Road Map of a Personal Injury Case

This post gives you a road map of the “usual” personal injury case in Waldorf, Maryland, Charles County, Maryland, or St. Mary’s County, Maryland.

I wrote it to give my clients who have a new personal injury case. It is geared towards car accidents because that is the type of personal injury case we see most often.

I also wrote it for prospective clients who might be looking for a good general outline of what to expect if you have a personal injury case because of a car accident or other negligent act that causes you damages.

Talk to a Waldorf car accident attorney about your personal injury case. Also, discover everything you need to know in our Free Legal Guide to Car Accident Cases in Maryland. Know your options and be informed before you make any big decisions. Then get a free consultation.

Of course, not all car accident cases follow the usual plan. Your case is unique, and it may take some detours from this general outline. If so, I will always be there to explain and assist you in navigating the twists and turns of your specific personal injury claim.

TL;DR – The Short Story

Here is the super short version if you don’t want to read this whole post: (In case you don’t know, TL;DR is internet speak for “too long; didn’t read.”)

Generally, there is a lot to do at the beginning of a new personal injury case, and a lot to do at the end. And there is a long (sometimes) stretch in the middle where not much happens in the legal case. This is because you are treating with your doctors and recovering from your personal injuries. So a lot is happening on the medical side, but not much legally.

We cannot resolve your personal injury case until we know what your damages are. And we cannot possibly know what your damages are until you have finished your medical treatment and recovered from your injuries.

If your injuries are smaller, and you recover soon, then we can move on your case faster. If your injuries are more significant, it may take some time before you are fully recovered and released by your doctor.

Once we know your damages, we make a demand on the adverse driver’s insurance company. Then we will either settle the case if the insurer is fair, or file suit to resolve it in court if they are not.

I will be sure to explain the details of Maryland personal injury law to you every step of the way. There is a lot, and it gets complicated sometimes, but I will make sure you understand everything that happens in your car accident case.

Read on for the more detailed version of how your personal injury case will proceed.

First Actions – Meeting with the Personal Injury Attorney

The first thing that occurs is meeting with a Waldorf, Maryland personal injury attorney to discuss the case and sign a retainer agreement. We can meet in person at our office (we have offices in Waldorf & Lexington Park) or we can meet by Zoom, or even just over the phone. We will do whatever is most convenient for you.

We have another post explaining the topics we will cover at that meeting and listing all of the things you should take to your first personal injury appointment.

At that first meeting, we will discuss your case in detail. I will take a lot of notes. This is my best opportunity to get a lot of information about your accident. The details of the accident are going to be fresh in your mind now. If liability is going to be an issue in your case then we need to nail down the facts of how the accident occurred as soon as possible.

I will want copies of all your documents and photos. I will give you my opinion of the case, and explain how I see the case proceeding.

You will have a chance to get all of your questions answered. When you leave you will have my full contact information to ask me any follow up questions you may have. (And you will have them, as it is a lot of information to give you in our first meeting!)

Initial Actions – After the Meeting

After this first meeting, there is a lot for me and my paralegals to do.

The other driver’s car insurance company: We will get in touch with the adverse driver’s auto insurance company. Once we tell them we repesent you, they cannot talk to you anymore. They will have to deal with us from that point on.

We do NOT want you communicating with the adverse insurance company after you have retained an personal injury attorney. Let your attorney do all the talking for you.

Ordering Documents: We will have to order your medical records, your medical bills, and the police report. Those are the most important things to get but there may be others in some cases. We will usually ask you to get us copies of car repair estimates and a copy of your own insurance policy (which may or may not be relevant depending on the adverse driver’s coverage limits).

Investigations:  We also may need to hire a private investigator to do an investigation of the facts of your accident. We sometimes do this if it appears liability may be questioned.

We may need photos of the scene, or any skid marks on the road. We may need to hire an accident reconstructionist. We may need to get recorded statements from witnesses. Such statements can be invaluable if we need them for a trial years later. People forget things, but showing them a statement they made close to the actual event can jog their memory.

PIP:  We will also get in touch with your insurance company so we can process your PIP, which stands for personal injury protection insurance. PIP is insurance you have on your own auto insurance policy to cover some of the medical bills for any personal injury you may have. For more on how PIP works, see our Free Legal Guide on Car Accident Cases.

We will be happy to handle the PIP for you. We do not charge for this service (like some other lawyers do). We treat it as part of your case and do it as a courtesy.

Property Damage:  However, I do want you to try and handle your own property damage claim. This involves getting your car fixed, or getting paid for the value of your car if it is a total loss.

I am always willing to give you advice, or to help out, or even step in and handle it if need be. I can assist or take over if you run into trouble with this process.

However, most of the time you do not want my office playing middle man. That just slows the process down, and prevents you from getting your car fixed as fast as you can. Check out our blog post about how to handle car accident property damage claims here. I will walk you through all of this. That is a good written reference.

Rental Car: Get a rental car if your insurance provides for that. It may take a while for your car to be fixed. If your car is a total loss, then the insurer will be sending you a check. All of that takes time. You might need a rental. That linked blog post explains the details.

Your Recovery

After the first few days or weeks, your personal injury case (and your life) will settle down into a more regular routine. By now your car will be fixed, your PIP will be processed, and the investigations are done. You will know what your medical injuries are, and you will be actively treating with doctors and physical therapists to get better.

This is the time we have to wait. We have to wait while you complete your medical treatment and recovery.

After you suffer an injury, it is going to take some time for you to heal. We counsel patience during this time. Everyone wants to get back to 100% immediately, but your body just doesn’t work that way.

We will stay in regular contact during this time, and keep an eye on your medical treatment. But your doctor will be the one who dictates how things go during this stage of your personal injury case.

Doctor’s Orders:

You should follow your doctor’s orders to the letter. This is not only good for your health – it is good for your personal injury case too. We need to prove to the insurance company (or a jury at trial) that you did absolutely everything you were supposed to do while recovering from your personal injury.

And I will never try to influence your medical treatment because it affects your personal injury case. Many lawyers do that. They send you to their doctor or their PT facility so they can call up and control how much care you get. They want you to get enough to make your case valuable, but not enough to make it a tough fight. They want an easy settlement.

I don’t operate like that. I think it is sleazy. I will let your doctor do his or her job, and we will fight for the reasonableness of your medical care if that is what we need to do.

How Long?

Most doctors will keep you under their care for at least 6 months from the date of any injury. And if you have a major injury, or a surgery, you can count on remaining under doctor’s care until up to a year from the date of your injury or surgery.

At some point, you will reach “maximum medical improvement,” which means you are as good as you going to get. See below. Hopefully, that is a 100% recovery. If not, your doctor will tell us what your permanent restrictions are for the future.

If you have permanent injuries or restrictions, we will account for that in the value of your case. Each situation is unique. You and I will discuss this in detail when the time comes.

And you will be the one who decides how we proceed. I will advise you, but it is your case and you are in the drivers’ seat.

Keep Us Informed:

Although we will check in with you regularly, I ask my clients to let me know when something major happens in your medical care – like a big change in your treatment plan, or a surgery being scheduled.

The doctor’s office will NOT communicate with us unless we call them. And most of the time, they make us write them and order medical records with a HIPAA form. Don’t assume we know when new things happen with your medical care. Many clients assume the doctor’s office will let us know when things happen. That just isn’t true because of medical privacy laws like HIPAA.

Because of federal privacy laws, we almost always have to order your actual medical records and provide a signed authorization, in order to find out anything from your doctor.

Return to Work: This is an issue I want to make special note of – you should return to work when your doctor says you can.

The insurance company’s attorney will make a big deal of this if you do not. It will hurt your case. If you are released to work with restrictions, call me and we can discuss how to make sure your boss abides by your restrictions.

If you think you cannot return to work, call me and we can discuss it. Ultimately, nobody can force you to go back. You will make the final decision. I will back you up in your decision, but I will also give you honest advice about it. Sometimes failing to return to work when the doctor says you can will seriously hurt your personal injury case.

Every case is different and I cannot tell you right now what I will do in your case if this does happen.

After You Reach Maximum Medical Improvement

The value of your personal injury case is based on your damages. As I stated earlier, we cannot possibly know your damages until you have finished treating with the doctors. Once you do reach maximum medical improvement, we can move on towards resolving your case.

The first thing we must do when you reach this stage is order any outstanding medical records and medical bills. We may have to wait 30-60 days to receive your medical records or bills. Every facility is different, but this is a good average time to wait for medical records.

Sometimes medical providers ignore or delay our request for your records. Sometimes we have to order things multiple times.This is not unusual. To be honest, it is real chore to get your medical records and medical bills. It takes up a lot of my paralegal’s time.

We will also document your lost wages. Normally I ask my clients to get that information straight from their human resources department or supervisor. It makes things a LOT quicker that way.

Demand or Lawsuit

When we have everything, my paralegals will put it together into a demand package. This is an organized packet containing everything related to your damages in the case – the photos, the police report, your medical records, your medical bills, your property damages, your lost wages, and any out of pocket expenses you may have.

When this packet is complete, you and I will meet to discuss it. Once we have agreed on a strategy and a value, I will write a cover letter (a demand letter) which explains our position and demands a certain dollar amount to settle without filing a lawsuit. We will send the demand letter and demand package to the adverse driver’s car insurance company.

After that, we are waiting on the insurance company to get back to me with an offer to settle your personal injury case without litigation. They will usually get back to me in a reasonable time, and we will engage in negotiations.

If the other driver’s insurance company is being reasonable and we can agree on a number, we will settle the case. If we cannot settle the case, we will move on to filing a lawsuit.

See our separate post here explaining the normal roadmap for a lawsuit. That posts is a good outline of what happens when we litigate your personal injury case.

We hope you do not have to file suit in your case, but don’t be surprised.

More and more, the personal injury system forces us to file a lawsuit in the local court systems simply to get a reasonable number out of the adverse driver’s insurance company. It often happens in a District Court case, where the cases are small to medium sized.

If we file suit in a Circuit Court case, asking for a jury trial, then it is more serious and we are more likely to engage in lengthy litigation.

I cannot possibly know whether that will happen in your case at the beginning. But I do know that we will be fully prepared to file a lawsuit if we need to, and we will be ready to go to court if the insurance company does not want to be reasonable.

We will see your personal injury case through to a successful conclusion. As always, contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Conclusion & Next Steps

We hope you do not have to file suit in your case, but don’t be surprised. More and more, the personal injury system forces us to file a lawsuit simply to get a reasonable number out of the adverse driver’s insurance company

Want to know more? Discover what you need to know about car accident cases in Maryland. Click here to see our Free Legal Guide to Maryland car accident cases and get answers to your questions today. Know your options. Be informed. Protect yourself.

Need a Personal Injury lawyer? Please contact us for a consultation today if you need a Maryland personal injury lawyer for your car accident case.

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Author: This content was written and approved by Tucker Clagett, an attorney at Southern Maryland Law – Andrews, Bongar, Gormley & Clagett.