Peachtree Corners, GA Personal Injury Lawyers
You should not have to shoulder the financial burden of someone else’s negligence, and our lawyers can help you pursue a compensation claim after being injured.
To file injury claims on time for victims, our injury lawyers will aim to preserve crucial evidence, starting with eyewitness statements. We can also obtain photos of the scene from victims, witnesses, or the police and see if they indicate fault. Evidence not preserved could be lost, delaying when some victims bring claims and putting them at risk of missing the filing deadline. Our attorneys can prevent that by collecting and organizing evidence immediately, such as victims’ medical records. We can get records from your first emergency room visit and follow-up treatments with doctors detailing your recovery plan and its cost. We can then use this evidence and more to prove liability if your claim progresses to a trial.
Call the Alpharetta, GA personal injury lawyers of Rice, Murtha & Psoras for help with your case at (470) 287-3070.
What Victims Can Do to File Injury Claims on Time in Peachtree Corners, GA
Start by focusing on preserving evidence, whether at the scene or afterward, with assistance from our lawyers. Though some victims can take photos or videos of accident locations, others are too injured to do this, and our attorneys can work to collect and preserve evidence from other sources in these situations.
In addition to obtaining photos from the scene, our personal injury lawyers may also conduct interviews with eyewitnesses. Interviews should happen fairly soon after incidents to reduce the risk of eyewitnesses’ memories fading and their statements being less useful.
Do not delay initiating your case or the investigation process because you think your injuries or damages are too insignificant; if you incurred losses because of someone else’s negligence, you typically have the right to seek compensation.
Ultimately, we must file your lawsuit before the deadline, which is typically two years under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Our lawyers can alert you to any reason your claim might fall under an exception to the statute of limitations, such as delayed discovery, and explain what this could mean for your case’s timeline.
Types of Medical Records Victims Need for Peachtree Corners, GA Personal Injury Claims
When preparing your compensation case, our lawyers will need various medical records, including those from immediately after the accident, subsequent visits with doctors and specialists, and before the accident detailing possible pre-existing conditions.
Records from the Emergency Room
The first set of medical records we will need is from your first visit to the emergency room. If you called 911 and paramedics arrived at the accident location to take you to the hospital, we can also obtain any records from them.
Emergency room medical records detail a victim’s injuries immediately after an incident. This can solidify that a victim was injured during the accident involving the defendant and not another event. These records can explain the exact treatments victims received upon their arrival at the hospital, including any emergency surgeries.
Records from Subsequent Appointments
After you are discharged from the hospital, you might have to return periodically for evaluations or further treatment. If doctors refer you to specialists, follow their instructions, as this could be a necessary step in your physical recovery. Make your medical appointments your top priority since missing them could disrupt your case. Your medical records from throughout your entire physical recovery might be of interest, and if there is a gap in your care, the defendant might question why.
As you receive the necessary subsequent treatments, our lawyers can obtain records from providers. We can also track victims’ medical expenses throughout their claims to ensure the accuracy of our final calculations for economic damages.
Records of Pre-Existing Conditions
If a defendant claims a victim’s injuries already existed before the accident or another condition worsened their injuries from the accident, they might successfully lower their financial liability. To prevent this, our lawyers can get medical records from before the accident, whether showing that you did not have a pre-existing condition or showing how the pre-existing condition you did have would be unrelated to your current injuries. If medical records alone are insufficient to convince defendants of this during settlement negotiations, we may submit statements from medical experts confirming that fact.
Proving Liability for Personal Injuries in Peachtree Corners, GA
To prove liability, personal injury plaintiffs must prove four elements: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages, which our lawyers can do after investigating claims and preparing cases for victims.
A duty of care is the legal responsibility one party owes another to act reasonably and with regard for another’s safety. It exists across many relationships, and our lawyers can determine if the other party owed you a duty of care by reviewing the circumstances of the incident. For example, if you were involved in a car accident with another driver, they owed you a duty of care to follow traffic laws and drive responsibly, and you owed them the same duty of care by sharing the road.
A breach of duty is a negligent or reckless act, which may vary from case to case. In auto accidents, breaches include making improper turns, speeding, and driving under the influence. In many personal injury claims, eyewitness statements can be the key to proving a breach of duty occurred, which is why we often prioritize interviewing witnesses after accidents.
Eyewitness statements can help prove the third element of causation as well. To prove this element, plaintiffs must show that the defendant’s negligence caused their specific injuries. Calling 911 and asking operators to send paramedics to the scene can result in records solidifying causation.
Finally, we have to prove you incurred real damages from the accident, so we will carefully and accurately monitor economic damages to have proof of your losses to present to the jury if your case goes to court.
Call Our Attorneys to Discuss Your Accident in Peachtree Corners, GA
Call the personal injury lawyers of Rice, Murtha & Psoras for a free case evaluation at (470) 287-3070.