Clients and potential clients frequently tell personal injury lawyers "I am not the suing type." Many people are injured by someone else’s wrongful or negligent act, yet they are either afraid of litigating or do not know what it takes to bring a claim. Essentially, bringing a claim means that you become a plaintiff, and this may seem like a daunting task to many people. However, the simplest tasks assigned to plaintiffs can often have huge rewards.

This was the case for one client who came looking for lawyer nearly two years after his accident. He was severely injured when his van was run off the road by an unknown driver, causing his right arm to be paralyzed. He told his lawyer that he waited so long to get legal help because he assumed there was no one to collect from, since the car that caused the accident was never located. He did, however, keep a diary of his daily life over the two years since his accident. In it, he noted every time a nurse came to his house, every time his mother had to drive him to therapy and even how excruciating the pain was on a daily basis.

After investigating, his lawyer discovered that the client’s company van had uninsured motorist insurance that should cover the accident. After a two-week trial, he was awarded a multimillion dollar verdict. This daily diary of his life was very important, because it helped explain to the jury all that he had been through. Even though he did not know at the time that he would eventually become a plaintiff, common sense dictated much of what he did that resulted in such a large recovery.