How to Collect Evidence for Your Personal Injury Case

Personal injury cases happen to be one of the most common forms of litigation. Since a number of cases are filed each year, it’s up to you to make sure you’re filing putting your best foot forward — and this only happens with the right evidence. But what evidence makes an impact in proving your personal injury case?Learn how to collect evidence for your personal injury case by considering the tips in this article.

1. Collect Photo and Video Evidence of the Accident in Question

For starters, you need to start compiling some multimedia evidence from the scene of your injuries. Leave the scene as unchanged as possible, take out your cell phone and begin collecting footage immediately.

If this is from a vehicle accident, take both photos and video of the damage done to your vehicle and the other vehicle, the weather conditions, time of date, and landmarks related to the direction of travel, nearest intersection, and other information.

In the event that you’re dealing with a slip and fall injury, gather some multimedia of the exact spot of the slip and fall and what conditions led to it. Be sure to document your injuries as well to show how they match up with the way they occurred.

Aside from gathering your own photo and video evidence, you can also request the surveillance footage from that time of day if the incident took place near cameras.

2. Visit the Physician ASAP to Gather Medical Records

The last thing you’ll want to do is wait too long to visit the physician after you’ve experienced some personal injuries. Not only do most states have a statute of limitations of approximately 2 years, but a fresh medical evaluation also provides stronger evidence of your case.

Going to the doctor ASAP following a personal injury situation shows that whatever injury you suffered was due to the accident and not something else. Your doctor will also be able to give you an accurate diagnosis so they can put you on a medical care plan that heals you effectively.

3. Touch Base With Some Potential Witnesses

Raw evidence is important, but you will also need to piece together a narrative.

When someone saw the accident, they can add context to the evidence and also back your version of the events. Speak to these witnesses and secure their contact information.

You’ll be able to pass this information on to your lawyer so that they can later become helpful in the court case or pre-trial depositions.

4. Secure a Police Report If Applicable

Getting an accident report following a car accident can potentially make or break your case.

In the event of a traffic crash, you’ll also need to prove that you weren’t at fault. This means that factors like speed or blood alcohol content could compromise your case if they were a contributing factor.

State laws get very specific about vehicle accident personal injury cases since you must show that the other driver was negligent.

Call the police or state troopers onto the scene of your vehicle accident and have them act as a go-between for exchanging information with the other driver and taking down your narrative of events.

The police officer will also shut down traffic to maintain safety in the area.

You may also get a police report in the event that they’re called to the property for an assault, dog bite or other such incidents. Make sure you know which jurisdiction to follow up with so that you can get a hard copy of the police report to pass on to your lawyer.

5. Keep Track of Your Medical Bills and Physical Therapy

Keeping an account of your medical bills and physical therapy costs will become a cornerstone of any personal injury case.

The initial injuries are one thing but don’t forget that healing from personal injuries is a long-term matter. When proving how much the other party owes you in damages, think about the damages in terms of your total recovery.

This could mean things like the physical therapy bills you have for years to come, the cost of therapy for mental distress and loss of sleep, compensation to account for the income you lost from taking time off from work or being unable to earn a living, and other such damages.

The bills you get during the process are crucial in quantifying your damages, so get copies when at all possible.

7. Maintain a Journal or Log of Your Injuries

Keeping a journal after the incident is important both for concrete proof and for your own ability to protect your rights.

Having any sort of physical log makes all of the evidence you gather more credible. Keeping details of your injuries will also back the diagnosis and advice you receive from your doctors.

What’s more, keeping a journal helps you to remember all of the details of the accident so that you’re more useful during depositions and when relaying information to your lawyer and doctors throughout the entire process.

Learn How to Collect Evidence for Your Personal Injury Case

These tips will help you learn how to collect evidence for your personal injury case. Personal injury cases have huge stakes on the line, both in terms of money and your quality of life.

When you’re facing one of these situations, you’ll need help from a team of qualified lawyers. We’d love to help.

Take time to contact us online, by phone at (800)674-7854, or shoot us a text.