Injury lawyers offer free consultations to potential clients who have been injured. Whether you are “shopping” for the right injury lawyer or already have an injury lawyer, you want to gain the most value you can from that free consultation. During the free consultation, you will have questions to ask your injury lawyer, and you will also need to provide your injury lawyer with information about your accident and injury.
In my last blog, I dealt with the questions you should ask your personal injury lawyer (What to ask a personal injury lawyer during your free consultation).
I have written this blog to help you understand what information your injury lawyer will need in order to understand your case and provide you with effective advice.
Prepare ahead of time to gain the most value from your free consultation
My advice is to assemble as much of the information I identify in this blog as possible before your free consultation. Then your injury lawyer will be in a much better position to understand your case and help you.
To assist you, I have created a template of the information your injury lawyer will require. You can find a link to download the template at the end of this blog.
Information your injury lawyer will require
What should you tell your injury lawyer during your free consultation? Or, put another way, what does your injury lawyer need to know about your case?
Your injury lawyer will need as much of the following information as possible:
- Collision Report Form if you were injured in a motor vehicle accident
- Letters from Insurance Companies (including your own)
- E-mails, correspondence between yourself and other parties (which may be insurance adjusters or witnesses)
- Photographs or video
- Witness statements.
During the interview, your injury lawyer will probably want you to describe or explain the following:
- How the accident occurred
- What medical treatment you have sought and how it has been paid for
- Whether you have any private insurance policies that pay for the treatment
- The type of medical treatment you have sought and where
- Your pain and injuries, physical or psychological
- Any out-of-pocket expenses you have incurred for medical treatment or other treatment
- Any out-of-pocket expenses you have incurred for things relating to the accident but that are not medical treatment
- Employment information
- How your injuries affect your day-to-day living activities
- If you were injured in a motor vehicle accident, whether the party at fault was charged with a traffic offence.
It is always a good idea to be specific in the information you provide: dates, times, contact information, and so on.
Free template
The following template of the information your injury lawyer will require is freely available for your personal use. You can add additional points or just use the template as a checklist to help you prepare for your free consultation.
If you have comments or suggestions about other information your injury lawyer needs, I hope you will add your comment to this blog.
My next blog in this series will be “What experts should be on my injury lawyer’s team?”
