You heard the old line that a picture is worth 1000 words but in the law, when is a picture worth 10,000 words or even $10,000? It may be when it is a close up picture of a client’s specific injury.
Let me explain. Suppose you are rear ended in an auto accident case. You severely hurt your elbow in the auto collision. Further, you have to have surgery on the elbow. Further still, the surgeon has to put in a plate and screws to keep your elbow functioning properly.
Well, if we are representing you we are going to get all of your medical records from the day of the auto collision to the day you finish your treatment. We will also get your elbow surgery records from the collision.
Somewhere in the records it will say that you were admitted to the hospital, taken to the operating room and there, had to undergo elbow surgery to repair your arm. We will also get your surgeon’s medical report that will also outline the fact that you had to have the surgery.
If you had to stay in the hospital for any length of time your medical records and treatment could number up to 10,000 words and hundreds of pages of records.
The insurance adjuster on the other side is going to be reviewing each one of those pages personally to find out the extent of your injuries and also to try to find ways to lessen the value of your case.
Insurance adjusters are, in fact, people just like you and me. Probably somewhere around page 100 of your records they are going to be bored out of their mind and maybe thinking about the Penguins next home game. Maybe they will start thinking about what they will have for dinner that night.
So the question becomes “how do you keep their attention focused on your case so that they make the highest possible offer they can?”
The answer is you pepper these dry, medical records with many close up pictures of your elbow. Maybe the first part of the demand package we send them will have 3 or 4 close up pictures of the scarring you received due to the surgery.
Then after about 25 pages of records we might include another set of photos of you raising your elbow to as high as it can currently go. That may only be to the top of your head. Then maybe after another 25 pages or so we have the x ray showing the plate and screws in your elbow.
Finally we might finish up with some photos of you trying to lift items in the air which will show the difficulty you have doing so.
Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, slip and fall, auto accident and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully thinks you get the picture. In a demand package a picture can be worth 10,000 words and over $10,000 per picture.
Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, car accident and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully thinks you get the point. Pictures have real value in the settlement of your injury case.
Thanks for reading.
Bernie the attorney