How to Prepare for Your Personal Injury Lawsuit
If you’ve been injured due to someone else’s negligence, dealing with the complicated legal system to obtain justice can seem daunting. Even if you’re confident, a lawsuit can be challenging to navigate. Here are simple steps to help prepare you for your day in court:
1. Record everything
Staying focused after an accident can be difficult, but the more information you collect, the better your lawyer can represent you.
If you have been involved in an accident, take advantage of your smartphone camera and snap photos of the scene and your injuries from different angles. Make sure to get the name, contact information, and address of the other driver when you get their insurance information. Get the same information from any witnesses of the accident. You should also ask for a copy of the police report.
2. Go to a doctor
Even if you don’t think you are seriously injured, see a doctor after an accident. This is important for your health (medical professionals might see signs of injury you don’t recognize) and for building your case. In addition, follow all your doctor’s instructions, and keep medical records and receipts. It may also be valuable to maintain a basic diary or journal about how your recovery is progressing and how your injuries are affecting your life.
3. Get a personal injury attorney
After you have weathered the immediate chaos of an accident, you should find a lawyer as soon as possible. Just like some lawyers focus on divorce, criminal charges, or real estate law, personal injury lawyers are the most knowledgeable about cases in which you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence.
Most personal injury attorneys, including our lawyers at Riddle & Brantley, work on a contingency fee basis, which means they won’t charge legal fees if they do not recover money for you. So, when you meet with a potential lawyer, they’ll give you an honest opinion on the strength of your case. So, attend your first meeting with all the information you have collected.
4. Stay off social media
When going through a challenging time, it’s tempting to talk about it on social media. However, the defendant’s lawyers will be looking for any evidence on your social media accounts that the incident didn’t happen the way you say it did or that your injuries aren’t as bad as you claim. Do not offer them information about your personal life that they can use against you. Remember that even private social media pages can easily be found.
Justice Counts!
If you’ve been hurt due to someone else’s negligence, call an experienced personal injury attorney at Riddle and Brantley today at 1-800-525-7111 for a free, no-obligation case review.