WISCONSIN PERSONAL INJURY INFORMATION RESOURCE
Thank you for visiting Mingo & Yankala’s Personal Injury Information Resource. We will continually update our Resource Center. Our goal is to provide answers to common questions we receive from car, truck and other accident victims in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin. If you were injured anywhere in Wisconsin in a car, truck or other accident and have a question we did not answer, we invite you to call or connect with us by using our Contact Form. We would love to talk to you and it won’t cost you anything to call.
Don’t Let a Prior Injury Ruin Your Wisconsin Personal Injury Case
Many of our clients who have been injured in a Wisconsin car, truck or other accident had a previous injury to the same area of the body. People always want to know if they still have a case.
The answer is YES you still have a case. In fact, you may have a very strong case as long as you and your lawyer don’t do anything to hurt your case.
We have put together a list of important reminders you should follow if you have been injured in a car, truck or other accident anywhere in Wisconsin but had a pre-existing injury to the same part of your body. We give you this advice based upon our personal experience representing many injury victims in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin who had a pre-existing injury.
Be Completely Honest With Your Lawyer
If you had a prior similar injury, it is important to tell your lawyer about it. A good lawyer will be able to separate your new injury from your old injury when presenting your case to the insurance company. If symptoms from your old injury were still present at the time of your recent accident, your lawyer needs to get to know you personally so that your lawyer can explain to the insurance company how the recent accident made your symptoms worse. This will allow you to obtain the full compensation you are entitled to.
Be Honest With the Insurance Company
Both you and your attorney need to be honest with the insurance company about any pre-existing injuries. Chances are high that the insurance company is going to find out about your prior injury anyway. Insurance companies share information about prior claims. Insurance companies are entitled to review relevant (not all) medical records for a reasonable period of time predating your accident. Chances are good that your prior injury is going to show up somewhere in your medical records.
If, and probably when, an insurance company finds out that you have tried to hide a pre-existing injury, they will be suspicious of the rest of your claim. It will make settling your case more difficult and probably take much longer than it should. If your case cannot be settled, and a lawsuit is started, be honest with the defense attorney when he is taking your deposition. Your lawyer will be present with you at that time. There is nothing that an insurance company lawyer likes better than to catch a plaintiff lying about his or her past medical history.
Be Honest at Trial
We are able to settle most cases before they go to trial. However, if your case does go to trial you must be honest about pre-existing injuries when testifying. In fact, your lawyer should bring out any relevant pre-existing injury before the insurance company lawyer does. That takes away the insurance company’s cross-examination points and gives you great credibility with the jury.
Always Follow Your Doctor’s Advice
Regardless of whether you had a pre-existing injury, you need to follow your doctor’s advice. If an MRI scan, physical therapy or other treatment was recommended by your doctor, you need to follow that advice. Juries are much more sympathetic, and tend to award more money, to injury victims who closely follow their doctor’s treatment recommendations.
Make Sure You Hire the Right Lawyer for Your Injury Case
If you were injured in a car, truck or other accident anywhere in Wisconsin and had a pre-existing injury, you will be completely comfortable disclosing the prior injury if you hire the right lawyer. If you hire an experienced personal injury lawyer you will trust that lawyer to properly explain to the insurance company how the new injury is different from your prior injury and how the recent accident made your injuries worse. For example, we are representing a young woman now who has a long history of low back pain prior to her car accident. However, after the car accident her doctors have recommended that she undergo a lumbar fusion. We have presented the insurance company with prior medical records which show a history of law back pain but we also explained to the insurance company that before her accident there was never a recommendation that she undergo a surgical procedure to her low back.
If you are a car, truck or other accident victim anywhere in Wisconsin we would love to help. Please feel free to call us at 414-273-7400 or use our Contact Form. You will find us easy to talk to. You never pay a fee of any kind to our law firm until we obtain a recovery for you in your personal injury case.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO SETTLE MY WISCONSIN CAR OR TRUCK ACCIDENT CASE
The good news is that the great majority of Wisconsin car and truck accident cases settle out of Court. Any lawyer can settle your injury case. However it takes a skilled and experienced Wisconsin personal injury attorney to obtain the maximum compensation for your case.
Clients often want to know how long it will take their case to settle. Following a car or truck accident, it is important that your lawyer keep in touch with you on a regular basis. This allows your lawyer to guide you through the process so that you do not make any mistakes that might hurt your case. Keeping in touch with the client will also allow the lawyer to know when it is time to start trying to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company. You want to avoid a situation where your file sits idle, collecting dust, because the lawyer does not know his client is done treating or has reached a healing plateau. Lack of communication from the lawyer is the biggest complaint personal injury clients have about their lawyer. You will never experience that at Mingo & Yankala. We mark every file and keep in touch with our clients on a regular basis.
Insurance companies are more difficult than ever to deal with. Some of the things that well affect how long it takes to settle your case include the following:
Stubborn Insurance Adjuster
How long it takes to settle your Wisconsin car or truck accident case can depend upon which insurance adjuster is assigned to your claim. Unfortunately, some insurance adjusters act as if no one is really hurt and they are slow to pay claims.
A stubborn insurance adjuster can cause a claim that should settle in a few months to drag on for months or even force the case into suit if they are unwilling to make a reasonable settlement offer. Don’t let the insurance company wear you out. Too many lawyers pressure their clients to take whatever settlement offer is made and this can reinforce insurance companies to make low offers.
Soft Tissue Injuries
If your injury from a Wisconsin car or truck accident are limited to strains and sprains, what we generally call soft tissue injuries, your case should settle relatively soon. Your lawyer needs to know when your soft tissue injuries have resolved and you are done with treatment. Certified medical records and billing statements then need to be ordered and personally reviewed by your attorney. If your soft tissue injury case does not get assigned to a stubborn insurance adjuster (discussed above) a soft tissue injury case can be settled in months following your car or truck accident.
Wisconsin Car or Truck Accident Case With No Permanent Injury
One of the important decisions your lawyer will have to make is whether your injury from a car or truck accident is considered permanent. Below we discuss what is legally required for an injury to be considered permanent.
If you and your lawyer, in consultation with your doctor, conclude that your injury is not considered permanent under the law your case should be able to be settled in a few months after you end your treatment. No formal medical report is usually required if there is no claim for permanent injury. Instead, your Wisconsin car or truck accident case is evaluated based upon your medical records from the accident and medical bills, length of time you treated, nature of injury you suffered and whether you are considered partially at fault for the accident.
Wisconsin Car or Truck Accident Case With Permanent Injury
If your injury from a Wisconsin car or truck accident is considered permanent, your case may take longer to settle. However, a case with permanent injuries is generally worth more than a case where no permanent injury is claimed.
In order for an injury to be considered permanent, one or more of your doctors will have to express an opinion, to a reasonable degree of probability, that your injury is permanent in nature. Your lawyer will request a written report from your doctor(s) asking whether the car accident was a cause of a permanent injury. Most cases settle. However, if your case does not settle one or more of your doctors will need to testify that, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, you suffered one or more permanent injuries as a result of the car accident.
A properly documented and supported claim for permanent injury will allow you to recover damages not only from the date of the accident through the present time but also damages from the present time through the remainder of your life expectancy. Life expectancy tables are used to establish your projected life expectancy based upon your age, gender and other factors.
It takes time to properly document a claim for permanent injury. As a general rule doctors like to wait a year from the date of the accident before commenting upon whether or not the injury is considered permanent. Your lawyer needs to keep in touch with you on a regular basis so that your lawyer knows when the proper time is to request a permanency report from your doctor. Questions presented to your doctor need to be carefully drafted by your personal injury attorney. Often doctors need to be instructed on the proper legal standard they are to use when commenting upon your case. The opinion of your doctor does not need to be expressed with absolute certainty. On the other hands your doctor’s opinion cannot be expressed in terms of possibilities. Rather, any expert opinion rendered by your doctor must be held to a reasonable degree of medical probability
Your Personal Injury Lawyer Must Keep in Touch With You on a Regular Basis
To move your case forward to a successful conclusion in a timely manner, and obtain the maximum compensation you are entitled to, it is absolutely necessary for your lawyer to contact you on a regular basis to discuss your injuries. Otherwise, your case may be ready to settle but nothing happens because your lawyer has not kept in touch with you. Regular communication with the client also allows your lawyer to know when the proper time is to request a report from your treating doctor and substantiate any claim you have for past and future pain and suffering.
Every Wisconsin personal injury client at Mingo & Yankala is contacted on a regular basis during the entire time we are handling his or her case. We know exactly what our clients medical status is at any given time. We know when and how to request proper medical reports and obtain documentation to support a valid claim for not only past injuries and damages but future injuries and damages from your car or truck accident as well. Each of our clients know they can contact us at any time with questions they have about their case and we make sure our clients are comfortable in doing that.
If this is the type of law firm you would like to have represent you for injuries from a Wisconsin car or truck accident, or personal injury case of any kind, we invite you to contact us. You can use our convenient Contact Form on our website or you can contact us at 414-273-7400. We are always friendly, easy to talk to and we would love to hear from you.
DON’T LET SOCIAL MEDIA RUIN YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CASE
People use social media every date without thinking twice about it. Everything from a mundane daily activity to a grand vacation ends up on social media, usually with no negative consequences. However use of social media can ruin your personal injury case.
One of the things your personal injury lawyer should discuss with you at the time of your initial consultation is the danger of using social media following your Wisconsin car or truck accident. You have no right to privacy with regard to your social media accounts. Use of privacy settings can help but is not a guarantee that an insurance company will not eventually gain access to at least some of your social media accounts after a lawsuit is filed.
An obvious example of social media hurting your personal injury case is where you claim to live a sedentary lifestyle because of injuries you received from an accident and your social media accounts show photographs of you running, jumping or lifting heavy objects. Our clients are honest people and this is not the type of example we generally see.
However what can happen is a seemingly innocent social media post or photograph gets taken out of context by the insurance company or the insurance company’s lawyer. An insurance company is always looking to discredit an injury victim in an attempt to reduce what it eventually pays that victim to settle his or her case. For example, a social media post or photograph about taking a short walk to get some fresh air while recuperating can be taken out of context by the defense attorney to imply that you are active and not badly injured. A social media post where you state you are sorry the accident happened can be misinterpreted as an admission of fault.
So what should you do with social media if you have a personal injury claim pending or a personal injury lawsuit that has actually been filed? Here is some advice we give our personal injury clients:
- The best practice of all is to avoid using social media altogether while your case is pending. This will prevent the possibility of even an innocent post being taken out of context and used against you. However, we understand that giving up social media completely until your case settles is not realistic for many of our clients. We work with those clients and give them the additional advice below.
- If you cannot give up social media completely, at least avoid any post or photographs about how the accident happened and what injuries you received.
- Do not post any social media content about physical activities you engage in while your claim or case is pending. Remember, innocent social media content can be taken out of context in an effort to reduce how much you get paid for your injuries.
- Use privacy settings on all your social media accounts until your case is settled. This is not a complete guarantee of privacy but it will help.
- Do not go back and attempt to delete social media content that you think may hurt your case. This can be interpreted as you trying to hide something or being dishonest. Also, depending upon the context, this can be considered destroying evidence which is something you never want to be a part of.
- If you have posted social media content following your car or truck accident, immediately bring that to the attention of your attorney. Your attorney can work with you and offer a valid explanation for the content so that it is no taken out of context at a later date.
A Good Personal Injury Attorney Should Guide You Every Step of the Way
Guiding youon how social media can hurt your personal injury case is only one example of how your personal injury attorney should guide you while your personal injury claim is pending. Your personal injury attorney should be with you every step of the way guiding you through the process and offering valuable advice so that you end up receiving the maximum compensation allowable by law.
If this is the kind of attorney you would like to have represent you following your Wisconsin car, truck or other accident, we invite you to use our confidential Contact Form or give us a call at 414-273-7400. You will find us easy to talk to and we would love to represent you in your personal injury claim. A team approach is the best way to make sure you are fully compensated for your injuries.
ARE YOU AN EGGSHELL PLAINTIFF AND HOW DOES THAT AFFECT YOUR WISCONSIN CAR OR TRUCK ACCIDENT CASE
In law school we all learned about what is called the Eggshell Plaintiff Rule. In everyday legal practice many lawyers tend to forget about the Rule. However if you are an eggshell plaintiff the Rule allows you to obtain the full monetary compensation to which you are entitled.
The Eggshell Plaintiff Rule provides that a negligent defendant takes the plaintiff as you find him/her. If you have a plaintiff who is unusually susceptible to injury, that is not a defense because under the Eggshell Plaintiff Rule a defendant takes the plaintiff as he finds them. This could involve an older person whose bones are more susceptible to fracture and suffers broken bones in an accident that ordinarily would not cause any fractures. The injured plaintiff is entitled to recover the full amount of his/her damages and the fact that he/she was more susceptible to injury is not a defense the insurance company can raise.
For example, we are working on a car accident case right now where our client had back surgery only two weeks before he was involved in a car accident. Because of his recent prior back surgery our client was more susceptible to serious injury after being rear-ended at a speed that might not have injured the average person. Under the Eggshell Plaintiff Rule our client is able to be compensated for the full extent of his injuries from the car accident even though many individuals would not have been hurt at all.
The Eggshell Plaintiff Rule is not limited to physical injuries. The Rule applies to emotional or psychological damages as well. If a plaintiff is in a fragile state of mind before being involved in a car or truck accident, and the car or truck accident creates a severe emotional response in the plaintiff, the plaintiff is entitled to recover for the full extent of his/her injuries caused by the accident as long as the eggshell plaintiff can meet his or her burden of proof.
Hire The Right Milwaukee Personal Injury Attorney to Handle Your Car or Truck Accident Injury Case Anywhere in Wisconsin
The Eggshell Plaintiff Rule is one of many legal tools available to an attorney when representing a car or truck injury victim in Wisconsin.
If you believe you are an eggshell plaintiff, and you sustained injuries in a Wisconsin car or truck accident case, we invite you to give us a call. We would love to discuss your case with you. You can use our confidential Contact Form to reach or you can give us a call at 414-273-7400. You will find us easy to talk to and it would be our honor to represent you anywhere in Wisconsin.