If you’re injured in a car crash or at the workplace, you’ll want to get compensation for the pain suffered or damage caused. However, you’ll need to file a claim to be compensated. But before you do, you need to know whether it’s worth pursuing the case and what your rights would be while doing so.
You can only know this if you talk to a personal injury lawyer. Most attorneys offer free consultation services to potential clients to acquaint themselves with their case and see whether it’s a good fit for them. Consultation sessions are not lengthy. They’re introductory meetings where both parties explore the case to determine whether to proceed with it.
You need to prepare well to get the best from a consultation session. If you plan to consult a personal injury attorney, doing the three things below can help you get ready effectively:
- Put Together A Precise Information Log
Before you attend a consultation session with a personal injury lawyer, you need to have an information log containing essential details of your case, including dates that are critical to the case.
List these in bullet form and bring the log to your consultation session. Having an information log makes it easy for you to present the case in a time-efficient way, allowing the lawyer to formulate a picture of the situation quickly.
For instance, if you got injured in a motor vehicle accident, your information log should highlight the date of the accident, when you felt the injuries first, dates of doctor visits, and the doctors that attended to you. You should also include any correspondence you’ve had with insurance firms in your log.
- Compile Documents About The Case
As you prepare the history of your case, gather the documents that relate to the case. Often, the documents you organize will depend on the kind of injury you sustained and the cause. For instance, you can prepare police reports, medical bills, treatment records, prescriptions including costs, and present and future care plans.
Aside from these, you can include documents containing information about your insurer, any correspondence you’ve had with the insurance firm, and insurance details from the other party if you sustained injuries from a car accident.
Further, include photos of the accident scene, contacts of witnesses, and repair costs. If the injuries affected your ability to work, prepare documentation showing missed workdays and wages lost, as well as evidence to show future income losses. Presenting this evidence during a consultation session enables the lawyer to quickly determine the validity of your case.
- Determine What To Ask The Lawyer
The other thing you need to prepare before meeting a personal injury lawyer for consultation is a set of questions you wish to ask the lawyer. When you schedule a consultation session with an attorney, you want to determine whether they suit you and your case. The best way to know this is to ask questions.
Having questions you’ve already thought through before meeting the lawyer can help you stay focused on getting the information you need to decide. Here are some questions you should consider asking a personal injury lawyer:
- What kind of individual injury cases do you handle?
- How long have you practiced law?
- How many cases that you’ve taken before are similar to mine?
- What general strategy would you apply to my case?
- Would you opt for a full trial or a settlement?
- What’s the general duration that cases like mine take to resolve?
- Will I be working with your associates mostly, or how frequently can I expect to work with you directly?
- Will it be possible to communicate about the case directly?
- How would you prefer to be paid for your service?
When you ask these questions, you get an idea of what the attorney can or can’t do, how they will handle your case, and what working with them throughout the case would look like. Their responses would also help you decide whether you need to seek another lawyer or want to work with the attorney you just consulted.
Final Thoughts
Getting a personal injury lawyer to represent your interests in a trial or settlement negotiation allows you to focus on full recovery while boosting your chances of receiving fair compensation for injuries sustained. However, you need to consult different lawyers to determine which one is most suitable to handle your case.
Preparing well for consultation sessions lets you and the lawyer know whether you can work together. If you plan to meet a personal injury lawyer to discuss your case, apply the three tips above and make the best of your consultation session.
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