There is perhaps no greater disruption to our lives than an unexpected and sudden injury or illness. We are moving through life, just following the course we have worked for years to develop, and then suddenly something happens that derails everything.
This type of bad luck is tough enough when it is an illness that we know we could have prevented. A lifetime of poor diet and insufficient exercise can result in a lot of health problems later on. But the bad breaks are even more difficult to cope with when they come as a result of someone else’s recklessness, carelessness, or neglect. And that is how many injuries happen.
It could be a workplace incident that results from poor maintenance of equipment. It might be a car accident caused by an impaired or distracted driver. The list goes on and on.
How do you get through such a destructive incident? The most important thing you can do, after seeking immediate medical care at an appropriate facility, is to secure legal representation. You will have a long road ahead of you, and you will need good representation to get the best possible outcome.
We’ve already named several of the most common types of injuries, and Schwartzapfel personal injury lawyers in New York have seen many examples of many of them. From the moment you are first able to seek legal help, you need to do it. Talk about this with your family in case your injuries are so severe that you cannot contact a lawyer yourself. Make sure they understand ahead of time that if it ever happens to you, you want them to start your case immediately.
This isn’t about greed. The fact is that the moment you first get injured, the bills start to pile up. There could be an ambulance bill, followed by an emergency room bill, a separate emergency room doctor bill, inpatient bills, therapists, specialists, and on and on. If you don’t start your case immediately, these bills will become delinquent and your problems will multiply.
Your medical bills aren’t the only financial impact of an injury. A significant injury that costs you time off work will mean lost wages, so not only might you be delinquent on a medical bill, you might also be late on your electric bill, your mortgage, your car payment, and much more. The sooner you get compensation, the better the chance you can stave off those financial monsters.
And speaking of taking action quickly, your case will only be successful if your attorney can build your case from the earliest moments. Do not wait for a police report or a corporate investigation. Get your lawyer on the case immediately so that he or she can have access to all pertinent information right away. Your representation can help make sure that facts aren’t suppressed, misplaced, or altered. He or she will also be able to gather witness statements right away before they begin to forget details about what happened to you. And physical evidence has a finite lifespan, so the longer you go without getting those items secured and documented, the better the chance that they will be rendered inadmissible later on in court.
No one likes to think about what would happen if they suffered a serious injury. It’s frightening to think of the pain and financial distress that could result. But like so many other things, you must plan for it if you expect to avoid suffering its heaviest impact.
Do your homework ahead of time. Talk to your family about the common hazards at your workplace. Wear your seat belt. If you are going out of town, read up ahead of time and know what will be different if something happens to you while you are on vacation or traveling for work. The distance between your home and the site of the incident can greatly complicate things, so be prepared. Do your part to protect yourself before an incident takes place, and then make sure you have a strategy ready to go if something ever happens. That means having a good financial plan for emergencies, but it also means having a plan for getting legal protection when something goes wrong.