Your Actions Are Key
A party injured in an accident may have reasons for hesitating to get medical treatment. Maybe the you want to just put the attack behind you. But any delay in receiving medical treatment can be costly in terms of claim valuation. You don’t want a jury to think there was something else more important to you, than getting treatment. Otherwise, the jury will wonder how bad your injuries really were, if you refused to seek prompt treatment?
Your lawyer will be saying, “my client was anxious about contracting rabies or an infection,” yet you waited to talk to a medical doctor about either of those?
Juries Are Skeptical
In Pennsylvania, a jury determines how much money to award a person for her dog bite injury. To understand a juror’s mindset, first, realize that she’ll witness at least one attorney billboard en route to the courthouse for jury duty: “Bitten by a Dog?” Then she’ll hear an annoying lawyer commercial (or three) on her car radio on the way to court: “Attacked by a Dog?! Bite Back!! No Fee Unless We Recover Money!”
Then, when seated in court, on the jury, she’ll each observe the evidence but wonder what’s the “truth.” In reality, there exist at least three sides to every dog bite lawsuit: the bitten-plaintiff’s version, the dog owner-Defendant’s version, and what really happened. To fulfill her civic duty (so she can get back to her kids and/or job) she’ll listen to the evidence and isolate one or two “key pieces of evidence” that decide the case, in her mind.
You don’t want her wondering: so why did the bitten party wait to get medical treatment?
Low or Zero Verdicts in Delay of Treatment Cases
Verdicts and settlements across Pennsylvania tend to be low when the injured Plaintiff waits to get treatment. Just look at Crawford v. Nolan, C.P. Delaware County, CV-2021-0001771. In that case, the injured Plaintiff, Craig Crawford, had been lawfully driving his car “rear-ended” by a vehicle driven by the Defendant. Mr. Crawford suffered neck and back injuries from the crash. Plus, a medical doctor, Joseph Richards, M.D., testified that the crash caused the plaintiff to suffer physical limitations, such as preventing him from playing with his children.
What could go wrong with his claim?
The Plaintiff Waited to Get Medical Treatment
The defendant’s lawyer pointed out that Mr. Crawford had waited twenty days to first seek medical treatment. Ultimately, the jury decided that the defendants’ careless conduct caused Plaintiff’s injuries. Nevertheless, the jury refused to award the Plaintiff any money. Our Pittsburgh dog bite lawyers believe the verdict resulted from the Plaintiff’s delay in getting treatment.
As such, our Pittsburgh lawyers impress on our clients — and the public — the importance of seeking prompt treatment, both for your recovery and to help illustrate the impact of the canine attack on your life.
Let’s Do This!
Contact a Pittsburgh dog bite attorney at our firm for a free consultation about any roadway accident or injury claim today!
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