How Covid 19 Impacts Personal Injury Cases
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Law is an essential service in many cases. For example, you can consult with an attorney if you're arrested on criminal charges. Other legal areas may or may not be considered essential, but attorneys are still available to consult with you on a variety of matters. Let's look at how COVID-19 impacts personal injury cases in the USA.
The Shift to Teleconferencing Legal Sessions
You can still call your attorney for advice. Furthermore, attorneys are implementing teleconferencing to maintain that personal connection with their clients. Your attorney can consult with medical experts, expert witnesses and insurance adjusters without ever meeting them in person. This is why you can contact the personal injury experts at Baumgartner law firm today. If you have already filed a personal injury claim, the widespread use of legal teleconferencing means that your attorney can continue to work on your case.
The Impact on Medical Assessments
Your doctor is probably going to recommend a telemedicine session if they can avoid meeting you in person. It is more convenient for everyone, and there is less risk of spreading disease. However, many issues can only be assessed in person. For example, someone with a concussion or broken bone must be seen in person by a medical specialist. Getting into an exam room is more challenging but remains possible, because these issues are considered emergencies. Being assessed for disability or worker's compensation may be more difficult.
Continue to maintain any logs related to your case. Record your pain levels over time. Document expenses related to your condition like prescriptions you've filled or medical aids you had to buy out of pocket while waiting for physical therapy. Document the medical care you have received and how that compares to what was recommended. For example, you should note when you failed to attend physical therapy because the facility was closed down for two weeks because of a coronavirus exposure incident. Write down any instance when you were not allowed into the doctor's office because your temperature was too high, even if that was due to the flu instead of COVID. Notes like this show that your failure to abide by the original medical advice is not your fault.
The Impact on Judges
The courts have dramatically scaled back their case load. This is one reason why police are reluctant to arrest anyone except for the worst cases such as murder, rape and other violent offenses. Some cases are being handled via teleconferencing. This is more likely to involve child custody disputes than personal injury cases.
The near total shut-down of the courts to most cases has resulted in far greater demand for alternatives like adjudication and mediation. Fortunately, third party arbitration can be done via teleconferencing if all parties are amenable to it. Your attorney could take your personal injury case to arbitration and potentially get it resolved. Furthermore, your attorney can certainly fight the insurance company for a proper settlement without going to court. They can talk to the other side's attorneys without going to court.
