Why it's so important to document your accident injuries

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Hello, this is Robert Mansour. Today's video is about how to document your case if you have a significant injury from a car accident.  The important thing to keep in mind is that you've got to go get medical care right away, or as soon as you can, if you have a significant injury from a car accident. Because if you don't do that and you wait too long, the insurance company for the responsible party might argue that you weren't all that hurt after all. In other words, if you were really hurt, you would have gone to seek medical care.

Now, a few things to keep in mind. If your injuries are severe, and if you had problems before the accident, but they were not as severe, or perhaps your problems were dormant for a period of time ... two or three years you were doing fine ... one of the most effective things you can do is go back to the same doctor who treated you before. Because that doctor, he or she will very familiar with your care. They will know how you were before the accident, and how you are after the accident.

In fact, when that doctor comes to testify in court, if it comes to that, that doctor's testimony will be that much more believable, because the jury will be sitting there and saying, "Well, wait a minute. This doctor knows this person from before the accident. They've been their doctor for years. They would be the best person to articulate how the person was before, and how the person was after."

You see, if you go to a doctor that your lawyer refers you to, which is fine in some cases. But if you do that, then a jury or an insurance company or other person might look at that suspiciously, and say, "Well, wait a minute. Why aren't you going to the same doctor who helped you before?"

I had a client who had a very bad knee injury from the case, and needed knee surgery. The best doctor that we could use was his knee surgeon from before. He'd actually had a prior knee surgery on the same knee, but the accident made his knee much worse, and required another knee surgery.  So who better to go to than the previous knee surgeon? That was our best bet. In fact, that doctor's credibility is going to be much higher than any other doctor's credibility.

Also, if the defense or the insurance company hires their own expert, that expert is arguably a hired gun. They've been paid for their testimony. Versus your doctor, who is your doctor from before, who's known you for several years. Your doctor's going to carry much more credibility than their hired gun is going to carry.  Now, that's not always the case. But it's something to strategically keep in mind when dealing with severe injuries from auto accidents.

My name is Robert Mansour, and I hope you found this video to be helpful. Thanks for watching.