Not Every Personal Injury Attorney Who Says He Represents Dog Bite Injury Victims is Qualified. Most Do Not Do a Good Job. Learn Some of the Common Mistakes Dog Bite Attorneys Make and What Great Dog Attack Lawyers Do to Avoid These Mistakes.
When hiring a dog bite lawyer, is important to hire someone with experience and knowledge of the law and how to investigate these injuries. There are eight mistakes that inexperienced dog bite attorneys make and which can be very costly to their clients.
- Not Evaluating the Dog: It is often important to evaluate the dog involved in the attack, if that dog is still alive and has not been destroyed. To properly evaluate the dog, the victim needs an opportunity to view the dog and record its unprovoked behavior in multiple settings and situations. In addition, it is important to evaluate the dog's behavior outside of the context of the attack as well as other behavioral circumstances. Was another dog involved in the attack? Did the attack happened on the dog owner's property or on mutual territory? Has the owner made any statements that could be tested during the evaluation of their dog?
- Not Making a Video Presentation of the Dog: The dog is a truly independent witness. He does not know it is involved a lawsuit and therefore has no desire to control the outcome. A video presentation of the dog is one of the most powerful pieces of evidence a victim can offer a jury. With an aggressive dog, each member of the jury gets to fully experience that behavior and get a real sense of what the plantiff was dealing with at the time of the incident. He can also be used to attack the credibility of an owner who has previously said that their dog is not aggressive at the victim provoked the dog.
- Inspect the Attack Scene in the Dog’s Home: If the dog was kept at the dog owner's home, it is important to inspect the home. Inspect the window frames, scratches on the door, smashed window blinds, the dog's bed or lack of one or where the dog slept, and photos of dogs in the wall all can give a sense of how the dog was treated and how it acted in the house.
- Using the Wrong Interviewer: What one person interprets as aggressive behavior is simply energetic and playful to another. Most people trained in interviewing witnesses are trained in interviewing people but have little experience in communicating animal behavior. It is very important to have an interviewer who is trained in dog behavior speak with witnesses.
- Missing Important Discovery Documents: Those dog bite case documents are very obvious: veterinarian records, animal control records, police reports, paramedic records, names of the trainers worker was the dog has had, and names of independent witnesses who are familiar with the dog. However, there are other related documents that are even more powerful such as AKC registration certificates, breeding documents, and diplomas from any training schools in the defendant claims dog and attended.
- Depending on Documents Alone: It is quite common for veterinarians records to be incomplete. Typically their offices will only produce digital records and not a handwritten notes made by the doctor. In some cases, doctors handwrite in the corner of their documents the words "reactive" or "tried to bite" and that information is not transferred to the computer version. It's always good to interview the veterinarian as well.
- Not Properly Evaluating Wounds and Photos: Physical wounds are direct physical evidence of the dog attack. An expert, qualified and would evaluation, can give a strong opinion based on photos of the wounds as well as specific information to port the victim's version of events. Photographs of the physical wound are very important because victims of dog attacks are often not clear about every detail the incident. If there's too much disparity between the victim's version of events and the actual wounds, it may lead to a serious credibility issue at trial.
- Picking an Expert with the Wrong Qualifications: An expert is an expert, right? No, they are not. An expert in animal behavior sounds great, but if their experience is not in the behavior of dogs they are not as qualified credible as an expert in animal behavior if the focus is the behavior of canines. In addition, if the dog is a companion animal, a special expert who has specific training in the behavior of companion animals will be needed. In some cases, people in the dog business such as trainers are commanders can be very knowledgeable of dogs and their behaviors. Yet, they may not be the right expert for your case either. The right expert should have a solid animal behavior background specific to dogs and dog training.
The Jurewitz Law Group is a San Diego personal injury law firm representing people injured in car accidents, motorcycle crashes, slip and fall injuries, dog bite attacks, pedestrian accidents, and bicycle accidents. Their personal injury office is located in Downtown San Diego, has offices in Carlsbad, California, and serves all of San Diego County including the following cities and towns:
San Diego, Chula Vista, Escondido, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, El Cajon, Carlsbad, Poway, Encinitas, La Mesa, Santee, National City, Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove, Coronado.
