Experience does matter. Handling thousands of car accident cases means a wealth of experience. That experience translates into action.
How Experience Translates Into Results for Car Accident Clients
Our immediate action in terms of handling a car accident case is to gather all of the facts relating to the accident and to oversee, but not manage, your medical care.
Your medical care should be a product of your decision-making along with that of your healthcare provider. The attorney’s involvement will be to insist on some continuity of care. Continuity of care means that you pick a provider and stick with that provider. That is the quickest way to get well.
Continuity of care also means that the care must be aggressive. Aggressive means being proactive to make sure that you get well quickly. That is the goal.
The goal is not just to run up a lot of medical bills. The goal is to make sure that the treatment is focused, reasonable and intended to achieve the purpose stated herein.
The Importance of Identifying and Interviewing Witnesses
Witnesses are critical. They are the meat of your case.
In most cases, proof consists of not only what the witnesses say but also exhibits. Those exhibits most often are pieces of paper.
How to Find Key Witnesses After a Car Accident
The most important source is probably going to be the police officer who signed off on the Police Report. The officer does not list witnesses on the report but the officer may have private notes as to the names and contact information of the witnesses. It’s important to get that information. Most officers will give that to you voluntarily. If they will not give it to you voluntarily, once a lawsuit is filed, you need to subpoena that information.
You should promptly get a letter out to the officer requesting that information and also further requesting that he retain that information. That is, you don’t want the officer throwing away whatever notes may exist as to the identity of those witnesses.
Using Public Records and 911 Data to Identify Witnesses
Another important source of information may be the 911 contact information. You should get a FOIA request out to the 911 dispatch service requesting all of the logs and transcripts of incoming calls relating to the crash. Those 911 calls may contain the identity of witnesses who called in about the crash.
You also want to do a FOIA request to the police department for all of their computerized data and transcripts of communications relating to the crash. All of that may have information as to witnesses.
Checking for Cameras and Other Visual Evidence
Finally you want to do a survey of the scene to determine whether or not there were any cameras that may have covered the area of the crash. If so, those cameras may be your best witness. Where there are cameras then you need to identify the owner and see if that owner will voluntarily turn over the information. If the cameras are publicly held, then you need to make a FOIA request to that governmental entity to get the camera footage of the crash.
Best Practices for Contacting Witnesses
Sometimes witnesses are reluctant to speak with attorneys. That is natural. The best way to contact them is initially at least through a phone call. Follow that up with a letter or email communication confirming who you are. Then tell the witness that what you’d like to do is take a recorded statement from them as to what they know about the incident. You need to disclose on the recorded statement that it is being recorded.
Your interview of the witness should be open-ended. Do not ask leading questions. Ask questions that get the witness speaking as to what they recall. Their memory may be foggy of the incident. The more they talk about it, the more bits of information may surface from whatever may be in their memory bank.
Providing Comfort and Confidence to Witnesses
Any witness to a crash is concerned as to what their involvement may mean. Are they going to be called into court as a witness? They may be. You need to disclose that if they ask. They need to be assured that if they are called as a witness that you will be able to work around their schedule. Further assure them that you will do everything to accommodate their schedule.
Their role is simply as a citizen. They are being called upon to simply state what they know. Not being asked to state anything that is false. They are not being asked to make up anything. They are simply being asked to come forward as a good citizen and tell the court or other decision-maker what they saw and what they heard.
Most people will accommodate you.
Experienced Legal Help for Virginia Car Accident Cases
Call, or contact us for a free consultation. Also for more info on car accidents see the Wikipedia pages. Also see the post on this site dealing with car accident issues.
