This is a question I was asked on WAVE Listens a couple of months ago about what to do if you have been hurt in a car accident when you go to the doctor or hospital:

“My neighbor lady, she’s 85.  She’s from Germany.  Someone hit her yesterday evening and I’m taking her to the hospital here in about half an hour.  She’s refused an ambulance but she was hit so hard it knocked her hairnet off of her head.

What else I should do today for her?  I was going to take her to the hospital to be checked out.  She has a bad headache and she said it did throw her head forward really hard so we’re going to get her checked out to make sure she doesn’t have some whiplash and make sure she didn’t have any back injury out of it.”

It is important to make sure that she does understand the questions that are being posed to her since English is a second language.  It will be assumed that she understands any question she answers. She should not answer any question that she is unclear on.

It is very important that you tell her not to minimize her injuries.  We have a tendency when we go to the doctor to try to make things seem a little better than they really are.

Make sure she tells the doctor everything that’s been going on with her from the time she was in the accident up until that appointment. Whether it’s gone away or not gone away, such as the headache you spoke of, tell the doctor. If the headache goes away by the time you take her to the emergency room she should still state that she had a headache because that could indicate that she had a concussion or a closed head injury.

Another thing that is very important for her to tell the doctors is any other problems she’s ever had with her back, whether they were minimal or not. If the doctor asks her if she has been in prior accidents she should tell them about all prior accidents that she has been in whether or not she had been hurt or not hurt.

She should hold off until she’s feeling better to speak with the insurance adjuster or sign any paperwork. This will help make sure she has a clear head and has had a chance to speak with a personal injury attorney about her accident.

Facebook is everywhere. I am on it.  My kids are on it.  Even my mother-in-law is on Facebook. Millions of people are using it every day. It is a social networking site that can be useful, addictive and an important source of information. Facebook is a tool utilized by employers, investigators, police officers, lawyers and even by insurers to do background checks.

Through Facebook lawyers have found evidence for cases of fraud, police have caught criminals, and insurance adjusters have collected information that would lower the value of insurance claims. Insurance companies are now monitoring social media sites. This may take money from accident victim’s pockets. Check out this news story from Seattle that shows how posting on Facebook can lead to lowering the value of your personal injury damage claim or delay you receiving medical treatment for your injury.

I can tell you that this guy wasn’t smart about it but in my opinion the insurance company over reacted. Kurt Norland posted pictures of himself drinking a beer and hanging out at the beach while he was collecting worker’s compensation benefits. Based on the pictures his benefits were cut off and a shoulder surgery postponed. This was done by the insurance company even though an MRI showed a rotator cuff tear. Did Norland deserve this treatment from the insurance company? Probably not, but he put himself in this situation by not monitoring his Facebook account and making his posts private. Never post anything on Facebook or any social media site that in any way could lower the value of your personal injury claim. His case was eventually won by his attorney, but I am sure the delays and the fact that no benefits were being paid was frustrating.

Another person posted a video of him pulling kids on an ATV while collecting disability. A lady was tagged in photos showing her taking helicopter flying lessons while she claimed to be severely injured. If they weren’t hurt this may be insurance fraud, but what were they thinking? These posts have destroyed their claims at the very least.

As a Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn one must control the privacy settings. As a personal injury attorney I suggest you mke sure that your profile, photos, videos and posts are only visible to your friends and not to everyone else. It is also important to choose your friends well. You might approve someone you don’t know whose job is to investigate you through your Facebook account. In some cases even the apparently irrelevant is twisted to make you look uninjured or to be lying about your injury. Insurance companies might find something that could ruin your insurance claim and cave you to receive less then what you deserve or nothing. The bottom line is, check what you post and be in control of your privacy settings.

In today’s world, the king of social networking service is FACEBOOK.  We use it to communicate with friends, family and co workers.  As of January 2011, Facebook had more than 600 million active users that share details about their personal lives. Most do not realize that their private photos, opinions, relationships and activities can easily be access by other people.  You may think that it’s cool to share your personal life and events on this social network every post can be used against you if you are involved in a Kentucky car accident.

Lawyers, insurance agents, employers and school officials use Facebook to lookup your private information to judge your character and activities.  Even personal injury attorneys like me are using it. The CIA has been using it since December 2006 to recruit potential employees into its service.  The study says that more than 53% of employers research potential job candidates and 76% of college students use Facebook in a manner that will tarnish their opportunities for a job after graduation.  To me this statistic is unbelievable.  As I have told my daughters, “Don’t post it unless you want to read it in the paper tomorrow”.

The Wall Street Journal reports that lawyers investigating potential jurors use Facebook.  It’s a useful source to collect information such as religious beliefs, drug and alcohol use and even conversations with friends.  It is commonly used by personal injury attorneys in investigating a car accident, divorce and other cases alike. 

If you are a seriously injured accident victim, Facebook can be of help.  Your attorney can research information on the one who injured you.  Information can be gathered such as whether he’s into drinking, posting on Facebook, using a cell phone while driving, and other information that could be used against him. 

As a Kentucky personal injury attorney, I advise my clients to protect themselves and to make sure your privacy settings are secure.  I ran across an infographic entitle “Who Is Watching You On Facebook?” that discusses how officials use your private information and on how to set your privacy settings on your Facebook account.  Check it out, the statistics will surprise you.

Every one is tweeting on Twitter and posting on Facebook.  We are walking down the street with our smart phones checking out our friends. Social media is everywhere. Employers have been looking at these sites for years to determine whether or not to hire somebody.  What happens if someone injured in a Kentucky car wreck posts on Facebook? Who can look at it? Is it just who you want to look at your posts?  

Defense attorneys and insurance adjusters have been looking at social media sites to get information on YOU in an attempt to deny or limit your recovery in your personal injury claim. This is whether it is from an auto accident, bicycle accident or dog bite. 

It is only a matter of time before Kentucky courts start to hear cases on social networking sites. Courts in other states have already made rulings on social media issues.  Here is the question. Are Kentucky Courts going to force an accident victim to give access to their social networking sites to the attorney who represents the person that hit you?  The answer is not clear at this point in time.

Here are some points that Courts in other states have looked at. One question involves privacy settings.  Just because you make something private is it really private to the Courts? Will checking the private box be a barrier to the defense seeing what you posted?  By making settings on my account private I do not intend for everyone to see what I have posted or what is on my profile.  Colorado Courts have allowed Wal Mart to subpoena information from Facebook, MySpace and Meetup because they felt the information sought was relevant and reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible information. This is legalize for we don’t know if it has anything to do with the case but it might.

Courts have allowed defendants to view social media postings in a variety of situations. In a case where a child had an eating disorder the court said that information posted on a social networking site may show that the disorder came from something other than what is alleged in the lawsuit.  So the plaintiff had to turn over access to the site to the at-fault party and their insurance company.

In Connecticut the Court allowed a defendant to view Facebook accounts stating that it was a snapshot of the plaintiff’s state of mind at the time they were harmed.  New Jersey has a similar ruling. This is disturbing to personal injury attorneys and Kentucky automobile accident victims. If this standard is adopted in Kentucky just about any fact situation in any accident would lead to the court allowing the at-fault party’s attorney and insurance company to look at your Facebook page. 
           

Courts in jurisdictions, including California, have concluded that by posting online you have acknowledged that the information you are giving is not intended to be private no matter what the privacy settings are in place on your account.  If you post it on the internet and you are involved in a lawsuit they are going to let the other side see it.

This means that accident victims must be very careful about what is posted. A recent California case found that private Facebook and MySpace communications between individuals could not be subpoenaed.  So maybe your wall postings are safe, maybe not.

 To date there has been no cases heard in the Kentucky Courts.  We do not know what will happen in Kentucky. Caution is in order. Be CAREFUL! Here are a few tips: 

• Look at your privacy settings and set them to block anyone other than people you know from viewing your site.
• Do not post anything that discusses your lawsuit or accident case.
• Do not discuss your injuries in your postings.
• Do not post photographs of you attempting or doing any physical activity that you are now unable to do as a result of your injuries from the accident.
• Make sure your friends don’t post any of the above.
• Do not accept friend invitations from anyone you don’t know. They could be working for the other side!
• Take a look at your friend list. Remove anybody that you don’t know.   

Just be smart so that information posted on social media sites can’t be twisted and used to make you look untruthful or not injured. Taking these simple steps will help prevent unwanted information getting to the other side and maximizing the value of your Kentucky accident case.

There are questions that Kentucky auto accident victims have concerning the damage done to their car in the automobile accident.

• “How is my car going to be repaired?”
• Who is going to pay to fix the car?”
• “Is my car totaled?”
• “Can I keep my car?” 

A Kentucky accident victim will have several options to get their car fixed or be reimbursed for the proerty damage. First, if the accident was not your fault, the first place to look is the at-fault party’s insurance company.  The insurance company of the person who caused the car accident will pay to have your car repaired. Usually an adjuster will be assigned to come out and examine your car. The adjuster will give you an estimate. You can then take your car to the body shop of your choice.  They will repair the car.  If the body shop discovers any hidden and additional damage they will deal directly with the insurance company to get authority to make those repairs.  If the body shop is on the insurance company’s list of preferred body shops, which most dealerships are, they will take care of it from there. You won’t have to worry about it.

If there is any dispute as to the liability in the case, that is whose fault the Kentucky automobile accident is. The at-fault insurance company may not be real eager to accept liability and pay for your car repairs. Generally, this investigation will entail interviewing the drivers of the cars involved in the accident and any other witnesses.  They will have to conduct this investigation before they decide whether or not they are even going to pay for your car repairs. 

In this situation you will want to look to your own collision insurance for payment of those repairs.  The disadvantage to this is you’ll have to pay for your deductible whether it’s $250.00, $500.00 or $1,000.00. This comes out of your pocket. You will have to wait to get that back from the at?fault insurance company if and when they accept liability. You may even have to go to court.  The benefit to this is you will get your car repaired much faster and your insurance company will take care of fighting about liability.

Whichever direction you go, make the call to the insurance company. Don’t wait for them to call you. This may not happen as quickly as you think it should. The insurance company could also total your car, but that discussion is for another day.

What does a personal injury attorney really do for you?  What do you get by hiring an attorney to represent you in your automobile or truck accident case in Kentucky?  There are hundreds of things I do for clients on a daily basis.  These range from basic filing and record collecting to interpretation and application of the law to the case at hand. I prepare clients to give statements. I obtain paperwork to send to the insurance company. I prepare forms. I am involved in negotiating settlements with the insurance adjuster.  I educate clients on the process involved in a personal injury case. I collect medical and employment records. The list goes on and on.

Let’s cut to the chase. What a personal injury attorney really does is take care of everything that happens behind the scenes so you can concentrate on what really matters in your case and that is getting well. You can go to the doctor and recover from your injuries. You don’t have to worry about dealing with the insurance adjuster. Your attorney is doing it for you.  While you are recovering your attorney is behind the scenes collecting information, doing the daily grunt work to get everything together to properly present your case to the insurance adjuster to maximize your potential settlement.  If the case is not able to b settled this ground work allows the case to be properly presented to a jury.

Many times you might be wondering what your personal injury attorney is really. Behind the scenes he is in the process of collecting and gathering information to properly present your accident claim.  So what a personal injury attorney really does is allow you the freedom to take care of your daily life to get better while he takes care of the technical aspects of your accident claim. This allows you to be fairly compensated for your injuries either through a settlement or through the litigation process. 

Here is what The Schafer Law Office will do for you if you are a Kentucky accident victim we represent:

• Educate them on the personal injury claims process and the litigation process.   
• Obtain all written records and documents that are needed to develop and support their claim. This includes, but is not limited to, medical records, the police report and employment records. 
• Conduct an investigation of the facts surrounding the accident. I will obtain witness statements, photographs, diagrams and other physical evidence. 
• Review your automobile insurance policy to determine what coverage is available to you to compensate you for your damages, like medical, hospital and wage loss benefits.  Additionally, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is looked at to see if they are applicable to your accident. 
• Review the medical records from your doctors and meet with them when necessary. This can be done in person or telephonically. 
• Retain experts and then obtain reports when needed to support your claim for damages and/or liability. 
• Analyze legal issues and advise on those issues as they arise in your case. 
• File the necessary forms with the at-fault insurance company and the clients own insurance company, including PIP applications. 
• Analyze your health insurance policy and/or governmental benefit plan (such as Medicare or Passport) to determine whether any money paid by that policy is required to be reimbursed. 
• Contact and maintain contact with the insurance company about your claim to help ensure adequate reserves are set aside for the potential settlement of your claim. 
• Conduct negotiations with the insurance adjuster in an attempt to settle your claim, before litigation.   
• When a lawsuit has to be filed, I will prepare and draft the Summons and Complaint to be filed in Court. 
• Confirm the address of the Defendant for personal service of the Summons and Complaint. 
• Draft written questions for information from the other side (called Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents). 
• I will help you respond to interrogatories sent by the defendant.                 
• I will prepare you for your deposition. 
• Prepare for and conduct the deposition of the Defendant and any other witnesses that are necessary. 
• Meet with your doctors to prepare for their deposition whether it is a defense deposition or their trial deposition. 
• Prepare and take the deposition of the Defendant’s experts, including medical experts. 
• Prepare you for a medical examination by the Defendant’s doctor, called an Independent medical Exam. 
• Review your medical records and billings. 
• Hire experts to support and prove your claim when necessary. These include other physicians, economists, engineers, vocational experts, etc. 
• Review and analyze expert reports about your case. 
• File all documents in Court as required by the Judge’s Trial Order, including witness lists, exhibit lists, trial memorandum, jury instructions, motions in limine, etc.   
• Meet with and prepare you and other witnesses for trial. 
• Create and prepare exhibits for trial. 
• Organize records and other documentary evidence intended to be introduced at trial. 
• Prepare for mediation when ordered by the Court or agreed to by the parties. 
• Research and write briefs and file motions with the Court when required.  
• Perform or participate in mock trials or focus groups to prepare for trial when deemed necessary. 
• Try the case before a judge or jury. 
• Write briefs or motions following the verdict to obtain post-trial relief, including motions for attorney fees, or to overturn the verdict. 
• Analyze the trial record to determine if an appeal is warranted (if the trial is a loss). 
• Research and write briefs and motions if appeal is filed. 
• Negotiate subrogation claims asserted by client’s insurance company or governmental agency that provided benefits to client.

          What is cyber sleuthing? What does it have to do with a Kentucky accident victim?  Everybody has heard of Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.  You are living under a rock if you haven’t.  What’s does social media have to do with your Kentucky car, motorcycle, bicycle or truck accident case?  If you have been injured in a Kentucky car wreck you need to be very careful with what you post on your Facebook or Twitter account, or any social media for that matter.

            Why? We have all heard the stories of professional athletes getting in hot water for their twitter posts.  We know employers check out your social media profiles before they hire you for a job.  Insurance adjusters do the same thing. If information is available on the internet that will help the insurance company defeat your Kentucky accident claim the insurance company will try to find it.  A cyber sleuth will look every where.  An insurance adjuster will search social media sites to see what information they can find to see pictures of you having a good time. Doing things you said you were unable to do because of your injuries in the auto accident. They will look for videos of you bowling, golfing or mowing the grass. They are looking at the dates of those pictures and videos. They are finding out who your friends are so they can interview them. Why are they taking the time to look at all of this?  To see if there’s something the insurance company can use to decrease the value of what they’re going to have to pay you for your accident claim.

            I have a friend, Chris Davis, who is a personal injury attorney in Seattle, Washington.  He had a client post a video of himself snowboarding.  That video on Facebook was seen by the insurance adjuster, down loaded and .  The insurance adjuster  lowered the offer $20,000.00 because he saw him making a jump on a snowboard. The post cost him thousands of dollars. Maybe it was harmless, but the perception was that he had fully recovered.

             Be smart. Use your common sense. If you’re going to post on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter, make sure your privacy settings are not public, that your private information is protected and access to your profile is limited. Don’t let anybody view your profile and your personal information unless they are your friend. 

              Make sure you know who ALL your friends are. If you don’t your friend could be the kid of the insurance adjuster on your case.  If you’re going to post Facebook be careful. Be smart about what you’re posting.  Don’t post anything that you would not like to see read in the paper the next day. By using common sense and remembering this you will help your personal injury attorney get you the best settlement value in your Kentucky accident case.

The insurance adjuster wants to take a recorded statement from you, the victim of a Kentucky car accident. You have been injured through no fault of your own. You are hurting. All you want is to go to the doctor, have your medical bills paid and to get your car fixed. Now the insurance company wants to take your statement and grill you like a suspect in a television crime show. You didn’t do anything wrong.

 Kentucky automobile accident victims come into my office and tell me that they have been called by the insurance adjuster. Most accident victims give a statement because they feel that they have to.  This is not the case.  You do not have to talk to the insurance adjuster from the at-fault insurance company if you don’t want to. In most circumstances it is advisable not to speak with them until you have spoken to an experienced personal injury attorney. You have the right to refuse.

Insurance adjusters take statements on an almost daily basis. They have an agenda or purpose behind what they are doing.  They are not trying to find out exactly what happened in the case, although that is part of the purpose. They are also trying to get information from you they can later use to defeat your car accident claim. The insurance company is trying to limit the amount that they are going to have to pay you for your injury claim. 

Eventually in most situations you will give a statement to the insurance company. You should do it only after you have been prepared by your attorney. This will help to put you on a level playing field with the insurance adjuster. Once you know what your rights are and what the insurance company’s agenda is for this statement you will be better equipped to protect your rights. You will be able to give a statement that will be beneficial to your Kentucky accident claim.

Wait to give your statement. There is no rush. Make sure that you’re not on pain medications Make sure that you’re not still recovering from injuries. You should not be in extreme pain when you give a statement.  You don’t want to give a statement right after an accident when your adrenaline is still high and you don’t know exactly what your injuries are.  Wait; time is not of the essence as the insurance adjuster makes you feel. Give yourself a chance to recover and be educated so that you know what the statement is really about. By doing this it is less likely that you will say anything that will damage your accident case.

            Without evidence you will not be successful in pursuing your Kentucky accident claim. Whether it is a car accident, a truck accident, a bicycle accident or a wrongful death case you must be able to prove what happened. I know this is a harsh statement to start this article off with but it is the truth.  Without witnesses, pictures, medical proof and other documented evidence you are not going to be successful in prosecuting your Kentucky accident claim.  I use the word prosecuting because as an accident victim you are in a position of being required to prove your claim to the insurance company. Yes, much as a prosecutor does in a criminal case when he is arguing for a conviction. 

In the past few weeks I have had numerous clients come into my office who have been injured in auto accidents.  The facts have been somewhat strange and bizarre. They include:

·        Hitting parked cars

·        Cars illegally parked

·        Cars in front going into reverse and backing up for seemingly no reason. 

·        Buses swerving over the center line

You might think that this is a no?brainer. How could anyone not believe these people?  Isn’t it easy to show whose fault these accidents are? This is not always the case.  You never know what the other side is going to say, what reasoning they’re going to give or what they’re going to say about you. Believe it or not they may not tell the truth.  I have had to decline representing people in the last few weeks because:

• There were no photos to prove the position of the vehicles at the time of the accident.
• There were no independent witnesses to verify my potential client’s story.
• The police investigation was inadequate.  There were no diagrams or measurements made as to the positioning of the vehicles. 
• There was not immediate medical treatment.

Immediately following an accident the adrenaline is flowing.  Your brain is foggy.  You’re almost on auto pilot.  You are not concentrating on what is necessary to prove your case. You have no idea that any of this will be an issue. This is the furthest thing from your mind. Over the next several months you may find that without these items it is impossible to prove your case. The insurance adjuster may not be as friendly when you are finally asking to be compensated for what you have been through.  

You need to make sure you protect yourself by:

·        Obtain the names of witnesses to the accident.

·        Take pictures of the damage to BOTH vehicles. 

·        Document the position of the vehicles with photos.  You can do this with your cell phone or a camera in your pocket. You can use a sketch pad. But get the information!

This is just at the accident scene.

            I was speaking to an insurance adjuster today about a client’s claim. We will call her Sarah.  A witness that was in a yard next to where the accident happened had given a statement to the police. This witness claims that Sarah struck the car in front of her before she was rear ended.  The impact from behind was definitely more severe and we will be able to collect on the claim.  However, the adjuster wants to deduct for Sarah’s contributory negligence. He is arguing that Sarah is partly to blame for her injuries, based on the witness statement.  This may in fact occur. It is a jury issue. But Sarah has a fighting chance. She was on the ball enough to get the names of two independent witnesses who were not listed on the police accident report. They were on the front porch of the house next to where the accident happened. They observed the accident and can verify that Sarah did not run into the car in front of her until she was propelled into that car by the rear impact.

Sometimes this is just luck but having the awareness to document the evidence can save your Kentucky accident claim.  We have a fighting chance to prove that Sarah is right.

The insurance company is looking for any reason they can to:

·        Deny your claim

·        Defeat you claim

·        Lower the amount of money they are going to have to pay out on your claim. 

This is their job.  This is why they make the money they do. That is why insurance companies are profitable. That is why they have the lobbyists in Frankfort arguing their position. 

Protect your Kentucky accident case by documenting and documenting and documenting from the time you’re in an accident to the time you have finished treating and finally settle your claim. You must document.  By doing this your Kentucky bicycle accident case will be successful! Your Kentucky motorcycle case will be successful! Your Kentucky truck accident case will be successful!  Do not get caught into the trap and think that somebody else will do it for you.  Take matters into your own hands so that you can successfully prosecute your claim.

      Facebook, Twitter, My Space and other social networking sites are becoming more and more popular not only with kids but with all age groups.  You may have read about employers using these sites to help screen job applicants or to check up on their employees.  There are recent cases where jury verdicts have been over turned because jurors had made updates on their social networking site during the trial.  Everyone is on Facebook. Everyone is tweeting.

      Guess what? These sites are not just for fun and keeping up with friends.  Insurance companies and their attorneys are using these sites too.  Adjusters are checking Facebook, Twitter, etc. and looking at blogs to get information about the accident victim.  There may be valuable information about you on these sites that could severely damage your Kentucky auto accident case.

      The insurance adjusters’ job is to pay you as little as they possibly can on your injury claim. Social media sites and blogs can help them accomplish their objective.  You voluntarily put all of your personal information on these sites.  You load personal photos on these sites.  Friends make comments about you. You put videos on YouTube.  Internet surveillance may be the only investigation the insurance company has to do.

      Why are insurance companies looking at social media sites?

·          To confirm or disprove the severity of your injury.

·          To confirm or disprove your ability to perform activities and sports.

·          To confirm or disprove your ability to work.

·          To confirm or disprove whether you interact normally with friends and family.

      Pictures, videos, personal information, posts and comments can wreck your case.  When you become an accident victim, you begin living in a glass house.  You MUST be aware of how your pictures and comments will be viewed.  Sometimes even the most innocent and seemingly irrelevant things can be twisted to make it look as if you were not injured or that you are lying about being injured.  Just look at what happened to Michael Phelps.

      Even making the pages private may not stop the insurance company from seeing it.  You may inadvertently make a friend or follower out of someone the adjuster knows.  You make a friend or follower out of the law clerk of the attorney that represents the insurance company.  If your case goes to Court, the Judge may order you to produce your social media page.

I know you are not going to quit using these sites, but here are some tips in dealing with your social media pages:

• Don’t post anything you wouldn’t feel comfortable having the insurance adjuster read.

Be Careful!

• Check your privacy settings and block anyone you do not know from viewing your personal pages.

• Search your name on all sites that you are a member of and on Google to see what comes up.  See what photos you have been tagged in and take the appropriate action to remove photos you are not comfortable with.

• Do not accept any friend requests or answer any e-mails from people you don’t know.

THE BOTTOM LINE…USE COMMON SENSE AND PROTECT YOURSELF AS YOU USE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SITES.   They are fun and they are addictive, but they can be used against you in many different ways.