First thing is to realize that motor vehicle law only allows for one thing, the recovery of money damages. In other words, you can’t get a court of law to force the at-fault driver to take you to your doctor’s appointments or help you get your car repaired. Now, add that with the fact that insurance companies are in the business of making money and what do you have? You have a system wherein an insurance company is most profitable if they don’t have to pay out a lot of money on your injury claims; no matter whether that payment is fair or not. Of course, the way to combat this unfairness in the legal system is to lay out a plan.

So, if you are the scene of a car accident, you are hurting and you don’t know whether to go to the Emergency Room, get in the ambulance and get checked out at the Emergency Room. If you have health insurance of any kind, including Medicaid or Medicare, I know we can use your health insurance to get the Emergency Room charges paid. If your car was insured, we can use your med-pay insurance, no-fault insurance or PIP benefits to pay these charges as well. In regard to your personal injury claim, this Emergency Room visit makes it clear to an insurance company that you were hurt in the car, and it gives me, as your personal injury lawyer, a big bat to swing at the insurance company as soon as I open your injury claim with them. After all, logic tells you that it is more persuasive to tell an insurance company that I suspect my client already has over $10,000 in medical bills than to just describe their injuries as a sprain/strain. On this issue, I just asked ChatGpt.com if Emergency Room visits increase the value of a personal injury claim and this was the AI’s response:

  • Individuals who seek immediate treatment in the ER tend to have higher personal injury claims. This is because:
    • ER visits are typically associated with more severe injuries or immediate health concerns.
    • The medical costs of ER treatment (diagnostics, imaging, procedures, etc.) are significantly higher than outpatient or non-emergency care.
    • Insurance companies and courts often view ER visits as evidence that the injury was serious enough to warrant urgent medical attention.

In other words, if you are hurting after being in a car accident, get checked out at the Emergency Room and as your injury lawyer, we will find a way to get this medical treatment paid for.

Second, I am not the kind of injury lawyer that is going to tell you to seek treatment if you are not hurting. Let’s face it, chiropractic vists or physical therapy sessions take a lot of time from our already busy schedules. However, you also have to realize that the merits of any personal injury claim are determined by the content of medical records and their corresponding bills. Essentially, if you have no medical treatment, you have no personal injury claim. So, what do you do? You call me and we discuss your options. That’s what the Desmond Difference is about. Getting a personalized response on how to handle a car wreck from an experienced injury lawyer. The duty of a personal injury lawyer is to give their clients the best possible advice. A good injury lawyer does not try to control their client’s treatment or force them to go to only certain medical providers. In my legal practice, this is why I tell all my clients when I first meet with them the following, even when a chiropractor or a doctor has referred them to me:

“You are my client, not this medical facility. While I enjoy working with this medical provider, the issue is whether the treatment is making you feel better or not. If it is not, let me know and we will find another doctor, or course of therapy, that will help you heal. It does not matter how you got my name or whose name I have given you. My duties as a lawyer run to you, my client, and not to the medical provider. I am going to stay your personal injury lawyer no matter who you choose to treat with!”

Lastly, there seems to be a lot of misconceptions about the attorney fees for injury claims from car accidents. While I discuss it more depth within this website, you need to understand that at my firm, Desmond Law Office, PLLC, you don’t pay any upfront fees; whether it is for the first phone call or our initial meeting. So, what do you want to do as someone injured in a car wreck and you are debating about getting medical treatment, you can call me and I am happy to give you some free, legal advice over a ten-minute phone call. CALL MY CELL PHONE (502) 609-7657. That way, you can make an informed decision as to your legal rights and whether you want to pursue a personal injury claim.