How to Document Your Injuries and Assist in Your Personal Injury Case

Personal injury is a serious matter that can devastate your health, financial wellbeing, earning potential and overall future. If you’ve been injured due to another person’s negligence or an intentional act, you may be considering filing a lawsuit in an effort to collect compensatory damages and improve your life after the injury. Before you consult with a personal injury lawyer start documenting your injuries. The more details you can provide to your lawyer about your accident and injuries, the higher chance of success you will have in a settlement or trial. Here is how to properly document your injuries.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Calendar
• Journal or Diary
• File Folders
• Personal Injury Claim

1. CALENDAR
   Keep a calendar of all your appointments. Each appointment should include the following information: date, time, appointment location (clinic or hospital name) and brief reason for the visit.

2. DOCTOR LIST
   If you are seeing multiple doctors, be sure to maintain a master list of all the doctors you have seen since your injury. The list should include the following information: the doctor’s name, contact information, office/clinic address and specialty.

3. MEDICATION LIST
   Be sure to keep track of all the medications you have been prescribed. This list should include the name of the medication, the prescription date, prescriber’s name, and reason for the medication. Additionally, note any and all diagnosis made by your doctor.

4. PROCEDURES OR SURGERIES
   If you’ve undergone any surgeries or procedures as the result of your injury be sure to record the following information: when, where, why and by whom the surgeries or procedures were performed.

5. MISSED DAYS AT WORK
   Keep track of all the days you’ve had to take off work as a result of your injury. Additionally, note any days you’ve had to leave work early due to appointments or not feeling well. You’ll want to document the monetary losses you’ve sustained since your injury, which will be helpful in determining the damages you are entitled to collect.

6. DIARY/JOURNAL
   Chronicle how you feel on a daily basis. Note whether your condition gets better, worse or stays the same. Write down everything you can remember about the accident when it occurred and anything that you remember at a later time.

7. KEEP ALL RECEIPTS & COLLECT RECORDS
   Keep all your receipts: co-pays, medications, transportation expenses etc. Keep all correspondence regarding your injuries, disabilities, insurance and Workers' Compensation. Any legal papers sent to you or served on you and any other correspondence or records related to your case. It’s also a good idea to collect names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses to either your injury or accident.

8. If you go ahead and hire an attorney to file a Personal Injury Compensation Claim on your behalf, the above mentioned information will help him or her give you an estimate of the compensation you may be entitled to receive, as well as help prove or validate your claim in court. Hopefully a good personal injury lawyer will help you get your life back on track if not restore it to the way it was before your accident or injury.

[amysmarts]

on 10/10/2009 Great article on how to document your injuries and assist in your personal injury case. This is all great advice and great tips. It will help a lot of people. Thanks. 5*

[xivyisazombiex]

on 9/30/2009 well written and organized article.