What Your Accident Attorney Will Tell You at the First Meeting

The first meeting with your accident attorney will in some ways be like an interview: you will have an opportunity to decide whether you feel you can work with your attorney, and your attorney will get a sense of how strong a personal injury case you have. It will also be a time when you are instructed to begin gathering information that will be important to your case. Your First Duty You will be given a number of tasks that will help your case along. However, your accident lawyer will tell you that your primary job is to do all you can to heal. Make sure you attend all scheduled doctor appointments and follow physician recommendations. Indeed, if it can be shown later that you did not work toward recovery, this could seriously damage your case. Working You will be asked whether your doctor advised you to take time off from work for your injuries. If he has, or if you feel considerable discomfort, you should not work. What to Bring to the First Appointment When you call to set up the initial appointment, your accident attorney will ask you to bring certain materials. One of these is the police report. Also, bring the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any witnesses to your accident. Things to Do After the First Meeting Your attorney will ask you to get an appraisal on damage to your car, if applicable. You also should take photographs of your vehicle from various angles to show the damage, and get these developed right away. You should also photograph the scene of the accident. If yours is a premises liability case, take pictures of the area where the accident occurred. If you are a victim of product defect, take photographs of the product. Make sure you bring in any documentation that you have for medical treatment. This should include reports, prescription information and doctor instructions. Contact With the Insurance Company Your attorney will tell you it is very important that you refrain from speaking with the defendant’s insurance company. If you are contacted, get the name of the adjuster assigned to your case, as well as his telephone number. You should then let the adjuster know you have retained a lawyer and that he will be contacting to the adjuster. It is very important that you do not discuss your case with anyone, including friends, family and co-workers. If they wonder why you won’t discuss the case, explain that by doing so you would potentially be pulling them into the case and putting them in the position of having to testify. The only person with whom you should discuss the case is your attorney. Contact an Accident Lawyer If You Were in an Accident If you were injured in an accident and believe you have a claim for damages, call an accident attorney who has the knowledge and experience to provide you with high quality representation.