If you are a personal injury lawyer, then you might provide legal services for clients who are victims of car accidents, dog attacks, workplace injuries, and more. Part of representing them involves proving that they have, in fact, been injured. This is often done with medical records. The client who you are representing right now might have already seen their own doctor, but you might be ready to send them to an independent medical professional. If you are looking for the right professional to send your client to or are looking for other advice, these pointers should help.
Understand Why These Professionals Are Important
If you already have documentation from your client's doctor that proves their injuries, you might not really think it's necessary to send your client for an independent medical examination. However, you should know that many insurance companies will not offer a settlement without an independent medical evaluation. After all, these examinations are supposed to be done by a neutral party, which makes insurance companies feel more comfortable with the idea that the claim is legitimate. If you are planning on taking your client's case to trial, you should know that an independent medical examination can be helpful when presenting a case to a judge and jury. Therefore, if you want to represent your client as well as possible, then you probably want to choose an independent medical professional to send your client to for an examination.
Find a Specialist
There are regular independent medical professionals who perform evaluations of all different types. However, you may want to consider your client's specific injuries when choosing one of these professionals. For example, if your client is a child, then you may want to find someone who specializes in pediatric independent medical evaluations. If your client is suffering from an orthopedic-related injury, then you may want to find an independent medical examiner who performs orthopedic evaluations in particular. Then, you can help ensure that the examiner is fully qualified to perform the exam on your client, and you can help increase the chances of the examination going well and the findings being accurate.
Keep Track of Costs
Of course, you should keep track of all costs that are incurred when handling your client's trial, including the cost of the independent medical examination. Then, you can make sure that you include the cost of the examination into the settlement amount that you ask for so you and your client will be fully and appropriately compensated.