Hiring A Personal Injury Attorney: 3 Steps You Should Take Before Your Consultation
Hiring a personal injury attorney can be one of the most effective ways to ensure you get all of the compensation you deserve after being involved in a serious accident. In most cases, the first step towards obtaining this beneficial representation is to schedule an initial consultation with a reputable attorney in your local area. Before attending this consultation, there are a few steps that you should take the time to complete. Completing this steps will ensure that you are properly prepared for this important meeting, and will ultimately help to ensure you get the legal representation that you need and deserve.
Step 1: Answer Any Questions The Attorney May Have
Personal injury attorneys often send out questionnaires in order to try and obtain more information from their potential clients. While the information requested by these questionnaires is often quite simple, taking the time to answer these questions and return the form to the attorney will allow them to prepare for your meeting as well.
By providing the attorney with more information regarding your accident prior to your consultation, you will ultimately enjoy the benefit of more specific, and more accurate answers to all of your questions.
Step 2: Know Exactly What You Want To Ask
Most personal injury attorneys will not charge a fee for an initial consultation. In order to continue offering these consultations free of charge, attorneys will often need to limit the amount of time they spend with each potential client. What this means for you is that you will have a rather limited amount of time to ask all of the questions that have been racing through your mind since the day of your accident. Taking the time to write down all of your questions prior to the day of your consultation will allow you to easily move from one question to the next so that you can ultimately get the most out of each minute you have with the attorney.
Step 3: Gather Any Documentation You May Have
While the attorney will be interested in hearing your side of the story, a verbal recollection of the events leading up to your accident may not be enough to prove that your case does in fact have merit. Since personal injury attorneys work on a contingency basis, it is very important for these attorneys to only take on cases that they believe they can win. Consequently, an attorney will likely choose to pass on your case if you are unable to demonstrate the merit in the case.
Bringing any documentation that you have regarding your accident can allow you to back up your version of events and ultimately prove that your case has merit and can be won. This documentation should include things such as police reports, witness statements or contact information, and medical reports regarding your injuries.
A legal office such as Goldman & LeBrun can give you more advice on preparing for your consultation.
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