The Seattle Personal Injury Blog
Posted Friday, August 7, 2015 by
Chris Thayer
As your personal injury case unfolds, your Washington State personal injury attorney may tell you that you’ve been asked to complete psychological testing. Depending on your condition, this is quite common. Defense attorneys often require plaintiffs to submit to such tests, which are typically performed by psychiatrists, psychologists and neuropsychologists. There are so many psychiatric and psychological tests and many variations of the most popular ones.
Further complicating matters is the fact that there are often many ways to administer and score such tests. All of these factors can lead to confusion for personal injury lawyers. Defense expert witnesses–usually doctors–use this confusion to their advantage in many cases. They refuse to allow plaintiffs’ attorneys to view raw test data and strictly provide summary reports. Your attorney may be expected to trust the accuracy of the report, but it could be detrimental to your case.
Experienced personal injury lawyers use these steps to combat potentially damaging test summaries:
- They Learn About the Tests: Personal injury lawyers familiarize themselves with the most common psychological tests, researching how they should be administered and scored. That way, they can tell whether or not the doctor followed the proper protocol.
- They Learn About Mental Health Conditions and Diagnoses: Most defense doctors rely on the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or DSM-IV. Experienced personal injury attorneys study the manual too.
- They Get the Raw Data: Your attorney can and should refuse to be satisfied with just the summary report and can use the court’s authority to obtain raw test data.
- They Get Second Opinions: Finally, your attorney may bring in an expert to re-score your test or to score it by hand. This allows them to see how your scores compare to those from the expert’s testing. The expert may also review the summary report in detail.
Contact Washington State Personal Injury Lawyers
Today Do not go it alone when pursuing a personal injury claim. Be prepared for psychological tests and other factors by acquiring legal representation. Experienced Washington State personal injury lawyers can help, so contact Chris Thayer at (866) 884-2417 today.
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Posted Monday, August 3, 2015 by
Chris Thayer
After you have suffered an injury in an accident, an injury lawyer in Seattle can explain the steps that you can take to recover from your injury. This is your most important task to complete. This is because recovering will help you be in the right frame of mind at your trial. Additionally, you have the legal responsibility of mitigating your damages. Here are a few ways to accomplish the speediest recovery possible.
Attend All Appointments
Go to all of the appointments that your doctors schedule. If you must cancel, notify the doctor’s office immediately and reschedule the appointment promptly. A personal injury attorney in Seattle can explain that having “no show” notated on your medical records can be used against you.
Attend Physical Therapy Sessions
Likewise, attend all of your physical therapy sessions. These are often prescribed when a patient suffers a sprain, strain or other soft tissue injury. Participate fully in the experience to make the most of the treatment.
Follow Your Doctor’s Advice
Follow your doctor’s orders precisely. If your doctor tells you take certain medications, take them. If your doctor tells you to complete therapy exercises, do so. If your doctor instructs you to limit certain activities, including working, follow these instructions. It is important that you be able to show that you have done everything proactively possible to make a full recovery. In addition to inhibiting your recovery, not following your doctor’s orders can adversely affect your legal claim and portray you as someone who is not really trying to get better. This type of information could be used against you at trial or in settlement negotiations.
Legal Assistance
If you would like more information about steps that you can take to recover from your injuries, contact an injury lawyer in Seattle such as Chris Thayer by calling (866) 884-2417.
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Posted Wednesday, July 22, 2015 by
Chris Thayer
Some adjusters may overlook potential weaknesses in cases that are later discovered by a personal injury lawyer Seattle WA. This is because lawyers are able to gather more information through the formal discovery process.
Settlement with Insurance Adjusters
When a personal injury attorney is only going through an adjuster, he or she can often determine the amount and type of information that is shared. This is in stark contrast to the process that is entailed when there is more than one Seattle injury attorney involved in a case.
Types of Discovery Requests
After a lawsuit is filed, the defendant’s lawyer may start to bombard the plaintiff with a variety of discovery requests, including independent medical examination orders, requests for medical releases, depositions, requests for production of documents and interrogatories.
Potential Weaknesses
Through these requests, the defendant’s attorney may learn about several different weaknesses in your case, including prior injuries that were not caused by the accident, any alcohol consumption near the time of the accident, having a criminal record and not reporting injuries until days after the accident.
Effect on Your Case
This often means that a plaintiff’s case gets weaker after he or she files a lawsuit. In turn, this means that the best time to settle the case may be before a lawsuit is filed when the insurance adjuster is not made aware of these potential weaknesses. Any such weaknesses that are uncovered may serve to decrease the value of your case. In some instances, the settlement value of a case may drop significantly. Additionally, the existence of several weaknesses on your case may also impact the likelihood of winning a jury verdict.
Legal Assistance
If you would like more information on mitigating weaknesses in your case, contact personal injury lawyer Seattle WA Chris Thayer by calling (866) 884-2417.
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Posted Sunday, July 19, 2015 by
Chris Thayer
Although automotive accidents come out of nowhere and are unexpected, Seattle accident attorneys can explain that the first few moments after a car accident can be the most critical and indicative of your potential level of success for reaching maximum compensation. There are certain things that you can do to protect your claim, such as seek immediate medical attention and photograph the accident scene.
Legal Assistance
If you would like additional information on steps you should take immediately after an accident, review the following checklist. Then contact Seattle accident attorneys from the law office of Chris Thayer at (866) 884-2417.
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Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2015 by
Chris Thayer
While you may be patiently waiting for your trial, Seattle injury lawyers can explain that there are several things that you can do or choose not to do that can have a dramatic impact on the value of your personal injury case. Here are a few such behaviors that can adversely affect your case.
Commission of a Crime
If you commit a crime that involves dishonesty or your credibility, evidence of it can be admitted at your trial. Communications with Witnesses Anything that you say about your case with anyone other than your own Seattle injury lawyers can potentially be used against you as an admission of a party opponent. Additionally, a person overhearing a conversation that you have about your case can be brought to court as a rebuttal witness.
Misconduct
Additionally, if you have bad behavior in other aspects of your life, this may taint the testimony that witnesses who are vouching for you may deliver.
Failing to Document
As the plaintiff, you have the burden of proving your case and documenting your damages. Therefore, failing to keep proof of how you were injured or the bills that you had to pay can adversely affect the value of your case and the likelihood of your success.
Not Following Directions
Your damages can also be reduced if the defendant shows that you did not follow your doctor’s instructions or missed medical appointments because this looks like you do not care about your health. The defense theory may be that you are exaggerating your injuries and a defendant should not be made to pay more than the actual damages that he or she caused.
Legal Assistance
If you would like more information on behaviors to avoid before your personal injury trial, contact personal injury attorney Seattle Chris Thayer at (866) 884-2417.
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