How Personal Injury Documentation Supports Your Claim

Personal injury cases often come about because the injured party needs to obtain compensation to help pay for the medical costs of their recovery or to replace income that has been lost due to an inability to work. In order to win the case, injury attorneys must prove many things. This requires providing strong evidence to support the claim. Personal injury documentation is one example of such evidence and it can be invaluable in proving injury.

Keeping an Injury Journal

Creating an injury journal is the easiest way to keep all of your personal injury documentation in one place. Your injury journal is not a diary where you may record how you are feeling and how your recovery is progressing. You can include this information but keep it short and factual. Use the journal to include important details about the accident, your injuries, treatments, and recovery. Start your journal soon after the accident since details can fade with time.

Examples of relevant details to include in your personal injury documentation are:

• The date, time and place of the accident.
• Weather conditions, if applicable.
• Your actions/activities right before the injury occurred.
• What, if anything, you remember the other party doing right before the accident.
• Anything the other party said to you after the accident.
• Names, jurisdictions, and badge numbers of police and first responders.
• Medical treatment received at the accident site and if you had to go to the hospital.
• Tickets or citations that were issued at the scene.
• Names and contact information of accident witnesses.

Documenting Medical Care

It is also important to document the medical care, treatments, surgeries, and prescriptions you receive due to the injury. Include whether or not they are helping or how treatment/care has changed with time.

Medical care includes:

• Doctor visits
• Surgeries and medical interventions
• Physical therapy
• Medications, dosage and frequency, and whether they are helping or not
• Specialist care like mental health care
• Medication side effects

Daily Pain Diary

Tracking your daily pain levels also supports personal injury documentation. By recording your pain levels regularly, your attorney can demonstrate the extent of your pain and suffering and how well or poorly you are recovering from it. You do not want to exaggerate your pain, but you also don’t want to downplay it. Keep yourself honest by answering these questions in your journal:

• Where am I experiencing the greatest amount of pain?
• Are there other symptoms accompanying my pain?
• Are my symptoms constant or do they seem to come and go?
• What is the severity of my pain or symptoms on a scale of 1 to 10?

Document Changes to Your Life

You should document more than just the injuries suffered and the treatments received. Include information about how the injury impacted your life. Did you have to take time off of work? What were the dates? If you went back to work but had to take time off for doctor’s visits, keep track of those dates and times.

Did the injury affect your life in other ways? Have they affected your ability to drive? Do household tasks? Care for yourself? Did you have to give up any hobbies or exercise? Have the injuries affected your sleep or caused intimacy problems? Have the injuries affected your relationships with friends and family or colleagues? Are you suffering emotionally due to the injury and/or the changes it has caused in your life?

Personal Injury Documentation Can Be Used As Evidence

Remember, you are maintaining this journal to use the information inside of it as evidence. When the journal is submitted as evidence, everything in it can be examined and used, even by the defendant’s attorneys. Be honest and accurate in your entries. Write legibly and date each entry. The more organized and comprehensive your journal is, the more effective it can be in supporting your claim.

Schedule a Free Consultation With Eisenberg Law Offices

Discuss your legal options with a personal injury attorney at Eisenberg Law Offices. We offer free consultations where we will discuss our services and whether or not you have a case. Personal injury cases operate on a contingency basis which means there are no costs to you unless you win your case.

Contact our office at 608-256-8356 or info@eisenberglaw.org to schedule your free consultation.