Lisa M. Haywood- Ohio Personal Injury Attorney: Free Consultation!

Taxability of Settlements: Generally compensation received for physical injury is not taxable. However, some personal injury settlements, or portions thereof, may be taxable. You should consult with a tax attorney or accountant to discuss the taxability of any recovery proceeds that you have received. For more guidance and information, click here to hyperlink to the IRS publication on this topic.

Bankruptcy: Any settlement proceeds may become the property of the bankruptcy trustee. You should contact your personal injury attorney before you file a petition for bankruptcy and disclose the pending personal injury claim to your bankruptcy attorney.

Photos: A picture is worth a thousand words. Take pictures of your injuries immediately following the accident and periodically as you heal. Take pictures of the scene and the vehicles involved. Forward the photos to your legal counsel for review.

Daily Journal: Keep a daily journal beginning with the date of the accident to document all physical and mental injuries, limitations on daily activities, as well as recording your view of the accident.

Medical Treatment and Bills: Reasonable, necessary treatment that is related to the accident is reimbursable to the extent that the charges are usual and customary charges. The patient must have a significant health problem necessitating treatment, and the medical services rendered must have a direct therapeutic relationship to the patient's condition and provide reasonable expectation of recovery or improvement of function.

Maintenance Therapy: Maintenance therapy is generally not considered. Maintenance therapy is defined as a treatment plan that seeks to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong and enhance the quality of life; or therapy that is performed to maintain or prevent deterioration of a chronic condition. When further clinical improvement cannot reasonably be expected from continuous ongoing care, and the chiropractic treatment becomes supportive rather than corrective in nature, the treatment is then considered maintenance therapy.

Length of Treatment: How much treatment is needed depends on the type of injury sustained. This needs to be determined by your treating physician. However, only treatment that is reasonable and necessary will be considered. Excessive treatment that is beyond the "guidelines" is likely to be rejected with rare exception.

Independent Medical Examination ("IME"): In some cases, an examination by an independent physician is necessary. Consult with counsel before submitting to an exam by a doctor other than your own.

Gaps in Treatment: If you are injured, seek treatment immediately --- even for minor injuries. Delays in treatment may make it difficult to effectively establish a causal connection between your injuries and the accident. Gaps in treatment are not treated favorable and may have significant negative impact on your claim.

Mitigation of Damages: Clients have a duty to mitigate your damages. Mitigation of Damages is the requirement that someone injured by another's negligence must take reasonable steps to reduce the damages, injury or cost, and to prevent them from getting worse. For example, a person claiming to have been injured by another motorist should seek medical help and not let the problem worsen.

Wage Loss: At the initial consultation, clients receive a wage loss form for their employer to complete. It is the client's responsibility to ensure the form is timely received by our office. Otherwise, we will assume that a wage loss claim is not going to be pursued.

Under Ohio Law, you may be entitled to reimbursement for reasonable wages that are lost as a result of the injuries you sustained in the accident.
Your wage loss must be supported by medical documentation regarding your inability to work.
Your wage loss must be supported by documentation from your employer regarding the time missed and your earnings. Self-employed individuals may be required to provide tax documents to support their wage loss claim.
You have a duty to mitigate your wage loss damages.

Workers' Compensation: You may have a Workers' Compensation claim and a personal injury claim. For example, if you were driving your employer's vehicle on company time at the time of the accident, then you may have a dual claim. In most cases, the BWC has subrogation rights that must be honored by statute. Be aware that the BWC will not provide a pain and suffering award, this falls under your personal injury claim. For more information, click here.

Loss of Consortium Claims: If your injuries as a result of your accident affect your relationship with your spouse, then you may be entitled to damages for "loss of consortium". Loss of Consortium is the decreased or limited sexual activity between the injured party and the spouse and decreased or limited care, companionship, and affection between the injured party and spouse, whether or not there is a decrease or change in sexual activity.

The value of a loss of consortium claim is speculative, but can be awarded if the jury (or judge sitting as trier of fact) is sufficiently impressed by the deprivation.
Your spouse may also chose to pursue the same claim against the same defendants, even though your spouse was not directly injured.
There have been efforts in some jurisdictions to extend loss of consortium to same sex partners and couples who are not married, but in a permanent relationship. So far these efforts have been unsuccessful, and there is currently no recovery for loss of consortium by the injured party or the partner.
Caution: A loss of consortium claim may make your sexual activity and your spouse's sexual activity "fair game" if the matter is litigated. As such, the pro's and con's of this element of damages should be heavily considered with the legal counsel.