After An Auto Accident

And just as there's a, an extensive investigation in a criminal matter from day one, long before the case goes to court, the same is true for an accident case, uh, what I sometimes call the tort scene investigation.

So that you ...

What are the things that you want one of your clients to do or not do at the scene of an accident, and what are some of the things that you have to investigate in the early stages?

So these are great questions, and I wanna be clear for you and the listeners, they are really two questions, and they're both brilliant.

So on the scene, um, what I would tell your listeners is think about what this would look like and sound to a jury.

Let me pause and explain that.

Most of the officers nowadays, at least here in Atlanta, Georgia, where I am, have body cameras.

There might.

You obviously have witnesses, dash cams.

So assume that everybody can see and hear what is going on, and that cuts both ways.

Don't be running around the scene or doing things.

And I say that not to be, um, hyperbolic, but studies have shown that people's adrenaline tends to be high, and that many times they're not feeling, uh, the pain effects yet.

So it might be perfectly explainable- But it's hard if you fast-forward two years and you're at a jury, for a jury to see you walking around, um, and, and being otherwise exuberant, but yet saying you were injured as a result of that accident.

Now, I'm not saying to your listeners to ham it up.

That's not what I'm saying, but I am saying be very conscientious about it.

The second thing is be very conscientious about what you say.

If you tell the officer, "I'm fine," guess what they're gonna put in their po- police report and ultimately testify to at a deposition or a trial? "He or she told me she was fine." So all of these things, these are just two examples, um, but you wanna be very conscientious of.

I would also say even though you might be mad, maybe the per- other driver, uh, was being careless, reckless even, you don't wanna get out cursing anybody out, um, or whatnot, because juries give, uh, and award money to people that they like.

And so if you are rude or discourteous, definitely disrespectful to somebody, that's gonna show up later, because we would love to say that people are just cold arbiters of the facts and circumstances, but we know that they award based on what, who and what they like.

And so if you are doing something there that they find distasteful, you can expect that to show up in their jury verdict.

So these are just three examples of how you should conduct yourself at the scene.

And you also should be careful about not making admissions or saying you did not see something, um, because that may come back to haunt you.

Maybe you were not in a position to see it, y- maybe you're gonna say the wrong information, and it's gonna be hard to change that later on.

You are so right, Ken.

You took the words out of my mouth.

And just as there's a, an extensive investigation in a criminal matter from day one, long before the case goes to court, the same is true for an accident case, uh, what I sometimes call the tort scene investigation.

So that you ...

What are the things that you want one of your clients to do or not do at the scene of an accident, and what are some of the things that you have to investigate in the early stages?

So these are great questions, and I wanna be clear for you and the listeners, they are really two questions, and they're both brilliant.

So on the scene, um, what I would tell your listeners is think about what this would look like and sound to a jury.

Let me pause and explain that.

Most of the officers nowadays, at least here in Atlanta, Georgia, where I am, have body cameras.

There might.

You obviously have witnesses, dash cams.

So assume that everybody can see and hear what is going on, and that cuts both ways.

Don't be running around the scene or doing things.

And I say that not to be, um, hyperbolic, but studies have shown that people's adrenaline tends to be high, and that many times they're not feeling, uh, the pain effects yet.

So it might be perfectly explainable- But it's hard if you fast-forward two years and you're at a jury, for a jury to see you walking around, um, and, and being otherwise exuberant, but yet saying you were injured as a result of that accident.

Now, I'm not saying to your listeners to ham it up.

That's not what I'm saying, but I am saying be very conscientious about it.

The second thing is be very conscientious about what you say.

If you tell the officer, "I'm fine," guess what they're gonna put in their po- police report and ultimately testify to at a deposition or a trial? "He or she told me she was fine." So all of these things, these are just two examples, um, but you wanna be very conscientious of.

I would also say even though you might be mad, maybe the per- other driver, uh, was being careless, reckless even, you don't wanna get out cursing anybody out, um, or whatnot, because juries give, uh, and award money to people that they like.

And so if you are rude or discourteous, definitely disrespectful to somebody, that's gonna show up later, because we would love to say that people are just cold arbiters of the facts and circumstances, but we know that they award based on what, who and what they like.

And so if you are doing something there that they find distasteful, you can expect that to show up in their jury verdict.

So these are just three examples of how you should conduct yourself at the scene.

And you also should be careful about not making admissions or saying you did not see something, um, because that may come back to haunt you.

Maybe you were not in a position to see it, y- maybe you're gonna say the wrong information, and it's gonna be hard to change that later on.

You are so right, Ken.

You took the words out of my mouth.