The process of a personal injury case is always the same, no matter what type of case it is (medical malpractice case, civil rights case, car accident case, fall down case).
Once you provide us information about what happened to you, what medical injuries you've sustained, and the sort of treatment you are receiving, we obtain all medical records and do our investigation. In a car accident case, for instance, we go to the scene of the accident, take photographs, speak to witnesses, and so on.
Once the investigation stage is done, we send all the itemization to the opposing insurance company, and the settlement negotiations are started. If the parties cannot reach a settlement, we file suit.
Once the lawsuit is filed, the court sets certain time tables, telling us by what date we must complete our discovery (depositions, interrogatories, and so on). After that, the court will set the trial date.
Before the trial date, the parties usually go through a pre-trial settlement conference. You may or may not be involved in the pre-trial settlement conference, but you will always be informed of what happens at the conference. If the parties cannot reach an agreement there, the trial date will be set and the parties will go to trial, at which point you will be fully engaged in the trial process.
While shooting a recent TV drama, Perez was shaken vigorously by a co-star that occurred during a guest appearance on "Law & Order: SVU" last year. At first she did not realize the full extent of her injury. She later had to have spinal fusion surgery as a result of the herniated disc injury she suffered on the set.
She has now instituted suit in New York against the producers of the show.
No one is immune from injury. We all know that intuitively. As teenagers, we all think we are immortal. As we become older and our joints start hurting we realize how prone we are to injury. Whether the setting is in the seat of a motor vehicle or on a movie set, the universal laws of physics impact our bodies whether we are prepared for it or not.
The type of injury that Rosie Perez sustained is fairly common, and we see herniated disc cases a lot in our personal injury practice. How she sustained the injury was unusual. But from a strictly legal point of view what strikes me as interesting is whether she will ever be able to be compensated for her injuries. She may be prevented from proceeding with her personal injury case due to workers' compensation laws in New York where she was injured. Those laws are designed to pay an injured accident victim injured on the job by a co-employee medical bills and wage loss, but are not designed to compensate for personal injuries. If Ms. Perez was in fact injured by a coworker on the set, her personal injury claim likely will not go forward.
The healing process from an injury following an accident can sometimes be quite long, depending on the extent of the injury. But is there a typical period of time that an accident victim can expect to receive medical care?
Well, according to Wes Welker, wide receiver for the New England Patriots, the period of time required to heal is substantially less than what your doctors might say. In January 2010 during a playoff game against the Houston Texans, he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and his left medial collateral ligament (MCL). It would be a minimum of a year before he was healed. There was no chance of his playing the 2010-2011 season. Then he showed up for training camp a mere eight months post surgery. Now he's back full tilt as a starter in September. As stated by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports:
“Welker’s story as an undersized, unwanted everyman who became the most prolific pass-catcher in the NFL was already bordering on saccharine Disney sports-flick levels. Then came Sunday, [September 14, 2010] when he shaved a remarkable three-plus months off the predicted recovery time and returned to action 252 days after his massive injury.
Q: Did any of the Bengals say ‘welcome back' after they tackled you?
WW: No, there weren't any touchy feely moments like that or anything.
Q: Is this just another game for you or is this a highlight of the year you've had?
WW: I'd like to say that it was a highlight, but it was just another game, not going out there and preparing and thinking, ‘this is the big comeback' or whatever. For me, it was just getting out there playing, being out there with my teammates and trying to contribute to a win.
Q: What did you say to the doctors when they gave you the original timetable for return?
WW: It was kind of like, ‘well, let's wait and see where we're at when we get there.' So, I tried to put it in their heads early and from there, they were able to see me on the field and able to get out there and play.
Q: Did you ever feel like you could prove the doctors wrong?
WW: Yeah, kind of ... you know doctors, what do they know? So, I think when they saw my quad and how all the muscles were same size as the other side, they were a little bit shocked, but at the same time, very cautious.
Having had ACL reconstruction surgery myself, I know that the recovery period is long. My orthopedic surgeon told me it would be at least eight months before I could resume sports activities. It took that long, and about a full year from the date of surgery until I was close to being fully confident with my knee when playing any kind of sport.
Now, Wes Welker is a professional athlete who has all kinds of physical therapy available to him and can rehab on a daily basis. I dare say that rehab was the primary focus of his life, and he was being paid to do just that so he could get back on the field and compete for his team.
As much as I wanted to rehab daily, followed up with an ice bath for my knee, I could only rehab three times per week, and then for only eight to ten weeks post surgery because that was all my health insurance carrier was willing to pay. I still had to litigate and try my clients' cases! I remember hiring a sports rehab therapist and paying her privately after my health insurance approved rehab was completed. It was important for me to get back where I needed to be, as soon as I practically could, without re-injuring myself.
What does Wes Welker’s approach and recovery say to accident victims in terms of maximizing physical therapy? It means listen to your doctors, but don’t take their word as gospel. Individual patients can do much better in the recovery process than any particular doctor may be used to seeing. Hard work in PT is the key. Wes Welker is a highly positive individual. But it's clear that his mental attitude helped to shape his recovery and shortened his recovery period from major surgery.
Open the yellow pages, watch television, or even check your mailbox and you will see advertisements from various personal injury lawyers who promise to help you with your claim. When under lots of stress, it can really be tempting to immediately contact and hire one of these attorneys. However, before you do that, it is important to carefully consider the reason why you are contacting a lawyer and what you want to accomplish. Most of us are very careful when choosing which doctor we will entrust our physical wellbeing to. When looking for a lawyer to whom we could entrust our legal well-being, we should be just as careful.
In order to determine if a particular lawyer is right for you, request a free consultation with the attorney whom you are considering to hire and ask some, or all, of the following questions:
1. What is your experience in handling cases that are similar to mine?
2. Were you successful in those cases?
3. What is your policy about communicating with clients? How can I reach you? How long will it take you to respond to my questions? Will I be able to reach you directly or will I only have contact with your support staff?
4. How will you be paid? How are settlement and litigation costs handled?
5. Do you have past clients who can serve as references?
6. If a settlement is offered that you suggest I take and I don’t want to accept it, how will you handle that situation?
7. Have you ever been professionally disciplined or had your license to practice law ever been suspended?
While these questions will provide you with some useful information, the most important information that you will gain from an initial consultation is information about your potential lawyer’s personality. Do you feel comfortable with him? Does he listen to you? Does he respect your legal goals? If the answers to these questions are yes, and you received answers with which you are comfortable with to the questions described above, then you have found yourself a personal injury lawyer.
Dolan Law Offices represent victims of personal injuries throughout the state of Illinois and welcome new client meetings.
Do all lawyers that advertise that they handle personal injury cases actually do so? The answer is no. So, as a consumer, what should you be looking for when you are about to hire a personal injury lawyer. For instance, is it appropriate for you to ask a lawyer about his or her:
past settlements
past verdicts
trial experience
appellate experience
Sure is. All lawyers who actually handle and try personal injury cases readily keep this information available. Most, including our firm, post some of this kind of information on their websites. Attorneys can verify their results without violating client confidentially.
If you've been involved in a serious personal injury case, you are more than likely going to need assistance and guidance from an experienced personal injury lawyer. If you've suffered for instance, a serious neck or back injury, a disc herniation, head injury, or a broken bone you are undoubtedly going to have to deal with unpaid medical bills and wage loss.
Of course, all trial lawyers who actually try cases have lost cases. I certainly have not won all of my cases. Nor has every case that I've taken to trial resulted in the jury agreeing with me and my client about the value of the case. (And because each case is different, past settlements or verdicts do not guarantee similar results in your case). The value of any particular personal injury case is determined by a slew of criteria, including:
seriousness of the injuries
permanency of the injuries
duration of disability
amount of unpaid medical bills
degree of fault of the parties
location were suit will be filed and where the case will be tried
An experienced personal injury and trial lawyer will take all of these considerations and others into account in determining both the reasonable value of your case and trial strategy. This is the type of person that you need in your corner when combating the opposing insurance company. Don't be shy about questioning your prospective lawyer before hiring him.
