Tips For Gathering And Preserving Physical Evidence
Adequate evidence increases your chances of winning a personal injury case. However, a long time can pass between the injury and the negotiation period. You may lose some forms of evidence during this period. Below are a few tips you can use to gather and preserve the relevant evidence.
Act Fast
Evidence gets stale with time. Act fast after your injury to preserve the available evidence. Here are some helpful measures to take:
- Get the contacts and names of witnesses before they leave the accident scene
- Talk to the people in charge, such as property managers, before they clean up the mess
- Take photographs to preserve the evidence on the accident scene
Take an example where an oil spill on a grocery store causes you to slip and fall. Don't leave the scene without talking to witnesses and taking photographs of the accident scene. Otherwise, you might come back to a clean floor and a grocery owner in denial.
Use Notes and Journals
The human memory is fickle. Take notes when talking to relevant parties, such as:
- The liable party
- Potential witnesses
- The insurance adjuster
You can even ask your witnesses to write their recollection of the event. You can use the notes to refresh your memories months or even years after the event.
Protect Physical Evidence
Physical evidence also gets stale with time. The nature of the evidence determines the best way to preserve it. For example, you should tow a damaged car to a garage so that it doesn't suffer weather damage. Don't fix damaged personal items, such as phones or laptops, without taking their photographs first or without a nod from the insurance company.
Send Spoliation of Evidence Letter
If the evidence is not in your hands, then you should send a spoliation of evidence letter to the party in charge of the evidence. The letter informs the party in charge of the evidence that they need to prevent spoilage, whether intentional or accidental.
Take an example where you have accused a restaurant of food poisoning due to food contamination. The restaurant should preserve its order and delivery documentation so you can confirm that they indeed ordered the offending food. Once you send the spoliation of evidence letter, the restaurant will find it difficult to argue that it accidentally destroyed the trail of evidence.
Once you have the necessary evidence, you need a way to tie them to the defendant's actions, liability, and damages. An auto accident lawyer can help you tie all these things together.
For more information, reach out to a company like Law Offices Of Timothy L Lapointe PC.