Knowing What To Expect After Contacting A Personal Injury Attorney

22 March 2021
 Categories: Law, Blog


One of the first pieces of advice you are likely to receive from family and friends after being involved in a car accident or other type of accident is that you should contact an attorney regarding your injuries. However, if you are like many people, you may put off taking this solid advice simply because you are unsure of what to expect when making that call. Thankfully the information outlined below can help you to know what to expect at each stage of the process.

Schedule Your Free Consultation

The first step in any personal injury claim is to consult with an injury attorney. Most personal injury attorneys will offer a short consultation free of charge to any potential clients. Depending upon the attorney, this consultation may be completed in person or over the phone. If your injuries are so severe that they prevent you from going to the attorney's office for a consultation, most reputable personal injury attorneys will be willing to come to your home or to the hospital in order to meet with you regarding your case. 

What To Expect During Your Consultation

Your initial consultation is both your opportunity to ask questions and the attorney's opportunity to collect information. To help get the most out of the short time you will have together some attorneys will ask that you complete a questionnaire prior to coming in for your consultation. This questionnaire will ask you to provide details of your accident and your injuries.

It is also recommended that you take the time to write down any specific questions you may have for the attorney so that you do not forget to ask anything that may be important to you. Just keep in mind that the amount of specific information the attorney will be able to provide during this consultation will be limited because they are not yet fully familiar with the facts of your case. Therefore you should plan to ask more generalized questions at this stage in the process.

What To Expect After Your Consultation

After being given the opportunity to review all of the information you provided and all supporting documentation, the attorney will be able to advise you on what steps they believe you should take next. If the accident attorney feels as though they can assist you with your claim, they will at this point offer to represent you typically on a contingency basis. What this means is that you agree to give them a certain percentage of any damages they recover in your case rather than being required to pay for their services upfront. Perhaps more importantly, this also means that if they prove unsuccessful in pursuing damages you will not owe anything for their services. 


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