We’ve all heard it over and over again – 40,000+ Americans killed on the highways every year. The terrifying message doesn’t really strike home unless a serious car crash hits home by killing or maiming someone close to us. Many people, when they think of lawyers handling automobile accident cases, think of the minor impact whiplash cases that used to be the foundation of many personal injury firms some years ago, before the no-fault insurance law. A car crash case resulting in only minor injuries, is relatively easy from an attorneys point of view. Many minor auto accident cases are settled before suit is ever filed, and those that go to trial, generally do so in the district courts, sometimes before a judge and no jury.

Catastrophic car accident cases, resulting in death or permanent injury, are completely different from the simple car crash case. When death or disabling injuries are involved, the plaintiff’s lawyer must handle the case with the care and commitment necessary in all catastrophic personal cases. Ideally, the attorney for the injured party or surviving spouse or family member, will be retained promptly after the accident. It will be necessary to locate witnesses and have them interviewed by a private investigator, and to obtain statements from those witnesses willing to give them. A witness statement can protect against a change of memory or change of position two or three years later when the witness is deposed or the case goes to trial.

Experts will need to be retained by the plaintiff’s lawyer. On the most fundamental level, a professional photographer should be hired to take pictures of the accident scene – the plaintiff’s lawyer should be with the photographer to be sure all necessary areas and angles are photographed. In some cases, an aerial photographer can be hired to take pictures from above. While not necessary in every case, there are cases in which an aerial picture can portray a scene better than anything else. Engagement of an accident reconstruction expert may be necessary. And as is the case in most catastrophic injury cases, experts to explain the harm caused by the accident will be necessary. These experts may include a vocational expert, life care planner, one or more doctors, an economist, and a day-in-the-life videographer.

In order to do justice to the victim of a serious car accident caused by the carelessness of another, the victim’s lawyer must be committed to spending many hundreds of hours and many thousands of dollars to prepare the case for trial. Only with such a commitment can a positive result be likely.