ALL INJURIES
"Injuries" in a personal injury case means much more than just the physical injury itself.
With the extensive experience in our firm, there are virtually no injuries that we have not handled; from soft-tissue "whiplash" injuries (which can be serious), to devastating spinal injuries which cause paralysis.
At Harrell and Harrell, we have former full time nurses on staff, a complete medical library, and retain the premier medical doctors from across the nation in our cases. However, understanding the injury from a physical viewpoint is only part of what a good personal injury attorney must do for their client. Rather, the real challenge is relating that injury to its effect on the client's daily life. For example, the effect the injury has on the client's future employment, foreseeable medical treatment and costs, future rehabilitation, vocational retraining, economic loss, and mental health issues are all effects of a physical injury that a lawyer should assess when representing a client.
As for the "non-physical" impact of an injury, non-medical experts are used such as, economists who can calculate a client's economic losses or a vocational rehabilitation expert that can discuss the cost and economic impact of being trained in a different occupation and what job options are available. At Harrell and Harrell, we seek out the best experts in the nation to analyze and present the non-medical injuries or losses.
Also, several injuries have a psychological component that must be understood. Studies have shown that the emotional and financial strain of an injury, even a "routine" accident without devastating injuries, frequently results in "Post Traumatic Stress." In turn, this can lead to employment problems, higher divorce rates, estranged families, and a failure to be able to function normally in society even if the physical injury is well-treated. Understanding these psychological injuries and their impact on a client's life is an important skill of the personal injury attorney.
Additonal emotional injuries can be a client's pain and suffering, which is a very real injury to those who experience it daily. The difficulty is that chronic pain can result from a small accident depending on other factors or there can be long-term pain from a major collision.
Sometimes, a client's true physical injury will not manifest itself for some time after the crash. For example, a brain injury is often initially diagnosed by a doctor as a concussion. Only later, as the client continues to have cognitive problems and addiitonal testing does the true injury reveal itself. Patience and understanding in these situations are needed by personal injury lawyers so that the client and his/her health care providers can do what is necessary to help their patient.
These are just a few of the things which a personal injury lawyer must consider when representing a client. Much more goes into helping a client all the while fighting a defendant and their insurance company.
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