Frequently Asked Questions

What steps should a parent take if their child is injured in an accident caused by another party?

A lawyer can stand up in court and show a jury the interrogatories/question and a client’s answer so long as the attorney notifies the court that it intends to make this information known to a jury. Also, interrogatories, because under oath are essentially testimony of a party. When a party gives an answer under oath it is essentially stating a client position on that point and it is hard to change that testimony at a later date. Circumstances can change, such as a physical condition can grow worse, and if the condition or situation changes, it is appropriate to file a supplemental answer notifying the other party of the additional or supplemental information. In some cases, we may file 10 to 15 times supplemental answers on behalf of a client, updating information.Especially because interrogatories may be read to a jury, any attorney must be careful and review all answers with a client before they are placed under oath. I’ve had the experience of several clients not fully disclosing information about a prior injury or a prior condition that they didn’t think was relevant– and did not want to tell me about– so they did not feel it needed to be listed. Once I have reviewed all of the information with the client, I’ve convinced the client that under the law they must provide the information even though they don’t believe it is relevant. The test in virtually every state and federal court is that if the information may in any way lead the opposite party to some relevant point in the case, it must be disclosed. It is clearly good legal advice to a client to always disclose what could possibly be required because simply giving the answer under oath in an interrogatory, in no way means that the information could be utilized at trial with a jury. In other words, there is a lot of information in injury litigation that must be disclosed, but there is a much tighter requirement about what evidence is admissible to a jury and a judge will exclude all kinds of things that might have been disclosed in the interrogatory answers, but are later ruled not admissible at trial. A perfect example would be disclosing that a client was in a prior car accident 15 years ago and suffered personal injuries.

This FAQ addresses the types of economic and non-economic damages that can be pursued in a personal injury case.

When you go to a physical therapist, stay on topic. This should be essentially talk about your care or how you were doing. Do not cozy up to the therapist and confide with them about your brother in law who was just released from the state penitentiary, or about anything that could somehow be used against you by an insurance lawyer months later.
We do explain to every injury client that if the case gets into court, the insurance lawyer’s basic strategy is to subpoena every medical record after the date of the accident, even going back for a number of years before the accident to study whether you had any condition that they can argue makes your claim less valuable. Some clients think they can hide a damaging medical record or opinion, but finding all relevant medical records is fairly easy for an insurance lawyer by simply going to a health insurance provider and getting a list of all expenses paid by that provider. They can also they simply look for cross-references between records.
About the editors: The motto at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharplaw firm is simple -“All we do is injury law.” We hope you were able to find the answer to your injury query. If not, please review our North and South Carolina Accident Attorney FAQ library for additional information. If you’d like to speak to an actual attorney about your potential injury claim for free, please contact our office at (833) 997-1774.
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FAQs about Blindness or Vision Impairment Due to an Injury