When someone has injured their spine due to the actions and/or negligence of another person, one of the most important things they must do in their case is to establish liability. This means that the injured person must show that the other person was responsible for the injury. A DC spinal cord injury lawyer can help you establish liability and work to bring you a favorable judgement or settlement.
Ideally, it should be clear from the nature of the injury that it was caused by the accident. For example, when a person suffers a broken bone in an accident. As long as it is confirmed the person did not have a broken bone before the accident, then it is fairly straight-forward to attribute the injury to the accident.
However, when a person suffers an injury that is not as easy to diagnose, such as a soft-tissue injury, it can be more difficult to attribute those injuries to the accident and/or liable party. In order to perfect this claim, the injured person relies upon the use of DC expert medical testimony. In this instance, it is crucial for the treating physician to attribute the injuries to the accident as this knowledge is beyond the scope of any layperson’s common knowledge. This issue can often times became even more complicated when a person has suffered a similar injury to the same area of his or her body that is injured in the accident. In that circumstance, it is imperative for the physician to have a comprehensive medical history from the injured person. That way, the physician will best be able to attribute what, if any, injuries were sustained in the accident versus any that may have been preexisting. Accordingly, it is really for a trained medical professional to attribute injuries to an accident, in most cases.
The use of evidence in a DC spinal cord injury case is essentially the same as it is in all civil litigation. It is simply the kind of evidence that is presented that is particular to this kind of injury. However, generally speaking, liability in a spinal cord injury case is just like any other case. It is up to the plaintiff, or the person bringing the case, to prove that the injuries were caused by the sole negligence of another. In certain circumstances, it can also be necessary to prove that the injured party did not cause or contribute to his/her injuries.
The primary role for a client is to communicate with his or her attorney. It depends on each individual case as to how involved a person may need to be in order to establish liability in their case. For example, there may be circumstances where establishing liability turns solely upon the testimony of the plaintiff or the person bringing the case. It is important for the client to work with their DC spinal cord injury attorney in order to fully identify the facts and circumstances of the incident. This way the plaintiff is best able to present their case in a cogent and clear way to a jury.
In another example, the injured person may not remember exactly how the incident occurred. In that circumstance, the attorney may rely on independent third party witnesses to tell the jury what they saw and exactly what happened in order to establish liability.
The important thing for a client to do, in terms of liability, is to communicate with their attorney. They should understand what is needed of them from their attorney. They should try to work with their attorney to present their case in such a way that gets them a favorable result.
