Aventura Accident Lawyer Blog: What am I supposed to do following a car accident or slip and fall injury?
DECEMBER 2, 2013:
For the person injured in an accident in Florida, the one job he or she has is to obtain medical treatment immediately and continuously. Being a personal injury attorney in Aventura, the one and only job I give to my clients when they come into my office is to keep up with their treatment and therapy. The sure fire way to diminish your claim is to have significant gaps in treatment.
In Florida, even though a person is injured in a car accident or slip and fall, and the other party is clearly at fault, inconsistent treatment can extremely devalue the case. And the biggest misconception clients have about the law is that they believe they are automatically entitled to a large settlement simply because they were involved in a car accident and the other person was at fault.
The irony with this whole situation and issues that lawyers must deal with in lowering their clients’ expectations is that we, the attorneys, are to blame. Before a lawyer signs up a client, the lawyer must in fact be a salesperson to try to bring in the business. And in South Florida, personal injury attorneys frequently advertise large settlements for clients and promise clients the moon and the stars.
These false hopes that the client has immediately following his or her slip and fall accident overshadow the goal of filing a lawsuit – which is to obtain a settlement to fairly compensate for their injury. Because a million dollar settlement needs a million dollar injury, the compensation that the client receives is largely dependent upon the treatment he or she receives during the course of the case. And without immediate, consistent, and continuous treatment following the accident, a $100,000 case can quickly turn into a $5,000 case.
If you or someone you know was injured in a car accident or trip and fall accident in Aventura, then contact our lawyers today.