Is Your Case Worth Anything? If So, How Much? How Do You Know?
Personal Injury Lawyers in Alabama Answers: “How much is my case worth?”
Part Four (4)
Thank you for joining us in this insightful discussion regarding important factors that influence the value of your case and assist in evaluating how much your claim is worth.
- In Alabama, pre-existing injuries or conditions and prior medical treatment and history can influence the value of your claim.
A pre-existing injury or condition occurs when an injury victim has suffered from a past accident, injury, or condition. In this instance, the defense will often claim that the injuries or condition complained of in the current case stem from the past, prior or old accident or injury. In some cases, the pre-existing injury is just that, a pre-existing injury that was not caused or aggravated by the current or new accident or injury. In that situation, it is important to maintain credibility and not seek compensation and recovery for the pre-existing injury or condition. In other cases, the current or new accident or injury was caused or aggravated by the current or new accident or injury, prompting treatment and therapy. When dealing with a possible pre-existing injury or condition, your Alabama personal injury and accident lawyer, when appropriate, be able to work with the medical and treatment providers, as well as experts to determine if there are new injuries or the aggravation of an old or pre-existing injury or condition. Then, this information must be conveyed to the jury, judge, defense attorney, and insurance adjuster accordingly, in an effort to seek compensation and recovery.
Prior medical treatment and history works much the same way as pre-existing injuries and conditions. If an injury victim has previous or ongoing medical treatment or history that is unrelated to a current accident or injury, this can impact the value of the claim. If the injured person has previous or ongoing medical treatment or history unrelated to the injuries sustained in the new accident or injury, then it is important to maintain credibility and not attempt to seek compensation and recovery for the unrelated medical treatment. However, if the current medical treatment stems from the new accident or injury or was caused or aggravated by the new accident or injury, then your injury and accident lawyer when appropriate must be able to collaborate with the medical and treatment providers, as well as experts to demonstrate this to the jury, judge, defense attorney and insurance adjuster accordingly in an effort to seek compensation and recovery.
In some cases, pre-existing injuries and prior and ongoing unrelated medical treatment can complicate a case and negatively impact the value. However, in other cases, a pre-existing injury or unrelated medical treatment can be used to demonstrate the susceptibility of an injury victim to the aggravation of a pre-existing injury or condition. Therefore, you must discuss all of your injuries, previous accidents, injuries and conditions, and prior or ongoing treatment and therapy with your attorney, in order to properly evaluate your damages.
The Alabama lawyers at the Gartlan Injury Law are available day and night to answer your specific questions regarding your case. We hope you learned from this article and will continue to read part 5.
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Aaron Gartlan is a graduate of Troy University and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law who focuses his practice exclusively on representing those injured by the wrongdoing of others. He is member of the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers, Million Dollar Advocates Forum and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition to his legal practice, Aaron teaches Business Law as an adjunct instructor at Troy University’s Sorrell College of Business and serves as a field artillery sergeant in the Alabama National Guard.
