Perhaps one of the most objective demonstrations of a client’s pain and suffering are photographs of the injuries sustained. Serial photographs of healing wounds can truly be worth a thousand words. It’s especially important to obtain photographs of an injury very soon after the injury occurred, as often significant healing will have taken place between the time of the accident and the date of the trial (which often may two years or so).
In cases involving permanent cosmetic injuries, including burn injuries and severe laceration injuries, as your attorney I will seek to obtain any photographs taken by health care providers, including those taken right after your injury and during the recovery stages. Frequently, hospital burn units and plastic surgeons take these pictures. Permanent scaring should be photographed by a professional photographer so that it may be adequately demonstrated to a jury.
If a client is willing to do so, and the injuries are graphic enough to justify a view by the jury, it may be helpful to actually display the permanent visible signs of the injury to the jury. When done tastefully, the impact can be tremendous. The client has to live every day with the stares of children and adults, with the sense of embarrassment and humiliation that are the constant companions of the disfigured.
What Strategy is the Best for Using Photographs of Your Injury?
Each injury is unique. Additionally, the photographs that may have been taken at different stages will also be different in each case.
When we meet to discuss your case, it will be important to find out what photographs exist of your injuries. We can also discuss whether taking additional photographs will be helpful for your case.
If you have been injured, it’s important to start the process of documenting your injuries as soon as possible.
It’s important to retain an attorney as soon as possible after an accident so that important evidence – such as photographs – can be obtained and preserved. This evidence may be crucial in documenting your case.
Please call me so that we can schedule a time to meet at your convenience. There is no cost to you for this consultation, and there are no fees to us during the course of your case unless and until we ultimately recover a judgment or settlement for you.
If you retain me, I will do my utmost in seeking to recover all compensation to which you may be entitled.