Knowing Your Rights: 5 Tips to Keep in Mind When it Comes to Personal Injury Claims

The purpose of the law is to protect our nation’s citizens. As a law-abiding citizen, you have certain inalienable rights and protections. If someone violates those rights or protections, resulting in injury to your person or property, you likely have the grounds to file a personal injury claim.

When it comes to filing a claim, having a strong understanding of your individual and legal rights is essential. To be successful you will have to demonstrate how the defendant violated those rights and how their violation caused you injury.

Your Right to Representation

The best way to do this is by hiring legal counsel. It is your right to have someone represent you and argue your case.

Hire an attorney with extensive experience in handling personal injury claims, like Derrick Law Firm to ensure your case is being handled correctly and to maximize your chances of success.

Your Right to Call on Witnesses

It is your legal right to call on reliable witnesses that can support your version of events. Take the names and contact details of anyone that witnesses the accident and gather as much information from them as possible in the evidence-gathering phase of your case. Your attorney can further advise on how best to use these witness statements.

Your Right to not Self-Incriminate

Everyone has the right to not self-incriminate. But not everybody remembers this or fully appreciates what this means.

When it comes to personal injury claims, injury lawyers see countless cases fall apart because of posts on social media. If your social media feed undermines your version of events, it will harm your case.

Think before you post. Don’t post anything negative or defamatory about the other party. Don’t post photos of the accident. Don’t post emotions, and don’t post about your injuries.

Report Your Injury

To protect your legal rights, you will need to have your injury reported at the earliest opportunity. Depending on your case, this could mean seeking medical attention within 24 hours.

If you were injured at work, most states require you to report your injury to your employer the same day, or over the next couple of days. To protect your legal rights, you absolutely must do this. If you were injured at work and you didn’t make your employer aware of the injury, you could lose your right to seek financial compensation.

Your Right to Remain Silent (or At Least Guarded)

During the course of your personal injury claim, an insurance company may ask that you speak to a claims adjuster. Often, plaintiffs become too chatty and reveal too much about their claim. This information will then be used by the insurance company to negotiate a lower settlement.

It is your legal right to remain silent. You don’t have to answer any questions that you do not know the answer to. You do not have to speculate. If at any point you feel uncomfortable, you can decline to comment until your legal representation is present. It is far better to slow down the process and not undermine your case than to blurt out half-thought out answers and risk jeopardizing your case.