A car accident or a workplace mishap can leave you or your loved one with serious injuries that can reshape the way life is lived. Normal day-to-day activities can become nearly impossible, and merely figuring out how to take care of yourself or your loved one can be stressful and frightening given the long-term implications of catastrophic injuries.
As you struggle with the physical and emotional realities of your situation, the financial ramifications of your circumstances and take hold. Although a personal injury lawsuit may help you recover the compensation that you need to find stability and obtain the medical treatment and rehabilitation that is needed, successfully pursuing one of these claims isn’t always easy.
Proving your damages
After all, even once you prove liability you still have to prove your damages. If you falter in this regard, then you may be left with an incomplete recovery that still leaves you or your loved one without the resources needed to make life as simple as possible.
Fortunately, there are things that you can do to build your personal injury claim, especially as it relates to damages. Here are some of the steps that you or your loved one can take:
- Seek treatment: This may seem obvious, but far too many injured individuals avoid going to the doctor as recommended. They may be fearful of what the doctor will say or they may simply be tired of all of the medical appointments. However, following your doctor’s recommendations can create a paper trail that shows your need for treatment, which in turn can give you, the judge, and the jury an idea of the full extent of your damages.
- Ensure your doctors are qualified: In the damages portion of a personal injury case, you’ll likely need expert testimony from someone who can speak to your diagnosis, prognosis, and need for treatment. If your doctors are not qualified to give the recommendations that they’ve made, then your case may falter on cross-examination by the other side. So, make sure you understand the qualifications of your medical professionals.
- Competently calculate work-related losses: Incurred lost wages are easy enough to calculate, but figuring your anticipated wages that have been lost as well as lost earnings capacity can be trickier. That’s why you may need to speak with an employment expert who can assess your or your loved one’s qualifications and the market within which you or your loved one worked to determine the scope of damages here.
- Articulate non-economic losses: A lot of the harm that has been caused to you or your loved one is invaluable and therefore can’t be easily calculated. Your or your loved one’s newfound inability to play with children, partake in beloved hobbies, and even provide comfort and support to family members can all cause a devastating impact to your or your loved one’s life. That’s why you’ll want to be specific in how your injuries have affected your life so that the finder of fact in your case has a clear picture of how your life has changed since being injured.
Build the personal injury claim that you deserve
We know that you or your loved one is struggling to get by in the aftermath of an accident. And there’s a long road to recovery ahead. But this isn’t a journey that has to be faced alone. Instead, those who have suffered catastrophic injuries can work closely with a skilled legal professional to build the case that they need and deserve. Hopefully then they can achieve an outcome that is fair and just and provides them with the future that they deserve.
