Why Use Private Investigators in Personal Injury and Disability Cases?
November 19, 2012
At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., Herndon injury lawyer Doug Landau is often asked why he hires outside private investigators. Keeping the job of investigating separate from the work performed by the legal team is important because it prevents the waters from being muddied when it comes to witnesses, evidence, etc. If lawyer Landau did the “gumshoe’s” job, he might be a witness in the case, and he could not effectively be both a witness AND the best lawyer for the injured victim. While Landau, like the best injury lawyers in other states, actually visits crash sites, dangerous premises and accident scenes, he has other accident reconstruction and investigatory professionals make measurements, take photographs and interview witnesses so that they can then take the witness stand and provide important evidence for his disabled clients’ cases.
But investigation costs in some injury and disability cases can be several thousands of dollars. Is it worth it? Doug and the ABRAMS LANDAU team do not “try cases on the cheap.” Landau has seen too many so-called “Personal Injury” and Workers Compensation lawyers settle cases for a fraction of their true value and without spending the time, effort and resources to get the evidence a judge and jury will want to see. As discussed in earlier posts on this site, getting the evidence early and saving exhibits is critical to success in a major injury and disability case.
Here are 6 of the top reasons the best Virginia injury lawyers use investigators:
#6 – to identify potentially favorable witnesses to testify, live at trial
#5 – for surveillance to determine (and record) a person’s activity
#4 – to perform an asset investigation to determine if litigation is worthwhile and an excess judgment is collectible
#3 – to collect facts that are not publicly or otherwise available
#2 – to locate a witness or missing subject
#1 – to enforce and collect a judgment
If you or someone you know has been involved in an accident resulting in injury or disability and there are questions about what laws apply, and what evidence may be discovered through the use of a private investigator, e-mail or call us at ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. (703-796-9555).