From Charlottesville, Virginia

Covering the state of Virginia, Wilson & Hajek, a personal injury law firm, is centrally located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Francis Hajek is an experienced Virginia personal injury attorney and lawyer who provides aggressive representation and personal service to his clients who have suffered injuries. Since 2007, he has been listed in Best Lawyers in America. www.winjurylaw.com

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Charlottesville Injury Law - Aggravation of Old Injury

Accident attorneys often meet with clients who have aggravated an old injury in a car or truck wreck. Virginia law allows for a recovery of damages in this situation. While you cannot recover for the old injury, you can make a claim for an aggravation of a pre-existing condition. Perhaps the best example of this situation is where the injury victim had a log standing back condition. The back problems may be the result of arthritis or a prior injury. To the extent that the recent car or truck accident aggravates or worsens the condition, damages are recoverable. There is even a Virginia model jury instruction that sets out this principle.I recently had this issue come up in a case out of Nelson County where the driver of a tractor trailer was speeding and struck a car stopped at a red light on Route 29. The driver of the passenger car had a history of neck problems but had not had any treatment for those problems for several years. His x-rays showed degenerative changes that had happened over time, not because of the accident. However, he did have a lot of pain and muscle spasm or tightness after the accident. His treating doctor believed that the accident had made his condition worse. In these situations, the insurance company or defense lawyer always tries to put the blame for the injuries on the prior accident. In order to fight this tactic, I interview friends and family members and use these fact witnesses to establish that the neck had not been a problem for the intervening years. In this way, an experienced injury lawyer can protect his client and successfully pursue the claim.


Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm
Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers
Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

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