By James Ballidis, Senior litigation attorney

Have you ever seen someone doing something and you said, "I can do that." The truth is that most of the collection of evidence can be done by anyone with reasonable intelligence. How hard is it to take a picture of the motorcycle, or your injuries? However, the trick is to collect the "proper evidence" and not to miss anything. Experience also tells us what to collect and how to use it. Whether talking to a witness or simply taking a photograph, our experience dictates what to do.

This article attempts to give you some inside tips on more significant ways to improve your investigation and to argue your settlement. Naturally, if you have to go to trial or have to enter litigation, you will have to hire an attorney, and it should be an attorney that specializes in motorcycle accidents.

This is a good time to discuss motorcycle attorneys. First, just because an attorney rides, does not make them a good motorcycle accident attorney. While I have ridden all my life, and attempted racing at a young age, I still would never have made a good motorcycle attorney until I handled my share of motorcycle accidents and resolved the issues unique to these types of cases. So please do not hire a motorcycle attorney simply because they ride or pretend to understand you. They may even know the buzz words and use them to impress you, discuss their experiences in accidents, or near accidents and attempt to empathies with you. It is all nonsense. Hire the attorney that knows how to get motorcycle cases done and for full value. See our Track Record of success.

While you may not have the same result in settlement of a Motorcycle Accident claim as an experienced Motorcycle Accident lawyer, follow these Five Tips to prepare your case to be the best it can be. Effort gets result so do not skimp on effort. To get your fair recovery you will have to do all that a specialized attorney does. While it may seem a large project, recognize that an experienced lawyer does this for a living, and contact us if you want us to set up your claim and handle your case at 1-888-752-7474 or Contact Us Online.

Tip One. Support your description of the motorcycle accident on liability with other evidence.

The collision and your injury is always questioned. You want to be paid money, and the perception of most adjusters is you want to increase your case settlement by exaggerating your claim. Use evidence to support your entire claim and settlement.

Your case turns upon your credibility. Support your version of the accident, and the injuries you received. Here are some examples of materials that will be helpful to your claim:

What happened?: The police report and statements should be the focus of your summary of the accident. They will purportedly have no bias and therefore be more persuasive. Make sure you obtain the report from the police before giving your settlement demand and summarize the accident. See Police Reports for details. Also use witness statements, and what they saw to support your version. See Witness Identification and Statements in Motorcycle Accident Collisions. Show the impact of the accident, and examine the property damage estimates. Point out damage due to the impact. Add pictures to your presentation. Remember liability is only one part of your case, so support all parts. See Main Points of Contention in Motorcycle Accident Cases.

Wage loss: Obtain your employer's records to support your claim for wages. Review your records and note where they document time off work for the accident. Obtain a declaration from your boss and ask him or her to describe the pain you were in. Make sure that your boss does not exaggerate your injuries. Have other witnesses tell about your injuries from their viewpoint factually, not with conclusions.

Pain and Suffering: Have your friends describe in writing your symptoms and difficulties. It is important that all witnesses be interviewed. Facts drive results and results are driven by the concussion from facts. Use the medical records to describe your suffering. How has the accident made your activities more difficult or describe why your life has changed. What can you no longer do that you could do before? Go into detail and be prepared to support the statements. For instance, if you swam every day, describe where and with who.

Damages: Assemble medical bills and get the records from doctors and include them in your demand package. Point out why those records document your injuries and suffering. Records are a good source of reference to the suffering or physical limitations you are having.

Ask a doctor to write an opinion describing your pain or lost movement to add to your credibility. Collect your medical records from all your doctors, and review them before you send them to adjuster. Make sure to use all of the records to show a complete picture.

Tip Two. Lasting disability needs to be outlined by your doctor. Pay for a report, and have your doctor go into detail about your diagnosis, future medical bills, and disability. If your doctor will not say you have a permanent disability, good luck convincing an adjuster that you should be paid for one.

Tip Three. Do not give any authorizations for records. Get the records by yourself and review them first. Then you can learn the bad and good information before the insurance company and can gather further are helpful information if you need it. Would you let an enemy into your camp when planning for war? The insurance company is looking for things that reduce the value of your case. If you do not want to do this work, you should hire a qualified lawyer, instead of doing the motorcycle accident case yourself. Contact Us Online if you like or call 1-888-752-7474.

Tip Four. This is huge. Do not ignore negative evidence. If there are things in your case that need to be explained, do it right up front and without delay. Hiding a prior medical history, exaggerating your case or claim or promising to do something but not doing it, because you hope it will be forgotten, are all red flags and guarantee loss of value. Expert attorneys know this trick, novice attorneys do not. Therefore, when selecting evidence to argue and support your case, address the negative evidence as well.

Tip Five. Do not exaggerate damages. Your claim will not settle well if it is marked as an exaggeration. Once information shows your case has been exaggerated, your entire case is looked upon with suspicion. Do not understate your claim either. Let the facts sell your case, and your evidence should come to the same conclusion. Threats about getting an attorney will not make the adjuster change their value either. They know you do not want to pay for an attorney. That is why you are hassling the case yourself. To get the most money, show why your case will win.

Demand:

Draft a letter that addresses all the issues of liability and damages that are in your case. See Main Points of Contention in Motorcycle Accident Cases. Demand a realistic number. Remember that the insurance company does not pay your demand, but how much a jury of peers will award. Look up verdicts for your type of claim by going to a library. Be sure to ask for help. Don't rely on attorneys web sites promising evaluations. They just want your business and will tell you everything is great to get you to sign. When you come to our office, we do not discuss value, but how to set the case up so that we can maximize the award you will receive. The result and value take care of themselves and you may even be more surprised at the result. Don't compare your case to news story cases either, unless you researched that case.

When negotiating, remember to be polite. Listen to objections and make sure that you answer concerns and your result will be far greater than most novices at settlement.

We do not recommend that you handle your case unless it is small. If you have comments or would like to consider our office call 1-888-752-7474 or Contact Us.