12 Important Details for Florida Lawyers Primary Evaluation

PRIMARY EVALUATION

After the basic investigation has been completed and all relevant medical information has been gathered, personal injury lawyer will be in a position to analyze your case for settlement purposes. Please try to be patient and understand that it takes time to gather all the necessary documentation and information, particularly, medical information, simply because physicians are very busy.

Quite often, because the lawyer feels it is very important, he/she will have a personal conference with your physician to discuss in detail your present medical condition and the progress you have made to compares medically your outlook for the future. The strengths and weaknesses of your case are also evaluated at this time for settlement purposes.

From experience, Florida Truck Accident Lawyer weighs different factors and takes them into account before a settlement demand is made upon the adverse party or insurance company. Some of these factors include the following points:

1. The first point is to ascertain how strong is the liability? In other words, what are the chances of proving the Defendant was at fault?

a. Florida is what we, the lawyers call a "comparative negligence" State. The opposing party and/or ultimately the jury will have to determine whether or not you yourself have contributed to causing your own injuries. To the extent of your contribution, your recovery will be accordingly reduced.

b. Medical malpractice cases are far more difficult. A Florida Malpractice Lawyers will have to first prove that the physician, hospital, or health care provider deviated from the prevailing and accepted standard of care. In other words, you have to prove the medical treatment provided to you was inadequate when compared to what a reasonably prudent physician, hospital, or health care provider would have provided under similar circumstances. The health care providers do not always conform to the standard of providing the best medicine; as average medicine is unfortunately enough.

2. How much percent of fault were you in while contributing to the accident in question or the injuries or damages sustained by you?
As explained, the percentage of fault assigned to you will reduce your recovery accordingly. Factors such as drinking, speeding, failing to wear a seat belt, neglect to use reasonable care, neglect to follow the advice of your physician etc. can result in reducing your chance of recovery.

3. What type of presentation are you going to make before a jury and is the jury going to be sympathetic and understanding towards you?
Credibility is the single most important aspect for a claimant in the litigation process. As your credibility will be on trial therefore, it is extremely important to always tell the truth so as to not allow your adversary to have any unnecessary ammunition against you. In terms of presentation, it is all right to be nervous as most people who appear before a jury for the first time will be nervous.

4. Will the jury potentially have much sympathy for the Defendant?

a. In medical malpractice cases; A Florida Personal injury Lawyer will know from studies performed that juries start out the case tending to side with the physician. Physicians usually win 80%, or more, of the medical malpractice cases which go to trial. Medical malpractice cases are also extremely expensive to contest and try. That is why credibility becomes the single most important factor in a medical malpractice case.

b. In such a case how serious and objectively demonstrable your injuries are becomes very important. Injuries which are objective are those which can be viewed and documented by observation and/or by objective testing. Subjective injuries are those which involve how you "feel" as a result of an accident. It is obviously more difficult to substantiate injuries related to what you "feel" as opposed to what can be noticed and documented.

5. Do any old injuries or medical conditions similar to the injuries sustained in this incident exist?
a. The defense usually uses an indexing system, whereby any information concerning every claim you may ever have filed related to an accident or injury can be obtained. When asked, you have to recollect each and every prior accident or claim you have made so as to not allow the defense to rubbish your credibility.

b. Even though you may have had an old injury or condition, if it was aggravated in the incident under scrutiny, the law permits you to recover for that aggravation.

6. Are your expenses out of pocket well-documented? It is important to keep proper records concerning all expenses out of your pocket as the defense is interested in ascertaining what you have actually paid personally out of pocket as opposed to what insurance may have paid earlier. Insurance benefits are generally referred to as "collateral sources" and many times the defense is given a "credit" for expenses paid by your insurance carrier

7. Have you lost wages or sustained an inability or injury to earn wages in the future? Have these losses been correctly documented with tax returns and related records?

Often when an injury is severe the involved person will no longer be able to work or will be incapable to work at the same level as before the incident or accident in question. In these situations, the personal injury lawyer will utilize well-respected economic and rehabilitation experts to substantiate these losses; it is, however, very important to make sure you have all available related documents and tax returns at hand.

8. Are you sure that there are no legal obstacles that the Florida Medical Malpractive Lawyer will need to overcome?

For example, has the Statute of Limitations run out? You should know that you only have a certain amount of time prescribed by law in which to file and pursue your claim.

9. How long will the injuries and damages sustained continue to be experienced?

An expert malpractice lawyer will utilize "life expectancy" tables to ascertain how long an individual is expected to live. These life expectancy or mortality tables help them to calculate how long you may be expected to live with the injuries and damages suffered.

10. How strong a defense will the malpractice lawyer encounter and who can he /she likely expect to be defending the adversary?
Based on the involved insurance carrier, a Florida Wrongful Death Lawyers can many times tell you up front who he/she expects to be defending the case. Law firms behave differently; some are busy generating as much paperwork as possible to enhance their income, while others prefer to get to the point. In medical negligence cases, based on the insurance carrier and/or health care provider the lawyer, will most likely tell you up front who will be defending the case.

11. Is the prospective defendant adequately insured or does the would be defendant have assets if insurance coverage fails to be adequate?
Unfortunately, sometimes a lawyer can encounter cases where there is little or no insurance available and little or no likelihood of being able to pursue a claim successfully, because it is very difficult to pursue a claim against someone with little or no assets. The lawyer appointed by you must try to ascertain the insurance coverage information and/or assets information early on in the process because it does impact a lawyer strategy in reference to how to proceed.

12. How long will it take to prosecute your case in a court of law or in front of a jury?

Properly handled cases are not resolved very often within a couple of months. Poorly handled cases, on the other hand, can be resolved more quickly, but obviously with the result being what many people do not expect or deserve. To handle a case properly and to prepare a case takes time and, as each case is different, the amount of time required varies significantly. Alway find sound advice and be honest with your attorney to have the best relationship with your legal team.