The amount of compensation you are able to collect, whether through an insurance claim or a lawsuit, is limited by the evidence you produce to prove your damages. For example, if you are in a car accident and cut your head striking it on the steering wheel during the collision, you will have a variety of injuries. The cut on your head during your initial visit to the emergency room may have cost hundreds of dollars for stitches to repair. The emergency room bill is evidence to use in support of your compensation. If that bill is all the evidence you have, that is all the damages you will be entitled to collect.
Due to the wound to your head, you might also have experienced a traumatic brain injury, which could lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses and lost earnings. In order to collect compensation for these damages, you need evidence that the court would admit in support of your related damages. This evidence comes from medical and occupational experts who you will need to receive follow-up appointments from. Your local Phoenix personal injury lawyer has a network of these professionals and will help you schedule your appointments.
The medical expert will estimate the present and future medical costs associated with your traumatic brain injury, including medications, treatments, surgeries, and any rehabilitation that might be necessary. The occupational expert then applies your medical symptoms to your ability to work and measures the impact on your earnings in the long term. With evidence from these experts on hand, your attorney will be able to demand the full long-term damages linked to your head injury, and not just those related to your short-term emergency room and other bills.