What to do if and when… – Aronberg & Aronberg

Personal injury seems like a pretty simple, straightforward concept: somebody gets hurt, and the person who hurt them pays them back for their injuries. Well, it’s not quite that simple. Alright, fine—it’s not that simple at all! There are ins and outs of every case, the mishandling of which can render the possibility of compensation practically nil. Personal injury attorneys such as the ones here at Aronberg & Aronberg are highly trained at the art of handling P.I. cases, but we can only work with what we’re given. Look, we hope you’re never involved in any incident that would require an attorney, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

It’s very important to keep yourself informed as to how to handle any given situation you might suddenly be faced with. For example, what do you do if you get into an accident and it wasn’t your fault? What do you do if you believe that you’ve fallen victim to a negligent doctor? What do you do if you slip and fall at your local grocery store? In this article we’ll give you a skeleton outline of how to handle yourself in each of the aforementioned situations. Remember, knowledge is power. The more of it you have, the better equipped you will be to deal with life’s inevitable uncertainties!

Firstly: what do you do if you’re the victim of an auto accident. First, make sure everybody is okay and call the police. If the other driver urges you not to call the police, don’t listen to them. Police are an essential factor here—they’re the only ones who can provide the official police report that insurance companies require when processing claims. Next, don’t admit fault in the accident. Finally, don’t go around acting as if you have no injuries. You may not be experiencing any at the time, but injuries are tricky—they can pop up weeks or months after the fact. If you go on the record saying that you’re uninjured, you may cheat yourself out of compensation for injuries that surface later on but as a result of the accident. Make sure you leave the scene of the accident safely and with a copy of the police report as well as a copy of the other involved driver’s name, contact information, and auto insurance information.

Next topic: what to do if you’re the victim of a negligent doctor. Most importantly, don’t try to take things into your own hands. Doctors are highly trained and are expected to perform their job with a certain “duty of care.” That means that they have a legal—and moral—responsibility to care for their patient by certain standards. Consult an attorney as soon as you realize that your doctor might have made a wrong decision, or as soon as you feel that you’re experiencing pain as a result of something the doctor did. It’s absolutely crucial that you get a hold of any and all medical records and bills associated with your visits to the doctor in question. These will be very important when your attorney begins his or her work of recovering damages on your behalf.

Lastly: what to do in the case of a slip and fall. First of all, take pictures of the area if you can. Most cell phones nowadays come with cameras built-in. Use yours! Photograph the dangerous area that you slipped on. Secondly, don’t, under any circumstance, make any promises to anyone at the location at which you slipped about anything. Don’t tell them that you’re fine; don’t tell them that it wasn’t their fault. In other words, don’t take blame for something that was not your fault. Trying to be nice, in this case, will get you into trouble.

Finally, remember what I like to refer to as “the golden rule of personal injury.” Don’t sign ANYTHING relating to your accident without first consulting your attorney.

For any questions relating to this or any other legal matter, please contact the Law Offices of Aronberg & Aronberg at 561-266-9191 or email us at daronberg@build.simple.biz.

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