Preserving Evidence and Why Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer Is Key to Your Case
Evidence is foundational to any personal injury claim. If you, or someone you love, are injured because of someone else’s negligence — such as in a car accident or slip and fall, for example — preserving evidence is critical to obtaining the compensation you deserve.
Unfortunately, lots of evidence can be lost or damaged if you do not act quickly. An experienced personal injury lawyer is essential in these situations as they understand what evidence is necessary to prove your case, and they know how to preserve it properly.
1. Lawyers understand what evidence matters
Evidence in personal injury cases includes more than just photos or medical records. Important evidence can also include things like surveillance footage, witness statements, tire skid marks, damaged concrete or asphalt, police reports, traffic signal data and roadway inspection logs. A personal injury lawyer knows what to look for and how to find it.
Your lawyer can, among other things, have thorough investigations of the accident scene completed, obtain important data or documents from third parties through motions in the courts and consult with other professionals such as accident reconstructionists, medical experts and private investigators to ensure the best evidence is collected.
Without a lawyer, many people don’t know where to start gathering evidence. You may overlook some important details or fail to obtain critical pieces of evidence on time. Something as innocent as waiting too long to request helpful video footage from a nearby business could result in the footage being unavailable to support your case.
2. Preventing tampering, loss or destruction of important evidence
Over time, physical evidence degrades — photos or videos get deleted, witnesses’ memories fade or records get misplaced. A personal injury lawyer will act immediately to protect critical evidence. For example, soon after your accident, your lawyer will send a notice letter to the at-fault parties requiring them to preserve all relevant evidence which could be critical to your claim.
3. Ensuring proper storage of evidence
The collection and storage of evidence matters just as much as the evidence itself. A personal injury lawyer understands the legal standards for collecting and preserving evidence. They can ensure evidence is properly obtained and stored so its admissibility and credibility are less likely to be questioned at trial. Mistakes in handling evidence — such as using improperly obtained documents — can weaken your case by not being able to rely on the evidence at trial if a judge decides the evidence is inadmissible.
4. Proper evidence strengthens your claim
The goal of collecting and preserving evidence is to help recover the compensation you are entitled to. Proper evidence can prove the liability of the at-fault party, demonstrate and document the injuries you suffered and illustrate how the accident has impacted your life. Without proper evidence, your case can become much more difficult, leading to fights over conflicting versions of events, weakening your negotiating position and ultimately resulting in poorer results. On the other hand, your lawyer can also strengthen your case by evaluating the evidence of the other parties to find weaknesses in their arguments.
Conclusion
Hiring a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after an accident is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the best outcome for your case. Their skilled approach to evidence preservation can make all the difference. Your future is too important to risk — put an experienced personal injury lawyer in your corner.
This article was originally published by The Hamilton Spectator.
