As experienced personal injury lawyers, we have years of experience with the misrepresentations, exaggerations and outright lies insurance companies commonly use after injury victims make a legal claim. One common defense is to suggest that the victim suffered from similar injuries before the accident, or that the victim was predisposed to the type of injury he or she suffered. Another defense is to try to prove that the victim’s injuries were not caused by the accident, but by other events in the victim’s life. When insurance companies cannot dispute the fault of their insureds, they might resort to the age-old tactic of attacking a plaintiff’s character or prior lifestyle.

An experienced lawyer will successfully challenge these common defenses and help the victim present their injuries clearly, concisely and coherently. For example, even if you suffered from a similar medical problem (such as a back or neck condition) before the accident, your lawyer can help you prove that your previous injury was made worse as a result of your accident. Most state laws provide that a wrongdoer "takes his victim as he finds him." This means victims are entitled to recover full compensation even if they were particularly susceptible to an injury, or predisposed to experience greater pain or suffering than could have been foreseen by the defendant.

For example, if you have a bad back that never required surgery, but then you are involved in a serious car accident that aggravates the back condition enough to require surgery, you are entitled to recover compensation for the surgery.