Dealing with a personal injury comes with a lot of emotions. As you proceed with a case, those emotions often come to the forefront. You may experience stress, sadness, and anger as you seek compensation for your injuries. Through it all, you should always keep one thing on your mind. Patience.
While you look through previous personal injury cases, you may see a lot of settlements, court cases, and positive outcomes. The idea of a settlement or compensation for your injury may look exciting, but you do not want to get ahead of yourself. Patience is a key element to getting through a court case.
Learn some specific areas where patience is important. When you know the specifics, you can get through the journey faster and will not feel left in the dark. Check out some of the ways to use patience in your personal injury case and make the process easier for everyone involved.
1. Court Case Updates
The courts move slowly. When a lawyer files a case, there is a long process before a conclusion gets reached. Even when dates are set, lawyers and judges can change them for a number of reasons. For example, one side could file new evidence in a case. The updated paperwork could push back future court dates.
Either side could file extensions to have more time to prepare for the case and ensure they have everything in order. Do not get upset or try to make demands if a court date gets moved. This is par for the course. While you should prepare for upcoming case dates, you should know those dates are not set in stone and things could change at any time.
2. Medical Updates
In a personal injury case, the condition of your injuries has a big impact on the outcome. While you will have physical impacts from the initial injury, you could have long-term effects on your body long after the injury took place. An attorney will likely want to go through the full journey to understand the extent of your injuries.
For example, you may need physical therapy for a lot longer than you planned. You may need to purchase adaptive equipment to use at home as you heal your injuries. A severe injury can include long-term brain damage as indicated through months of MRIs and evaluations by medical professionals.
Have patience as you go through the medical journey. An attorney may hold off on certain portions of the case until they receive the full evaluation. This is so they can ensure you get compensation for your medical care along with the physical and emotional turmoil you must go through to heal from all your injuries.
3. Financial Updates & Medical Bills
Along with medical care, you may find yourself inundated with medical bills in relation to your case. You may feel impatient as you seek ways to pay off those medical bills and avoid any dings on your credit. The bills may seem overwhelming, but a settlement can help compensate for all of those bills in the end.
To help you through the process, reach out to the medical billing department at various institutions where you owe money. In many cases, you could set up a payment plan to pay a minimal amount on the bills. In some cases, you may be able to place a pause on the bills while in the middle of a personal injury case.
Every institution is different, but many will have an understanding of the circumstances. Once you set a payment method in place, you can have patience as you go through the process and reduce the amount of pressure you have to quickly pay the bills.
4. Communication & Public Revelations
As you go through the personal injury case, you may feel tempted to share news and info with friends and through social media platforms online. While you do have a story to tell, you should practice patience and try to avoid any discussions about the case. You do not want a social media post or public declaration to negatively impact your case.
An attorney can guide you through the case and what you should or shouldn't say online. You may feel the urge to discuss your medical journey or positive case updates, but try to avoid impromptu posts and follow professional guidance.
For example, if you have a leg injury, you do not want social media posts of you using your leg to go against you if the defense discovers them. You also do not want to talk badly about the defense or parties who caused your injury. Use partners or therapists to air your thoughts rather than a public platform.
For more information on personal injury cases, contact us at the Law Offices of David A. Helfand, P.A.
Our professionals can answer any questions you have and guide you through the whole process.
