Auto Accidents in Maryland Personal Injury Cases

A Primer For Anyone Interested in Personal Injury in Maryland, by Keith Bartnik written for lawyers. In 27 years of practicing personal injury in Maryland here is a little of what I learned that may assist you in your understanding of accident cases. Every personal injury case starts with an issue of liability. Who is at fault? As an immediate aside, in Maryland you must be watchful for the defensive contributory negligence. I can assure you that the defendant's attorneys have no shortage of tricks up their sleeves to avoid parting with their employer’s money. Many defenses will be raised but contributory negligence is unique to Maryland and few other states. As such, it is important immediately at the time of the initial meeting between counsel and the plaintiff to lock in the facts on liability. It is most important to identify the defendant, by name, address, license tag number and particularly who his insurance carrier is and the policy number and claim number. Immediately after the initial meeting with your client, it is important to send letters of representation to the defendant insurance carrier as well as to your clients insurance carrier requesting personal injury protection forms and a declaration sheet. Also ask your client to recover his declaration sheet for his insurance policy. You want to look for personal injury protection insurance, car rental insurance, collision insurance, and underinsured motorist coverage. From this point forward, the case becomes a matter of damages and collecting information. Following sending the letters of representation to the defendant insurance carrier as well as the plaintiff's insurance carrier you want to secure evidence of any photographs of the accident scene and property damage and bruising on the plaintiff. It is important also to identify witnesses and get recorded statements as quickly as possible. Be sure you confirm the witnesses, home address, work address and next closest friend or relative in the event you cannot find them later. Immediately order the hospital records and bills with a records custodian certification. The custodian certification is important in the event the records will be needed at trial later. It saves a lot of time and effort and money to get the records with the certificate the first time the records are ordered. Typically, following a personal injury automobile accident case, the injured party will see an orthopedic doctor and/or be referred to an orthopedic doctor, followed by physical therapy. If symptoms are not resolved in a few weeks of treatment or if the initial symptoms are of such character a doctor will order an MRI to determine if surgery is appropriate. Typically I calendar 30 days after the initial date of treatment to send out a records request for the orthopedic, physical therapy, and any and all necessary diagnostic test. Additional initial task for the attorney revolve around property damage and car rental and processing the PIP application. Also, typically, a telephone call to the defendant insurance carrier for a quick conversation with the adjuster on the issue of liability will give you an early direction in the case. If liability is accepted you will instruct your client to take her vehicle to the repair facility of her choice and have the repair facility contact the defendant insurance carrier. In most cases the defendant insurance carrier will also examined the vehicle. You will be able to take that information as well to the repair facility of your choice. While your vehicle is being repaired, the defendant insurance carrier will provide a rental car until your car is available. In some instances your car maybe a total in which case fair market value will be offered and the rental car will extend generally three days after the offer for a full and final settlement of the property damage if made and if accepted. It is important to note at the initial meeting with your client those facts that may give rise to a workers compensation claim. If that should be the case. It is important to first process the personal injury protection claim, then process the workers compensation claim. By doing so you can take the advantage of the PIP coverage and less in the future workers compensation lien which will ultimately put more money in your client pocket. Lost wages are another element of damages that need to be documented and made part of your demand package. And you should start immediately processing that claim. The typical evidence includes a statement from a treating physician placing your client on off work status. That information should exist in the medical records or with an independent disability slip. It is important to gather those and stay on top of the disability claim. Also, with the PIP forms. You will typically have a lost wage authorization. If those are not available to you then draw up your own lost wage verification. This form will be completed by the employer, which will verify the hourly wage, those days missed from work following the accident and the total amount of lost wages. In the event your case does not settle, as you move forward to trial is important that evidence be developed to identify your client as a favorable person who is an innocent victim of another person's careless decisions and careless actions. It is important to establish the mechanism of injury. It is important to establish the chain of complaint of injury that followed impact, as well as the dollar cost to the client not only in lost wages, but including the cost of medical care. And for many people the impact on their lives not only their social activities but also their work lives. When examining settlement issues it is of paramount importance to identify any and all liens that may affect your client's bottom line recovery. The calculation typically for determining a distribution will have the gross settlement reduced by attorney’s fees and expenses, further reduced by medical liens, then you arrive at the client’s actually recovery. If we are to consider that all the medical bills are paid, and all the lost wages have been reimbursed then the remaining amount of money that the client receives from the distribution represents their recovery for pain and suffering. There are many personal-injury cases where the sole issues to be addressed revolve around property damage, lost wages, medical cost and pain and suffering during the period of rehabilitation. Other cases are far more involved only in that injuries may remain permanent, which leads to a claim for damages not only for permanency, but also potentially future medical costs, future lost wages, future loss of earning capacity and for some people a lifetime of pain and suffering. Take each case understating it is going to trial and always develop your case for trial. Start working on it right up front and see the entire case through from beginning to end. Before you even start. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me. 1-888-760-7339