From an early age, we learn through literature and movies that fantasy is attainable. A young woman living in obscurity and neglect can slip on glass shoes and ride a pumpkin to the castle to marry a prince. Is it any wonder that a claimant might expect a soft-tissue injury to generate a windfall?
The challenge of settling a claim with a claimant who has unrealistic expectations is simultaneously the bane and victory of our work.
Claimants fall prey to advertisements that promise a victims claims can be settled in six figures. They undergo exhaustive medical care, diagnostic examinations, and sometimes even surgery in the hope that they will net enough money to retire, without a real understanding of how claims can be mitigated by discovery of pre-existing conditions and prior treatment.
Claimants often do not realize that claims databases are becoming more available and that, in many forums, making a personal injury complaint can open their medical histories, which would otherwise enjoy the protective shield of HIPAA, to investigation.