When you’re injured in your home state, the protocol is familiar: call 911, seek medical care, and then contact a lawyer. If you were injured in a car accident, you report it to your insurance company and you document all of the details with photos, videos, and notes.

 

When traveling, the protocol is mostly the same. However, there are some differences. Were you injured while traveling in Georgia? Here’s what you need to do to cover all of your bases.

 

1. Understand Georgia’s personal injury laws

 

To pursue a personal injury lawsuit, you must establish negligence. There are four criteria your situation must meet to establish negligence in Georgia:

 

·  Establish a standard of due care. You’ll need to demonstrate, with evidence, that the at-fault party owed you a duty and failed to act in a way that would avoid injury. For example, if you were involved in a car or truck accident after the at-fault driver failed to stop at a stop sign, you could hold them accountable.

·  Establish a breach of duty of care. Continuing with the example of a car failing to stop at a stop sign, you’ll need to establish that the car actually failed to stop at the stop sign. This can be done with photos, reconstructions, and testimony.

·  Prove that the injury resulted from negligence. You’ll need to prove that your injuries were related to the act of negligence. For instance, if you trip over a torn carpet in a business and then kick a cement block in anger and break your foot, you can’t sue the business for your broken foot.

·  Prove actual damages. Negligence alone isn’t enough to establish a personal injury case. You need to prove that damages occurred as a result of negligence. For instance, if you tripped over a pallet of stock in the middle of a supermarket aisle, but you weren’t injured in any way, you wouldn’t have a case. At best, you could report the incident to the manager who will hold the employees responsible.

 

When you’re working with a personal injury lawyer, they’ll help you establish negligence so you don’t have to take your focus away from healing.

 

2. Seek immediate medical care in Georgia

 

No matter how soon you’re planning to return home, seek medical care in Georgia. Your best solution is to head to the ER as soon as possible. While you can certainly see your personal doctor when you get home, don’t wait.

 

Waiting to seek medical attention is one of the factors that triggers insurance companies and courts to deny claims. The general consensus is that if you don’t seek medical care right away, you’re probably not that injured. Why else would you wait a few days, a week, or even a month to see a doctor?

 

Even if you don’t feel any pain after an injury, see a doctor immediately. If you can’t afford a trip to the ER, at least make a clinic appointment for the next day.

 

If you can’t get an appointment right away, keep good records of the medical establishments you’ve called in your quest to find an appointment. At the very least, this will show that you acted in good faith.

 

3. Know what damages are taxable in Georgia

 

Be prepared to deal with taxes when you get your settlement check. However, not all damages are taxable. When you win your case, you’ll be awarded different amounts for different types of damages, so you’ll need to keep track of what is taxable.

 

For instance, in Georgia, compensatory damages aren’t taxable because they are awarded to make you whole for losses that arise out of your injury. It’s not a gain or profit under the law. It’s more like a reimbursement.

 

Think of it this way. Say you have $500,000 in medical bills and you’re awarded that much in compensation. It doesn’t make sense for you to pay taxes on that because then you can’t pay your medical bills.

 

Punitive damages, however, are taxable. Punitive damages are awarded to punish the person or business at fault for your injuries. They have nothing to do with your injuries and are often quite large. Paying taxes on these damages won’t be a big deal.

 

Prioritize contacting a personal injury lawyer in Georgia

 

Once you seek medical attention, prioritize contacting a personal injury attorney in Georgia. Your accident happened there, so you need to make sure you get an attorney from the same state.

 

Don’t worry about scraping together money. A good lawyer will take your case on a contingency and won’t collect any fees unless and until you win.