In Houston and across Texas, personal injury lawyers obtain evidence by investigating the accident and collecting records. Their teams interview witnesses, send letters to preserve evidence, request medical documentation, and using subpoenas when evidence is controlled by another person, business, insurer, or company.
However, the average client often does not have access to many kinds of evidence required to prove fault or quality of damages. Things like safety records, crash data, or transportation logs are privileged information – it often takes a legal demand to get this information quickly, before it expires or is destroyed. Lawyers have a much stronger access to the tools necessary to obtain this informition and protect it.
In this article, we’ll explain the types of evidence lawyers collect, why it is so important, and how they are able to do so.
On This Page
- How Evidence Is Used in a Personal Injury Case
- Can Lawyers Obtain Evidence Before Filing a Claim?
- Where Does Evidence Come From?
- Why Evidence Must Be Preserved Quickly
- What Tools Do Lawyers Use to Obtain Evidence?
- What Happens if Evidence Is Destroyed?
- How Can I Protect Evidence in My Personal Injury Case?
- Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Houston, TX
How Evidence Is Used in a Personal Injury Case
Evidence is the information used to prove what happened, who may be responsible, how serious the injuries are, and how much the case may be worth.
Each piece of evidence in a personal injury case should prove one of three things:
- You were hurt
- How badly you were hurt
- Who was responsible
For example, evidence in a car accident case could include:
- The crash report;
- Photos of vehicle damage;
- Medical records;
- Witness statements;
- Dashcam footage;
- Traffic camera footage; and
- Repair estimates.
In a truck accident case, available evidence could also include driver logs, inspection records, maintenance records, electronic control module data, company safety policies, or dispatch records.
The evidence available in each case is different. What matters most is that you work with an attorney who knows how to prioritize each type of evidence and obtain it.
Can Lawyers Obtain Evidence Before Filing a Claim?
Yes. A personal injury lawyer can often collect important evidence before a claim is filed. This may include crash reports, medical records, photos, videos from the client, witness statements, insurance information, repair estimates, and publicly available records.
However, some evidence may require formal legal tools. If a business, trucking company, property owner, employer, or third party refuses to provide records voluntarily, a lawyer may need to file a lawsuit, issue subpoenas, or use discovery to obtain the information.
Where Does Evidence Come From?
| Evidence | Who May Have It | How Lawyers May Obtain It |
|---|---|---|
| Crash reports | Police departments or TxDOT | Report request or public records process |
| Surveillance video | Businesses, apartments, venues, or property owners | Preservation letter, request, subpoena, or discovery |
| Medical records | Hospitals, doctors, imaging centers, or therapists | Signed authorization, records request, or subpoena |
| Truck data and driver logs | Trucking companies or fleet operators | Preservation letter, discovery, inspection demand, or subpoena |
| Witness testimony | Eyewitnesses, employees, first responders, or company representatives | Interview, written statement, or deposition |
Why Evidence Must Be Preserved Quickly
Evidence can disappear quickly after an accident. This is one of the most important reasons to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible after a serious injury.
Some evidence is temporary by nature. Surveillance video may be automatically overwritten after a few days or weeks. A damaged vehicle may be repaired, sold, or destroyed. Witnesses may become harder to locate as time passes. In the worst case, evidence could be destroyed by the responsible company.
One common step lawyers take is sending a preservation letter, sometimes called a spoliation letter. This letter tells a person, business, insurer, or company that a claim may exist and that relevant evidence must be preserved. The letter may request that the recipient preserve photos, videos, reports, electronic data, inspection logs, maintenance records, employee statements, vehicle information, and other materials related to the incident.
A preservation letter does not automatically hand the evidence to the injured person. It also does not guarantee that every piece of evidence will be saved. However, it puts the other party on notice that the evidence may be important. If relevant evidence is later destroyed or lost, the preservation letter may become important in showing that the other side knew the evidence should have been protected.
Timing is especially important in cases involving video footage or commercial entities. The sooner a lawyer identifies and preserves that evidence, the stronger the investigation may be.
What Tools Do Lawyers Use to Obtain Evidence?
Lawyers obtain evidence through informal investigation, preservation letters, records requests, subpoenas, requests for production, interrogatories, and depositions.
Subpoenas
A subpoena is a legal document that can require a person or organization to provide documents, records, or testimony. In personal injury cases, subpoenas are often used to obtain evidence from third parties who are not directly part of the claim.
For example, a lawyer may use a subpoena to request records from:
- A hospital
- An employer
- A phone company
- A repair shop
- A nearby business with surveillance footage
- A government agency
- A records custodian
- A property management company
- A contractor or subcontractor
Subpoenas are useful because important evidence is often held by people or entities other than the injured person and the defendant.
Requests for Production
After a claim is filed, lawyers can use requests for production to demand documents, photos, videos, digital files, records, and other materials from the opposing party.
In a personal injury case, requests for production may seek:
- Photos or videos of the accident
- Incident reports
- Inspection logs
- Maintenance records
- Internal communications
- Insurance documents
- Safety policies
- Training records
- Employment records
- Vehicle records
- Repair records
- Prior complaints or similar incidents
Requests for production are one of the main tools used to obtain evidence directly from the other side.
Depositions
A deposition is sworn testimony taken outside the courtroom. Lawyers use depositions to ask witnesses, defendants, employees, experts, or company representatives questions under oath.
Depositions are not just about preparing for trial. They are often used to learn more about the case or clarify disputed issues. Sometimes depositions can test witness credibility or identify additional evidence.
What Happens if Evidence Is Destroyed?
If evidence is destroyed, a lawyer may investigate who controlled it, whether the party had notice to preserve it, whether there are other available copies, and whether another source can prove the same facts. When evidence is destroyed, altered, or lost, lawyers often refer to the issue as spoliation of evidence.
When most people think of evidence being destroyed, they assume it is a deliberate act. Much of the time, evidence is lost or destroyed is due to normal, routine processes. Surveillance videos are often overwritten daily, and companies usually fix problems when they result in injury.
However, sometimes that evidence is destroyed intentionally. If evidence was intentionally destroyed or lost after the responsible party had a duty to preserve it, a lawyer may raise the issue with the court and ask for an appropriate remedy. Courts look at whether a party had a duty to preserve the evidence, whether that duty was breached, and what remedy, if any, is appropriate. The Texas Supreme Court has explained that remedies for lost evidence should be proportionate and depend on factors such as the party’s level of fault and the harm caused by the missing evidence.
This is why lawyers send preservation letters soon after an accident, to show that the business, driver, property owner, employer, or company was placed on notice that certain evidence needed to be protected. The letter may specifically demand that the other side preserve certain evidence.
Preservation Letters are Not Guarantees
A preservation letter does not guarantee that evidence will be produced immediately. It also does not guarantee that evidence will never be lost. However, it what it does do is create a written record showing that the evidence was requested and that the other party was told to preserve it.
For example, if a store claims that surveillance video was overwritten, a lawyer may ask how long the video system keeps footage, who had access to the footage, whether anyone reviewed it, whether any clips were saved, and whether the store received a preservation request before the footage disappeared.
If a trucking company claims electronic data is unavailable, a lawyer may investigate whether the data was downloaded, overwritten, stored by a fleet management vendor, preserved by an insurer, or available through another device or system. If a vehicle was repaired before inspection, a lawyer may look for photos, repair invoices, tow yard records, insurance estimates, inspection reports, or body shop records.
How Can I Protect Evidence in My Personal Injury Case?
The best way to protect evidence in a personal evidence case is to act quickly. After a serious accident, an injured person should save any documents that may be remotely relevant to the accident or their treatment. This includes photos, videos, messages, documents, medical paperwork, and any conversations they may have had with the insurance company or liable party.
A lawyer can then move quickly to identify who has the evidence, send preservation letters, request records, and determine whether subpoenas or the formal process of discovery may be needed. The earlier this process begins, the better the chance that important evidence can be preserved before it disappears.
Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer in Houston, TX
If you have been injured in a car or truck accident, a refinery explosion or as the result of someone else’s negligence, you need to contact an experienced attorney immediately. An experienced lawyer knows how to obtain, preserve and use evidence to protect and strengthen your case.
Hilda Sibrian has represented injury victims in negligence and truck accident claims across Texas for over 22 years. If you or someone you love was injured in a truck crash, refinery explosion or fire, or chemical exposure incident, call the Law Offices of Hilda Sibrian today for a free consultation. The Law Offices of Hilda Sibrian serve all of Houston and Texas, including Sugar Land, Missouri City, La Porte, Beaumont, Pasadena, The Woodlands, The Heights, Bellaire, Kingwood, Baytown and of course Houston proper.
