#1 Mistake – Your Lawyer Refers You to a Doctor
There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but there is a problem. You as a client may not have realized that your lawyer has referred many of his other clients to this particular doctor. Therefore, the defense lawyers and judges would have seen this doctor many times in court, and the defense may mention this to the jury. Hence, it is not to your benefit to have your attorney recommend a particular doctor for you unless there is not any other choice in the matter. During the cross-examination, the defense will bring out the fact that the plaintiff’s lawyer and other lawyers have recommended this doctor to their clients many times.
#2 Mistake – Hiding Past Accidents from Your Lawyer
If you do not tell your lawyer about everything that has gone on in your past and in your history, you are tying your attorney’s hands. When you do that, your lawyer will be sandbagged during the time of deposition, or at trial, which is even worse. If your attorney does not have the information necessary to prosecute your case properly, you are not going to have effective council, and you do not want to be in the situation, as it will be very detrimental to your case.
# 3 Mistake – Hiding Other Injuries
If you are hiding any of your other injuries prior to filing the accident case or lawsuit, you are sinking your own case. For instance, something had happened to you say five years ago, and now you are claiming you have suffered similar injury, or you have suffered an aggravation of the previous injury. However, if you neglect to tell your attorney about an incident that happened many years ago that cause you similar injuries, then it is very detrimental to your case. At the deposition, when the defense asks if you have suffered any similar injuries in the past, and you say no, your case will be good as over, if they find out about it.
#4 Mistake – Not having Accurate Tax Returns
You would be claiming you have suffered because of your injuries, and you have missed work because of you injuries. When you are making these claims, the jury should see you as a credible person. If you do not have accurate tax returns, the defense will bring this up during trial, and that is going to affect your credibility. The defense lawyer will show the court that you have lied about things in your taxes, and since you have lied in the past, you could be lying here too.
#5 Mistake – Misrepresenting Your Activity Level
When you are injured and you claim you cannot do most of your daily activities, the defense lawyer will usually hire a private investigator, to check on you. This investigator will take pictures or video of you performing activities that you claim you could not perform because of your injuries. For instance, if you are claiming you cannot walk properly, and you are caught on camera playing basketball, your credibility is shot, and your case is most certainly lost.
