As a lawyer who has represented the injured and those who have lost loved ones due to the negligence or fault of others, I am very cognizant of the shock, grief, anger and pain felt by every injured party and their loved ones. I can't tell you how many times I have been contacted by an injured person or a family member asking me a question about a possible case months or even years after the event took place. I have learned through experience, that the best way to serve oneself or a loved one, is to get a lawyer involved in the case as early as possible so that the attorney can retain whatever experts have to be retained, preserve evidence, talk to witnesses and make sure that if there is a valid claim to be brought, it can be brought with the evidence necessary to obtain the best possible result. Helping The Descendants Of An Explosion Victim Let me give you an example. In 2010 our firm was retained by two young women from Maine whose dad was in the intensive care/burn unit at the Orlando Regional Medical Center as a result of being severely burned in an LP gas explosion. People close to the daughters had told them that the best way to help their dad even though they were grieving and in shock would be to hire a lawyer who could investigate the claim early on and preserve the evidence. Reluctantly, the daughters called us and spoke to my partner and myself over the phone and decided to retain us. We immediately went into action and found a renowned expert who would meet us at the scene and go through the debris and rubble in an effort to find the cause or causes of the explosion. Our firm and this expert made arrangements to meet with the Fire Marshall, adjusters and experts from the condominium association, a unit owner, and the LP gas company within 48 hours of being hired. Preserving Evidence Early A comprehensive examination of everything was conducted with ALL PARTIES PRESENT. This was very important because you never want to have an issue regarding tampering with evidence or the chain of custody of evidence. In this particular case, it became even more important, because not only was the whole scene inspected by each party, but photographed as well, all at the same time. Within 2 days following this inspection, evidence at the scene was tampered with. Had we not been able to do the inspection early on, the end result of the case might have been different. Because we were able to conduct the inspection early on, we were able to settle this case with all parties for a very substantial sum within 14 months of the explosion.
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