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What Are Some Examples Of Cases That Are Not Worth Pursuing?

The Law Office Phillips & Allen PA Nov. 20, 2022

Cases that are not worth pursuing are cases with essentially nominal damages, very little medical damages, basic diagnostic study that shows no injury is not really going to be a good case to spend a lot of money on because it almost doesn’t matter how valuable the case is. The amount of money to prove the case is pretty standard if you are hiring all those experts but the nominal damages, it’s how do you measure damages, what’s wrong with you, did you get a bruise, are there any permanent damages?

If there are not really any serious damages, the cases are not really that good, so if it’s only a few thousand dollars of medical damages and medical costs, it’s really not that worth pursuing because the pain and suffering component of it is directly proportional to the amount of actual medical damages that you see in the case.

If you have somebody that has a $500 medical bill related to some physical therapy and an x-ray that was unremarkable, then that case is not worth pursuing because by the time you file it and you prosecute it, you litigate it, you’re not going to get much more than what those damages are. The medical damages and how much money you spend on your medical care is directly proportional to the pain and suffering.

If you spend a lot in medical care, then you’re probably going to have a pretty good case with the exception of that you can’t over treat. You can’t be a hypochondriac because if you do that, you’ll be sorry. Those are the types of cases we don’t want. If a person “over treats” an injury where they have very minimal injuries they won’t be compensated well.

What is the Most Common Type of Personal Injury Case That You See?

I’ll answer first by saying the least common types are the ones that are really significant injuries where significant coordinated care is needed, or even the wrongful death cases. Those are the least common because you don’t get those kinds of cases in proportion to average run of the mill fender bender. The fender bender with minor injuries are the most common. People don’t know why they should see a lawyer and if something happens, a lot of times, they don’t realize the cause is actionable. The most common injury is usually some form of back or neck damage.

That’s the most common case and the reason for that is because that is just people are in cars all the time but another least common type of cases are going to be the product’s liability auto cases just because a lot of times people don’t really know when a product has a defect or not that may have caused their injuries. They got injured but they don’t necessarily know whether or not the product has been found to be defective.

What Can I Do to Expedite the Personal Injury Claim Process?

Right from the very initial contact with any of your medical providers, put together a diary of who you’re seeing, when you’re seeing them and why you’re seeing them and what’s happening. That can help us out immensely because we need to know who all your treatment providers are. If you can keep a running list or a running diary of who those providers are, then it will help us out immensely.

Another thing to do is to collect your financial information and save all your financial information, your old paychecks and provide them to us so that we can have documentation as to wage loss but basically, being forthcoming and available for us to get documentation from the client can be very helpful. Some of the cases that you lose are because the client was just not diligent in getting paperwork to you.

Does I Matter Which Doctor I Visit?

If you have a head injury and it’s neurological, you need to see a neurologist, not a dentist. It’s kind of funny, but you need to see the right doctor for that kind of injury and so many people will go talk to their doctor or someone they respect and you just don’t get the right treatment and if you use the wrong doctor.

A lot of times you have a head injury and you have a TMJ issue or something like that, you need to see someone that can testify in court. Use common sense. You don’t go to see a foot doctor for a hand problem and vice versa, but people do choose the wrong doctors. The biggest thing is that chiropractic has its place for the soft tissue injuries and has its place for other things and for physical therapy but they are not diagnostic doctors.

You’re never going to get causation or great causation from them, you will not. You will get treatment records but you are not going to get causation from them and you need to prove causation, so you’ve got to pick the right doctors, the right specialists and you’ve got to go see them. You can’t miss appointments because if you miss appointments, the defense will tell the jury that if you miss appointments, it must not have been hurting you that bad because otherwise, you would have went to them. Choose the right doctor, use your head, use some common sense and go to the appointments.

For more information on PI Cases Not Worth Pursuing, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking talk Arnold F. Phillips by calling today.