Covid has greatly impacted everyone’s lives. That’s not breaking news or surprising to anyone. Other than hand sanitizer manufacturers, most businesses are suffering as a result.
Law firms are no exception to this impact although compared to the restaurant and bar industry, we generally don’t have it as bad.
The most obvious impact in Chicago is the fact that you can’t go to trial in most cases. There were hundreds of claims set for hearing that have been reset until 2021. While the courts did require all parties to try and settle if they can through a pre-trial, the reality is that a lot of justice is being delayed or denied. There is no guarantee as to when trials will start and for whatever reason, they aren’t using creative ideas like moving trials to hotel ball rooms where social distancing is possible.
An unforseen impact is the reality that many people who are getting injured in car accidents, slip and falls and other Personal Injury Cases are refusing to go to the doctor to get treatment. They often have underlying conditions that make getting Coronavirus a real risk to their life. So they self medicate and do what they can to get by rather than risk getting infected by being at an ER or medical office.
In general you can’t prove an injury without getting medical care. While a slight delay is understandable, if you wait too long or refuse treatment, you will likely have no case or at least greatly impact the case in a negative way.
I get why at risk people wouldn’t want to go to the doctor and would never tell someone they have to do so. I would recommend that they at least try telemedicine if possible. In some cases if you express your concern, a doctor’s office can also have you enter and leave through a separate entrance than the regular public or even examine you outside. It’s not ideal, but what I don’t want to see if worry over Covid cause anyone to have a life long injury they otherwise could have avoided.
Bonus tip, while in most cases if you ignore a doctor’s instructions it will hurt you, if you skip physical therapy because you have Covid, we don’t expect that would impact your case in a negative way at all.
As always, if you have any questions you can call us at 312-346-5320.
