Our firm prides itself in being “green” and we strive to be as paperless a law firm as possible. In addition to scanning all of the documents that we generate, we also receive all of our faxes as email attachments thereby eliminating the need to print. When producing larger documents to other attorneys, we put those files on CD in a pdf format. In the past three years, our firm has saved tens of thousands of pieces of paper from being printed and, consequently, we’ve significantly reduced the need for storage. The legal profession is heading in the “paperless” direction and we believe that our firm has taken a strong step forward in protecting the environment and readying itself for the future of litigation.

Bodily injury may not become apparent for days or weeks after an accident.  For this reason, even if it is uncertain whether a personal injury claim may ultimately exist, we suggest that accident victims keep a diary or log of their pain and/or other symptoms in the days and weeks following the incident.  In litigation, it is not uncommon for a defendant to make the claim that “the victim must not have been injured because he/she did not immediately seek treatment for their pain.”  Having a diary/log helps to document the progression of the pain/injury is a useful tool that will assist in overcoming this defense.

At an accident scene, many people believe that low impact automobile collisions do not require medical treatment.  However, it is very common for people to experience increasing pain in the days after a collision.  Keeping this in mind, even in a small collision, we would suggest going to a physician as soon as possible if for no reason other than to make sure that nothing serious occurred in the accident.  In the event that there is an injury related to the collision, this early medical treatment will generate a well-documented history of the symptoms after the accident.  Of course, each individual should freely discuss their injures and the medical care they received with their physicians.

This article does not constitute legal advice or the formation of an attorney-client relationship, and is not for re-publication without express permission of the author.

Given the fact that there are so many uninsured drivers in the South Florida area, we believe that each person that carries automobile insurance should also carry uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (also known as UM coverage).   This coverage is so important as it may be the only way for a hurt individual to recover any type of damages for injuries stemming from a car accident.   For example, in most “hit and run” accidents, the adverse driver is never found.  For that reason, an injured party will most likely not be able to recover damages from the “hit and run” driver.  Thus, UM coverage would allow an injured person to recover damages for their injuries from their own insurance carrier.   Likewise, if a person is injured by a driver that carries minimal insurance ($10,000.00), and that person’s damages are $20,000.00, for example, having UM coverage would provide that person with an ability to be fully compensated for their injuries.   While the costs and the varying types of UM coverage should be discussed with an insurance agent, we believe that all drivers should fully consider UM coverage given the significant number of uninsured and underinsured drivers in the South Florida area. 
 
This article does not constitute legal advice or the formation of an attorney-client relationship, and is not for re-publication without express permission of the author.