One of the most common arguments we hear from insurance companies has nothing to do with the accident itself.
Instead, they look backward.
They look for an old injury.
An old insurance claim.
A surgery from years ago.
A visit to the chiropractor.
A football injury.
Military service.
Anything they can point to and say:
"This wasn't caused by our insured. You were already hurt."
After decades of representing injured people throughout North Georgia, Tom and Jon Pope have heard this argument countless times.
Sometimes it's legitimate.
Sometimes it isn't.
And sometimes, it completely misses the point.
One case in particular has stayed with Tom for years.
A Man Tom Had Known Since High School
Several years ago, Tom represented a man he had known since high school.
He wasn't someone who had spent his life sitting behind a desk.
He had played college football at the University of South Carolina.
He had proudly served in the military.
He had lived a physically demanding life that came with its share of bumps, bruises, aches, and old injuries.
Like many people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, he wasn't walking around with a perfectly clean medical history.
Most of us aren't.
Then one ordinary trip to a retail store changed everything.
It Wasn't a Car Wreck
The client was shopping when he tripped over a shopping basket that had been left where customers were expected to walk.
He fell.
The injuries were significant.
What should have been a straightforward premises liability claim quickly became something else.
The insurance company's focus wasn't on the dangerous condition inside the store.
It wasn't on why the basket had been left where customers could trip over it.
Instead, they focused almost entirely on the client's past.
"He Was Already Hurt."
Tom wasn't surprised.
After trying injury cases for decades, he has learned that one of the first things insurance companies often do is investigate the injured person's history.
Not just the accident.
Everything.
Previous insurance claims.
Medical records.
Old MRIs.
Chiropractic treatment.
Past surgeries.
Athletic injuries.
Military medical records.
Sometimes they request records going back many years.
The goal is simple.
If they can convince a jury that today's pain is really yesterday's problem, they hope to reduce what they have to pay.
What They Didn't Understand
There was one problem with that argument.
Tom knew this client long before the fall.
He knew the football player.
He knew the veteran.
He knew the person who had continued living an active life despite the normal wear and tear that comes with decades of physical activity.
Yes, he had a medical history.
But he was living his life.
Working.
Moving.
Enjoying his independence.
Then the fall happened.
After that, things changed.
That's the difference insurance companies often overlook.
Having a Medical History Does Not Mean Someone Can't Be Hurt Again
One of the biggest misconceptions people have is that an old injury automatically prevents them from bringing a new injury claim.
That simply isn't true.
Almost everyone accumulates medical history over time.
People play sports.
They work construction.
They serve in the military.
They raise children.
They develop arthritis.
They have knee surgery.
They have back pain.
They recover.
They move forward.
None of that gives someone else permission to injure them.
In fact, one of the most important jobs an experienced trial lawyer performs is helping explain what changed because of the new incident.
The Difference Between "Before" and "After"
When Tom evaluates a case involving prior injuries, he isn't trying to hide the client's medical history.
That approach rarely works.
Instead, he asks a different question.
Who was this person before the accident?
Were they working?
Were they exercising?
Were they coaching Little League?
Were they traveling?
Were they taking care of grandchildren?
Were they living independently?
Those answers matter.
Because the issue isn't whether someone had pain years ago.
The issue is whether this accident made their condition worse or created entirely new limitations.
That distinction can change the outcome of a case.
This Is Where Experience Matters
Insurance companies have handled thousands of claims.
So has Hasty Pope.
The difference is perspective.
Insurance companies often look for reasons to connect today's complaints to yesterday's records.
Tom and Jon spend their time understanding what actually changed after the accident.
That means carefully reviewing medical records.
Talking with treating physicians.
Understanding the timeline of treatment.
Learning how the client's daily life changed after the injury.
Those details tell a much more complete story than a decades-old medical record ever could.
We Have Seen This Strategy Before
The store where our client fell wasn't the first defendant to rely heavily on preexisting conditions.
It won't be the last.
We've seen similar arguments in car wrecks.
Truck crashes.
Slip and fall cases.
Work-related injuries.
Insurance companies know juries may hear "preexisting condition" and assume the case is over.
But juries also understand something else.
People are allowed to have a past.
People are allowed to grow older.
People are allowed to carry old injuries while still expecting others to act responsibly.
If someone else's negligence makes an existing condition worse, that deserves to be fully understood.
Every Injury Has a Story
Medical records matter.
Diagnostic imaging matters.
Doctors matter.
But after decades of representing injured people, we've learned something equally important.
Every injury has a story.
Sometimes that story begins on a football field.
Sometimes it begins during military service.
Sometimes it begins years before the accident.
The question isn't whether that story exists.
The question is whether the accident created a new chapter.
That's what we work to understand.
The Hasty Pope Difference
At Hasty Pope, we don't see clients as collections of medical records.
We see people.
We take the time to understand who they were before the accident.
How they lived.
How they worked.
What mattered to them.
Only then can we explain what was taken away.
That's why we don't panic when an insurance company starts talking about preexisting conditions.
We've heard the argument before.
We've challenged it before.
And we've spent decades helping juries understand the difference between an old injury and a life that was changed by someone else's negligence.
Because having a past should never prevent someone from receiving justice for what happened today.