys attempt to call your character into question and cast doubt on your reliability as a witness to your own injuries. They may also bring up past civil actions you have taken in an attempt to cast you as someone who seeks to exploit the system.
Criminal records and any past case histories are easily obtainable by defense attorneys through discovery requests, so disclose this information early to your representative, who can work it into your overall case strategy.
Bankruptcy, Divorce, Tax Issues
Any time your finances are subject to collections actions, the final award or settlement for your injury case could be siphoned away to the respective collections agencies. For example, those who have filed bankruptcy and are awarded noneconomic damages for an injury, such as pain and suffering, could have a large portion of their award taken away from them. Similarly, those in the midst of a divorce or who have recently completed a contentious divorce could have their personal accounting practices scrutinized or their award split between them and their spouse. Those with unpaid taxes are almost guaranteed to have their award garnished by the IRS.
Inform your personal injury lawyer regarding these financial issues so that they can prepare a means for you to recover as much as possible. They may even recommend an accountant so that you can recover your rightful damages while minimizing your obligations to collections agencies.
Any Inconsistencies in Your Documentation So Far
No one’s memories are perfect, and new information often comes to light.
If you made the mistake of telling a police officer that you had entered an intersection to make a left turn but neglected to tell them you forgot to put on your turn signal, that inconsistency may not be particularly harmful to your case. Similarly, statements made to medical professionals like “it doesn’t hurt when I turn my head” that you later try to walk back on can have perfectly logical explanations behind them.
You want to acknowledge these possible inconsistencies openly and provide sound arguments for how and why they occurred. The arguments you present to the court must be consistent and logical, otherwise, your whole case could be weakened.
Recount and review all of the available information regarding your case with your attorney, and work early to establish when you might have partially or fully contradicted yourself or any known information. Strong cases are built on open and honest disclosures, so lay out all the facts to your attorney to increase your odds of recovery.
Discuss Your Case With a San Francisco Personal Injury Lawyer
The sooner you begin assembling the facts of your case and preparing for likely defending arguments, the better. You can contact a San Francisco personal injury lawyer today to receive a free consultation and to help you begin strategizing for your case to have the best chances of receiving the maximum possible damages for your injury.
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