Quite often, we are faced with a situation that a client injured a body part that had been hurt before. Typically, these people have back injuries or other physical injuries that occurred in the past that are reinjured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligent act.
Insurance companies and people who defend lawsuits assume that the prior injury is a reason a claim is less valuable. This is not true. To the extent that an injury is made worse as a result of the negligent acts of another person, the victim is entitled to recover to the extent that the prior injury is aggravated or made worse. Bottom line: if someone is liable, they do not get a discount just because they had a preexisting injury. If you were injured before and worked hard to get better, then you should be admired for your desire to get better, not penalized because you were hurt before.
Prior Injuries May Not Affect Your Personal Injury Claim
Some of the best results our firm has obtained over the years have been for people who aggravated pre-existing conditions due to a defendant’s negligence. My first multi-million dollar jury verdict was on behalf of a man who injured his back in a car accident. He had been in another car accident and injured his back years before. He clearly aggravated his back injury in the second accident. However, the defense attorney and the insurance company responsible for evaluating the case did not offer a fair settlement based on the defense that my client had a prior injury. The JURY THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY!
A Six Figure Settlement
We also had a client who injured his back on a construction site. He received a six-figure settlement as a result of this accident. He rehabilitated himself, and through hard work with his doctors, he returned to work. While on a construction site, he was injured again. He received a multi-million dollar settlement because he aggravated his preexisting injury in that second accident.
In my view, when people were hurt before, their cases are often worth more money. Because the prior injury or condition makes them more susceptible to a more significant injury the second time around.
Call Our Personal Injury Lawyers
At Hach & Rose, LLP, we fight hard for those with aggravated prior injuries. We would not give negligent parties or insurance companies discounts if you were hurt before. If you had a prior injury, never believe you are entitled to anything less than a full and fair recovery. We take pride in hiring the proper medical experts who can explain why a person with a pre-existing injury is more susceptible to injury and who can differentiate between the individual’s pre-accident status and how they were made worse due to trauma. This entitles our clients to full recovery.
For a free consultation on all personal injury matters, call Hach & Rose, LLP at (212) 779-0057