Image Source: Clark Van Der Beken, Unsplash
Today’s personal injury cases don’t wait for film to develop or for witnesses to come forward. They’re moving along quickly with the help of technological advancements, from wireless cameras to fitness trackers.
These personal technologies are part of a greater legal tech arsenal. More innovations include event data recorders (EDRs), AI-powered data processing, 3D accident reconstruction, finite element analysis (FEA), and virtual reality (VR).
Here’s a closer look at these technologies, including real-world case scenarios to better illustrate applications, especially for catastrophic injury cases.
1. EDR (Event Data Recorder) Analysis
Almost all cars built after 2014 are equipped with essential technologies called event data recorders (EDRS). EDRs are the black box of your car. It records critical accident data, such as:
- Car Speed
- Throttle position
- Steering movements
- Braking
Suppose the other driver in your car crash injury case claims they braked in time. However, the EDR data reveals that no braking pressure was applied until a literal tenth of a second before the crash. Here, you have recorded proof that no statement can disprove.
2. Digital Data Analysis
Years ago, the legal team on your case would’ve had to manually sift through paper documents. Now, attorneys and paralegals have instant access to digital data from:
- Dash cams
- Smartwatches
- Smartphones
Data from these devices provides a timestamped timeline of events. Even fitness tracker data can be crucial to proving liability, especially in the case of a pedestrian accident.
A defendant’s own smartphone in a case can prove that they were, in fact, distracted while driving. Timestamped text, emails, and social media posts can be used as evidence of negligence.
Digital evidence assists legal teams in procuring the highest possible insurance settlement, leaving no room for doubt when negotiating with insurance companies.
Legal teams use AI-powered software to extract and sort digital data from wireless devices. Built-in parameters ensure the highest priority data is sorted to the top.
Such tools analyze large datasets of previous legal rulings to uncover potential causes and identify missing pieces of evidence. They also process thousands of pages of medical documents to prove clinical links between accidents and catastrophic, life-altering injuries.
3. 3D Accident Reconstruction and Laser Scanning
Digital data from smartphones and dash cams can establish what happened. In complex injury cases, legal teams need further tools to prove how and why the accident happened.
It’s post-accident protocol to take photos of injuries, car damage, and road conditions, including skid marks. But drivers can only document so much while in a state of shock. Legal pros now use drones and laser scanners to document accident scenes with absolute precision.
The data is then used to create 3D accident reconstructions.
4. Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
Next, a legal team applies finite element analysis (FEA) to understand what happens to the body when it’s injured in a complex injury case. Forensics experts simulate accident scenarios with FEA to provide answers to complex questions.
For example, an expert may apply FEA analysis to determine if a vehicular rollover was caused by a sharp turn or a manufacturing defect in the car’s suspension system. If it’s the latter, then the car was unstable, and such evidence would be used to prove the manufacturer’s liability.
5. Virtual Reality (VR) Tools
Legal experts can use virtual reality (VR) and animation to create detailed walkthroughs of a scene, offering persuasive evidence if a case goes to trial. This technology places jurors inside the vehicle, providing more context for what happened before the accident.
Catastrophic Injuries in St. Louis: A Real-World Scenario
For deeper context, consider the following hypothetical case of a St. Louis catastrophic injury lawyer representing a woman injured in a multi-vehicle accident on I-64 near the St. Louis Galleria. Cases become even more complex when more than two vehicles are involved, including commercial trucks.
The woman, a nurse named Sarah, has suffered a serious T7 spinal cord injury, resulting in life-altering paraplegia. A commercial box truck rear-ended a Sedan on I-64, which propelled the Sedan right into Sarah’s SUV.
The commercial truck driver claims his brakes failed. The driver of the Sedan recalls the sudden impact, which sent his car flying into Sarah’s vehicle.
Sarah’s legal team acts quickly to preserve every piece of evidence. Drones map the accident scene in detail, capturing all debris before traffic resumes.
Next, they extract data from the commercial truck driver’s black box, revealing that the driver, in fact, did not apply their brakes until 0.5 seconds before impact. This data disproves the brake failure claim.
Sarah’s legal team creates a 3D accident reconstruction that proves the commercial truck’s speed was the primary factor. They also generate a medical animation to precisely show how the force of impact injured Sarah’s spine. With this evidence, they assign the majority of the fault to the commercial trucking company.
Meanwhile, a digital forensics investigation into the Sedan owner’s smartphone records proves the driver was texting as they neared Sarah’s SUV. The evidence is used to build a punitive damages claim for gross negligence.
With the help of legal tech, Sarah’s legal team won a high-value settlement without having to go to trial.
Using Legal Tech in Multi-Party Cases
The above scenario is an example of a multi-party accident.
These cases can grow even more complex when a potentially defective traffic light is involved, which makes the city a party in the accident. Legal tech can be the ultimate decider in these cases.
States like Missouri also enforce comparative negligence rules, which require legal teams to assign exact liability percentages. In the above scenario, Sarah’s lawyer would likely have assigned 90% fault to the commercial trucking company. Simulation software can help determine those exact percentages.
Now, if a commercial vehicle’s brakes do fail. A law firm can produce FEA simulations to determine if the failure was caused by the manufacturer or the driver’s own lack of brake maintenance.
Watch for More Tech-Driven Legal Solutions
Technologies like EDR, digital data analysis, 3D accident reconstruction, laser scanning, finite element analysis (FEA), virtual reality (VR), and medical animations are already transforming the personal injury law sector.
Keep your eyes peeled for what’s next on the horizon.
Don’t forget to follow our blog! Learn how the latest tech innovations are optimizing industry sectors with greater precision.
About Author
