There are two parts of a personal injury lawsuit: proving liability and proving your damages. All too often, car accident victims are so focused on proving that another driver is responsible for the accident that they neglect to give the proper amount of attention to their damages. This can lead to weak recoveries that fail to meet victims’ needs. We don’t want to see you make that mistake, which is why you need to know how to address your damages.
Proving medical expenses
One major aspect of your car accident damages is medical expenses. Here, you’ll want to present evidence of the medical expenses that you’ve already incurred as well as any expected medical costs. But how do you prove expected medical expenses? Here are some key points that may help you do just that:
- Have evidence from a medical professional that comes across as credible and non-speculative
- Ensure that testimony about future medical expenses provide reasonable certainty as to the extent of those medical costs
- Be prepared to submit evidence of your current condition so that your prognosis is given context
- Anticipate the defense calling an expert witness of its own in order to try to contradict the evidence that you present
These are just starting points. As you’ll see as you progress through your case, there are a lot of legal nuances that can make these seemingly simple issues rather complex.
Be confident in proving damages in your case
Remember, even if you prove that another individual is responsible for your injuries, you will only be able to recover compensation if you can prove the extent of your damages. Therefore, the damages portion of your case is just as important as the negligence piece. So, make sure that you’re doing everything in your power to build the compelling case that you need, which means educating yourself on the law and how to build persuasive legal arguments.