Whether you’ve been involved in a car accident or a workplace accident, or have been the victim of a dog bite, know that the evidence that backs your claim has a huge impact on the outcome of your personal injury case. Only, evidence for personal injury claims can come in different forms and typically extends beyond photographs, videos, and medical records. So, what evidence is needed for a personal injury claim, why is it important, and what role does causation play?
The Role of Causation
If you hope to receive compensation for your damages through a personal claim, you need to prove that your injuries are the result of negligence on someone else’s part. To do this, you have to demonstrate that the other party owed you a duty of care, breached the duty of care, the breach caused your injuries, and the damages are the result of the injuries. Causation is the third element, serving as a crucial link between your injuries and the defendant’s actions.
What Is the Evidence Of Causation?
Proving causation requires demonstrating that negligence or willful misconduct on the part of a defendant led to your injuries/damages. If you cannot prove causation, it’s near-impossible to hold someone else liable for your injuries, irrespective of their severity. Is it hard to prove causation? Not necessarily, provided you account for cause-in-fact and proximate cause.
Cause-In-Fact
Also referred to as actual cause and factual causation, cause-in-fact helps establish a direct link between a plaintiff’s injuries and a defendant’s actions, and pins liability on the latter. This element is fairly easy to prove, and you may use a simple “but-for” test to move forward. All you need to do is determine if your injuries would have occurred “but for” the defendant’s actions.
Proximate Cause
Proximate cause tends to include multiple elements and is typically more complicated to demonstrate than cause-in-fact. It involves showing that a defendant was aware that his/her/their actions or conduct might result in injuries or harm to others. For example, if a speeding driver jumps a red light and causes an accident, you need to show that the driver was aware of the foreseeable consequences.
Why Is Evidence Important in Claims?
Doing justice serves as the crux of the legal system, and when you suffer injuries because of someone else, the law in New York allows you to seek compensation for your damages. However, the law also ensures that only those it holds guilty need to pay damages. As a result, evidence serves as the foundation of any personal injury claim.
Evidence in personal injury cases highlights the facts required to pin ability on a defendant, draws attention to the extent of a plaintiff’s injuries, and substantiates your claim for compensation. Besides, your lawyer can build a strong case only in the presence of compelling evidence.
Keep in mind that evidence is crucial to prove to a court that your version of an accident is actually how it occurred, and to show that the defendant is responsible for your injuries. After all, no court will take your word for it, and you will need to provide adequate evidence to get a favorable verdict.
What Is Evidence of Injury?
Evidence of injury is wide-ranging and covers circumstances that lead to an accident, causation, the severity of injuries, and the impact of the injuries on a plaintiff’s life. If you’re wondering what evidence is needed for a personal injury claim, know that it can come in varied forms.
Physical Evidence
Physical evidence is typically easy to collect and includes any tangible element related to an accident. It can include a damaged automobile or personal property, physical injuries, defective products, broken objects, and drug paraphernalia.
Photographic and Video Evidence
It is common for personal injury lawyers to seek surveillance footage from CCTV cameras in the vicinity of accidents to try and bolster their cases. If you are in a position to take photographs and/or videos of the scene of the accident and your injuries, your lawyer can use the same. Footage from dashboard cameras and traffic cameras can also prove to be beneficial.
Documentary Evidence
You may expect your lawyer to collect different types of information during the discovery stage, not just from you, but also from the defendant’s lawyers or insurance company. This typically includes police reports, medical records, insurance records, payroll records, cell phone records, and posts on social media platforms.
Police Reports
When available, it’s common for insurance companies to inspect police reports before they settle personal injury cases. A police report can be particularly useful if it shows who is at fault in an accident. For example, if a police report indicates that a defendant jumped a red light and caused an accident in the process, it serves as vital evidence.
If your case goes to court, your lawyer can determine if a police report is admissible because courts can consider them hearsay in some scenarios. Your lawyer can also establish if your case might benefit by calling the reporting or investigating officer to testify in court.
Medical Records
When it comes to evidence for personal injury claims, medical records are never far behind, and they play a crucial role in settlements and verdicts alike. This is because they highlight the severity of your injuries and help establish that your claim is in line with the injuries. For instance, if you’ve suffered spinal cord injuries with life-altering effects, your medical records can prove the same. Medical records can come in the form of:
- Hospital bills
- Doctors’ notes
- Lab test reports
- Surgical reports
- Progress notes
- Rehabilitation reports
Witness Statements
Witnesses typically report their statements under oath, either during disposition or at trial. They provide details of what they saw or heard at the scene and the time an accident took place. Since these statements help corroborate a plaintiff’s version of events, they can play an important role in establishing the facts of a case.
Expert Testimony
When personal injury lawyers deal with complicated cases, they often seek insight from experts in different realms. For example, a medical expert can exemplify how an injury will have a long-term effect. Expert evidence in personal injury cases can also come from:
- Accident reconstruction experts
- Mental health experts
- Economy experts
- Manufacturing experts
- Security experts
- Life-care planners
Is the Evidence Admissible?
While you file a personal injury lawsuit, keep in mind that courts don’t accept all types of evidence. Instead, you can only present evidence that a court finds admissible. This is to ensure that the evidence that makes its way to court is reliable and relevant. Even though testimonies are common in personal injury cases, they can face challenges when it comes to meeting this criterion, especially if the opposing party can demonstrate that it is hearsay. If you collect evidence illegally, a court might find it inadmissible.
In New York, the types of evidence that fall under civil cases include evidence of character, habit, liability insurance, offer to compromise, payment of medical expenses, subsequent remedial measures, and payment by joint tortfeasor. If the opposing party tries to suppress any evidence you wish to present in court, your lawyer can argue why the court should allow its presentation.
Proving Damages
Once your lawyer shows that the defendant is responsible for your injuries, the next step is to highlight the damages. This involves showing the severity of your injuries as well as the resultant costs you’ve incurred and will incur. While it’s common for plaintiffs to take the stand and share their own observations about their injuries, pain, suffering, and emotional distress, personal injury lawyers routinely partner with medical experts who testify about their clients’ injuries, their prognosis, as well as their short- and long-term effects.
On the other hand, an economic expert can provide a comprehensive breakdown of the financial damages a plaintiff suffers after accounting for past, existing, and future losses. This helps quantify the damages for which you stand to receive compensation.
Conclusion
Evidence for personal injury claims comes in different forms, be it physical, medical, or documentary. What’s important is that you gather all the evidence as soon as possible and know how to use it to strengthen your case. In addition, remember that not all types of evidence are admissible in court. Given the complexities surrounding collecting and presenting evidence, it comes as no surprise that most victims hire personal injury lawyers to fight their cases.