The victim of an accident becomes well aware of the costs. He or she must endure pain, must deal with a pile of medical bills, and must struggle to recover. Lawyers have learned from experience all of the potential qualifying damages for any personal injury case.

The value of good evidence

• A large amount of evidence helps to support claims, regarding the cost of a given injury.
• Pictures, video footage and witness statements provide a lawyer with good sources of evidence.

Factors that can increase the size of the negotiated or court-ordered settlement:

• An especially long recovery
• An injury that causes a disability or a disfigurement (any permanent change)
• The treating physician prescribes a long-term treatment plan.
• The treating physician suggests a surgical correction.
• The recovering victim must spend some time in the hospital.
• A hard injury: one to a bone, the head, a joint, or the vertebrae
• The treating physician prescribes medication.
• The injury disrupts the victim’s typical day-to-day lifestyle.

A good attorney can magnify the cost of an injury by calling attention to potential future needs.

A good Personal Injury Lawyer in Kingston speaks with a doctor, in order to discover what types of treatment his or her client might need in the future. What problems might emerge following the utilization of such treatment?

For instance, the possible need for surgery in the future would allow introduction of a claim that the client would suffer more pain. Moreover, the same possible treatment could affect the size of an additional cost. That added cost would be lost earning opportunities. Someone that must undergo surgery needs to take time off from work. It is possible that a medical complication could arise before the employer has granted an employee the availability of short-term disability.

In other words, there could be times in the future when the client’s/victim’s need to undergo a certain medical procedure would force termination of employment. That would mean the loss of an earning opportunity. Obviously, the need to experience such a loss could prove costly.

How could a lawyer estimate the cost?

The lawyer would need to speak with a medical professional that specialized in the area of medicine that related to the client’s problem. For instance, if the client had an implant, such as a ventricular shunt, then the client’s attorney would need to speak with a neurologist of a neurosurgeon.

In that way, the attorney’s understanding of possible problems would increase. For instance, that understanding could expand to include a realization of the chances for infection. An infected shunt must be removed and replaced. The removal and replacement require performance of a surgical procedure.

As stated above, someone that needs to undergo a surgical procedure cannot be working.