Personal Injury Checklists

How to Protect Yourself if You are Injured:

Physical evidence, statements of witnesses and names of involved parties are crucial. Even if you do not latter sue the person who caused the accident it is important to gather facts at the onset. Lawyers must establish three things for a successful case.

• First, liability of the person causing the accident must be proved.
• Second, you must prove that the accident caused your injuries.
• Third, you must show the nature and extent of your injuries.

A person helps their cause by immediately preserving critical evidence.

An experienced attorney, after agreeing to accept your case, assigns staff members and/or professional investigators to help you collect evidence that can be relevant to the claim. The earlier this is done the better. If you do not collect evidence immediately after the accident it is likely lost. Therefore, again you help your cause if you begin collecting this information.

Unfortunately, some kinds of evidence are not immediately obvious to a non-attorney. We provide the following lists so you can help yourself maintain and collect crucial evidence. Yes, every case is unique. The lists below cannot include every type of evidence possible. The lists are intended to describe common pieces of evidence needed to provide a successful resolution of a personal injury claim.

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Automobile Accident/Motorcycle/Pedestrian Accident Checklist

No matter how small the accident, always call the police to the scene. Many times people are injured in accidents but do not feel their injuries until a day or two later. When Police arrive at an accident, they ask for your insurance card and driver's license. Most people believe that the police thoroughly investigate accidents. Unfortunately, Police are normally overworked and under trained. Do not assume that the police are going to properly protect your interests. The Police are good at getting names and addresses from witnesses, but they normally do not perform professional accident reconstructions. Here are tips that we believe will help you maintain evidence and develop your case.

• After an accident, copy down the license plate numbers of all other vehicles involved.
• If there are other people who witnessed the accident and they have cars write down their license plate numbers.
• If a commercial vehicle is involved, write down all licensing numbers on the vehicle. Many times commercial vehicles are from other states and are difficult to locate.
• A police report is necessary both for your protection and for insurance purposes.
• Ask if a report of the accident will be prepared. If the officer does not intend to prepare a report ask him nicely to reconsider and author a report. Be sure to request the officer's name and badge number for later contact.
  • Take pictures of your vehicle as soon as possible. Take pictures from all angles, not just the damaged portions. If there is damage or blood on the interior of car take pictures.
  • If any of the vehicles are towed, ask where the all the vehicles are being taken.
  • If possible, take pictures of the other vehicle(s) involved in the accident. Even if you have to go to the yard they are stored at.
  • Take pictures of the surrounding area to preserve the way it looked at the time of accident.
  • Take pictures of the surrounding location and roadway for any physical damage, skid marks, or debris.
  • If you or someone in your vehicle received any visible injury: i.e., bruise, cut, scrape, or stitches, take photograph(s) of the injury.
  • Take photographs of anything that even might be used. Do not think that anything is trivial.
  • If you were a pedestrian, take photos of the crosswalk or the location where you crossed the street or where you were standing, walking, jogging, at the time of your accident. Take the pictures from many angles.
• Take the name, address and telephone number of all potential witnesses. Do not lose it.
• If you can, return to the accident scene, visit nearby homes or business and ask if there were any potential witnesses. {If you do not feel comfortable in the area where the accident happened document addresses of potential homes or names of potential businesses}.
• Revisit the scene of the accident several times at the same time at which the accident took place. Some people have a habit of visiting, stopping, driving, etc, by the location of the accident as part of their normal daily routine. You may able to find a witness.
• If you have obtained witness information, do not contact or speak to the witness(s) again. Do not try to solicit a written statement and/or drawing from the witness. Let your attorney contact any possible witness(s). Get a repair estimate for your auto as soon as possible. Note: you are not obligated to use a repair facility recommended by an insurance company. But, normally it does not hurt to get estimates from recommended garages.
• Obtain written and dated repair estimates from a minimum of two repair facilities, at least one of which you selected without insurance company suggestion.
• Be sure and ask the repair facility whether they are using new or after market parts for any repair. If there is a difference in costs from one facility to another it may be because of the cost of parts.
• A reputable repair facility will have no problem answering these questions

Slip and Fall Incident Checklist

Many people fall due to the negligence of another person or business. After you get up and brush yourself off look around. Leaving the scene as quickly as possible does not serve you very well. Many store managers will ask you to fill out an accident report. Immediately ask for a copy of the report after it is given. Often, reliance upon this type of limited information allows crucial evidence to become lost forever. Here are tips to help you develop your case at an early stage.

• Take pictures of location where you fell, especially the floor surface, any obstructions, cracks, or other problems that caused you to fall. Take the pictures as soon as possible. {They will fix it as soon as it is discovered and deny there was ever any problem}.
• Take pictures of the condition of your clothing and shoes immediately following the accident.
• If your clothing is ripped or bloodied keep the clothes until such time as you talk with your lawyer.
• Take photographs of any mats, rugs, or slip prevention fabrics at the location. If the location of the fall has does not have these types of things, take photographs illustrating the potential lack of the safety items.
• Take pictures of any warning signs that might be in the area of the location of the accident.
• If you are visibly injured; i.e., bruise, cut, scrape or stitches, take pictures of the injuries.
• Take as many photographs as you think you might need, no matter how trivial they seem.
• Get names, addresses and telephone numbers of any potential witness. Do not lose this information.
• Return to the accident scene, visit nearby homes or business, if applicable, for any potential witness(s) to the accident. {If you do not feel comfortable in the area where the accident happened document addresses of potential homes or names of potential businesses}.
• Revisit the scene of the accident several times at the same time at which the accident took place. Some people may have a habit of visiting, stopping, driving, etc, by the location of the accident as part of their normal daily routine. You may able to find a witness.
• If you have obtained witness information, do not contact or speak to the witness(s) again. Do not try to solicit a written statement and/or drawing from the witness. Let your attorney contact any possible witness(s). Most importantly, save the shoes that you were wearing at the time you slipped and fell. Place them inside a plastic garbage bag and tape it shut so that any materials stuck to the shoes will remain.
• Store all of the articles of clothing that you were wearing at the time of the accident in a plastic bag in a safe place where they will not be lost. Do not wash them.
• If possible, do not leave the scene of the accident without obtaining a copy of the accident report that the manager, owner, employee or other person has filled out while in your presence.
• If the item that you slipped on is non-perishable, save a sample in safe place where it will not be lost.
• If the item is perishable: i.e. vegetables, or fruit, try to preserve the item in a liquid chemical preservative or in a freezer.

Animal Attack Checklist

Dog or Cat attacks can be a traumatic event, especially if it involves children. Here are tips to help you prepare your case at an early stage. Immediately try and determine who owns the animal. Obtain the name and address of the owner, if possible.

• If possible, obtain the dog license information.
• Contact an animal control agency or the police immediately. Ask for a report. Get names, addresses and telephone numbers of any potential witness. Do not lose this information.
• Return to the accident scene, visit any nearby homes or business, if applicable, for any potential witness(s) to the accident. {If you do not feel comfortable in the area where the accident happened document addresses of potential homes or names of potential businesses}.
• Revisit the scene of the accident several times at the same time at which the accident took place. Some people may have a habit of visiting, stopping, driving, etc, by the location of the accident as part of their normal daily routine. You may able to find a witness.
• If you have obtained witness information, do not contact or speak to the witness(s) again. Do not try to solicit a written statement and/or drawing from the witness. Let your attorney contact any possible witness(s). Take pictures of the location where you were bitten by the animal.
• If possible, take photographs of the condition of your clothing in the area where you were bitten.
• If you are visibly injured; i.e., bruise, cut, scrape or stitches, take pictures of the injuries.
• Take as many photographs as you think you might need, no matter how trivial.

Burning yourself is a common occurrence.

Sometimes we burn ourselves, other times we are burned by someone else or as a result of others actions. Many people have no idea what they can do to help themselves following a burn accident. Evidence that can be crucial, due to the nature of the incident (like burning wood, for example), disappears never to be seen again. Here are tips to help you develop your case at an early stage.

• Take pictures of the condition of your clothing immediately following the accident.
• Take photographs of any warning signs that might be in the area of the location of the accident.
• If you are visibly injured; i.e., burns, bruise, cut, scrape or stitches, take pictures of the injuries.
• Take as many photographs as you think you might need, no matter how trivial.
• Get names, addresses and telephone numbers of any potential witness. Do not lose this information.
• Return to the accident scene, visit any nearby homes or business, if applicable, for any potential witness(s) to the accident. {If you do not feel comfortable in the area where the accident happened document addresses of potential homes or names of potential businesses}.
• Revisit the scene of the accident several times at the same time at which the accident took place. Some people may have a habit of visiting, stopping, driving, etc, by the location of the accident as part of their normal daily routine. You may able to find a witness.
• If you have obtained witness information, do not contact or speak to the witness(s) again. Do not try to solicit a written statement and/or drawing from the witness. Let your attorney contact any possible witness(s).

Disclaimer: The information supplied on this web site is general in nature and is not a legal opinion -- for every rule cited, there are likely a dozen exceptions. Interacting with e-mail on this page or our personal injury questionnaire does not constitute the creation of an attorney/client relationship. This web site is an advertisement for legal services. Any examples of client cases and results discussed on this web site are not a guarantee of your outcome if we represent you in a particular case. The material contained in this website is not intended as legal advice. All information regarding personal injury law contained in this website pertains to the law in the State of New Jersey. The laws of other states and nations may be entirely different from what is described here.