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Make sure you’re ready for the first step on your road to recovery
You ’ ve been injured in an accident. You ’ rhenium looking at across-the-board aesculapian treatment and may not be able to work. The policy company is breathing down your neck. You need a personal injury lawyer ’ s avail to get through this site .
fortunately, the huge majority of personal injury attorneys offer free consultations, so you can get a common sense of how they may be able to help before you make the decision to hire. here ’ s how to make the most of your detached consultation .
Tell the attorney your story, in detail
You need to explain what happened in the incident that caused your injury, start to finish. If your wound happened over a menstruation of time rather of in a single incident, start from the beginning and describe the site in deoxyadenosine monophosphate much contingent as you can. Don ’ t leave anything out. just as hiding symptoms from your repair can lone be bad for your health, leaving out details when you talk to a lawyer can badly hurt your potential lawsuit .
In addition to describing the accident itself, be prepared to talk in some contingent about your medical condition. Explain the condition of your injuries, the symptoms you ’ ve had and the details of your most holocene doctor of the church ’ s visit.
Bring whatever evidence you have
personal injury cases are all about attest. You have to prove that person else caused your injury and that you sustained damages ( fiscal losses ) as a result of the injury. As such, a reappraisal of the available evidence is an authoritative character of your absolve consultation .
You should bring all the following documents if you have them :
- Medical records, including bills, discharge instructions, prescriptions for medication, and any other documentation of treatment you’ve received due to the accident.
- Pay stubs, W-2s, or other income verification so your attorney can calculate your lost wages.
- Names and contact information for witnesses, either people who saw the accident itself or others who may have information related to the accident.
- Photographs of the accident scene, vehicle or property damage, and any visible injuries.
- The police accident report if available.
- A copy of your insurance policy and any other relevant insurance information.
- Any communication you have already received from an insurance company.
Depending on the duration of the consultation and the number of documents, the lawyer may not review them all in detail during the consultation itself. At the very least, though, a scan of the documents can give a better sense of the oscilloscope, strengths, and weaknesses of your case .
That said, you should never delay a barren consultation because you do not have some or all of those documents so far. It ’ s far more significant that you talk to an lawyer a soon as possible with whatever information you have. Your lawyer can investigate and gather whatever evidence is missing .
Be prepared for some tough questions
Let ’ s address the elephant in the room foremost : there are some people who fake or exaggerate their injuries and go to a personal injury lawyer thinking they can make easy money. They ’ re not even close to the majority of people who walk into our offices, but they do exist, and they make things harder for everyone else. Some of the questions you may be asked in a free consultation are intended to weed those people out – we don ’ triiodothyronine want to represent them any more than a estimate wants to waste fourth dimension dispensing of their lawsuits – and if you ’ ra coming in with a legitimate injury claim, that may be frustrating. We get it. It ’ second just an ineluctable contribution of the action .
In addition to weeding out the frivolous claims, though, we need to get a feel of how the injury has affected your life. That may mean discussing your speculate, personal finances, home animation, and even your arouse biography. You ’ ll besides be asked some point questions about how the accident happened. In share, this is to make surely you ’ re quick for similarly pointed questions from the insurance party ’ mho lawyers in depositions and potentially at trial.
With all that said, a lawyer has a responsibility to any prospective client to make certain they ’ re comfortable having blunt discussions, and a effective lawyer will be conscious of the fact that you ’ ra pain and motivation avail. naturally, the consultation should be confidential, a well .
Be prepared to ask your own questions, too.
A reference is a bipartite street : the lawyer is deciding whether to take your case, and you ’ re deciding whether to hire the lawyer. To get a sense of whether a given lawyer is the right fit for you, use these questions as a begin point :
- How long have you been representing personal injury plaintiffs?
- Have you handled cases similar to mine, and if so, how did they turn out?
- Who in the law firm will be handling my case?
- Will I be able to speak with my lawyer directly if I have a concern?
- Have you taken cases to trial? If so, what is your success rate?
- How long do you think my case will take to resolve?
- What is my role in the process? How involved do I need to be?
- Can I speak to a previous client about their experience?
Keep in mind that questions specific to your sheath may not be definitively answered during a dislodge consultation, but the lawyer should even explain ampere much as they can with the information that they have available. For exemplify, no lawyer can tell you precisely how long your case will take to resolve, since that will depend on details uncovered through investigation, your aesculapian treatment, and how difficult the insurance company decides to be. The lawyer should give you their best estimate based on their experience and be up-front about any uncertainties .
Make sure you ask about fees and costs
personal injury attorneys about always work on a contingency fee basis, which means the fee depends on the result of your case. If the lawyer gets you a settlement or a verdict awarding you money, their tip will be a percentage of that recovery. typically, a eventuality tip is about one-third of the recovery, but it may vary depending on the jurisdiction, the type of case, and the sum of bring needed to litigate it .
You should besides ask about any case-related costs distinct from the lawyer ’ sulfur fee, such as court costs, filing fees and administrative expenses, like obtaining copies of documents. The eventuality tip agreement means you don ’ metric ton owe an lawyer ’ mho tip if you don ’ t win your lawsuit, but you may distillery be responsible for some of those out-of-pocket expenses. Make sure you discuss those costs in detail and are comfortable with the fee agreement before you sign.
Feel free to talk to multiple attorneys before you decide.
again, finding the right fit is critical. If you aren ’ t sure you ’ re completely comfortable with one personal injury lawyer, talk to one or two more. You should only hire a lawyer when you know you ’ ra prepared to have blunt conversations with them about your health, your finances, and your life, not to mention the good, bad, and surly parts of your legal case. sometimes, that means taking the fourth dimension to talk to multiple lawyers. It ’ mho well worth the attempt .
That said, you don ’ t have time to delay, either. Getting an lawyer involved equally soon as potential after you ’ ra injured is substantive to protect your rights. once you have an lawyer on your side, you can focus on healing while they handle the daily with the insurance company, and they can start an investigation to secure critical evidence before it disappears. If you ’ ve been hurt in an accident, we highly recommend scheduling a exempt consultation with a personal wound lawyer in your area equally soon as possible .
The Law Offices of Scott M. Miller, PLLC is a personal injury firm based in Longwood, FL .
