A personal injury lawsuit is built upon a solid foundation of evidence. Without proof that another party was completely at fault for causing your accident that led to serious injuries, you won’t be able to collect a fair settlement for your damages. Femember that you have the right to have a personal injury attorney in Virginia help you gather this evidence!
One of the first phases of a personal injury lawsuit is known as the “discovery phase,” when evidence is gathered to support your case. The discovery phase can last a few days or sometimes weeks, depending on how complex of an injury claim you have.
During the discovery phase, your personal injury attorney will work to gather as much documentation on your accident, injuries, lost wages, recovery prognosis and projected expenses. The attorney may need to contact your doctors, employer, accident witnesses and even expert witnesses to develop the evidence needed to prove your claim.
In some cases, obtaining certain documents may be difficult to do on your own, especially when you are requesting records from the party you file the lawsuit against. For example, trucking companies are reluctant to hand over their drivers’ record of duty logs or personnel files when they’ve been involved in a serious truck accident.
As you can imagine, gathering evidence during the discovery phase is a lot of work, especially when the degree of fault is in question. Virginia’s negligence laws follow the contributory fault rule, which means your evidence must support your complete lack of fault in causing the accident if you are to recover any damages through your personal injury lawsuit.
Get Help with a Personal Injury Lawsuit from a Personal Injury Attorney
The discovery phase is when the majority of the work for your personal injury lawsuit is done, meaning there are several chances for mistakes to be made that could damage your claim. Protect your right to a fair settlement by working with a personal injury attorney who knows what evidence is needed to prove your damages!
If you are the victim of someone else’s negligence or carelessness, whether in a car accident or some other type of accident, you have certain rights guaranteed by law. Dulaney, Lauer & Thomas is a Front Royal law firm with attorneys available to help those who have been involved in Northern Virginia accidents and suffered serious injury. Call 1-540-636-7100 to speak with an experienced lawyer today about your motorcycle accident claim.
