What You Can Do to Help Your Personal Injury Lawyer and Your Case

As your personal injury lawyer, I know that you are counting on me to use my skills, knowledge, and commitment to handle your matter in a way that gives you the best chance of obtaining the compensation you deserve. While you are right to expect this from your lawyer, there are in fact things that you can do to help me do the job you’ve hired me to do, and things you should do even before you’ve decided to meet with a lawyer.

Before and after you’ve taken the important step of selecting and retaining an experienced personal injury lawyer, here a four important ways you can help your case:

• Get Information and Evidence. Gathering as much information and evidence immediately after the accident can help preserve important details about the occurrence and can give your attorney a head start in assembling the evidence he or she will need to put on a strong case. Take pictures, get the names and contact information of any witnesses, and preserve any physical evidence you can.
• Don’t Delay Hiring a Lawyer. If you have any desire to seek justice or get the help you need to recover from your injuries, retaining a lawyer as soon as possible after your accident is crucial. Not only are there time limits for filing claims arising from your accident, some of which are extremely short, but memories fade, evidence disappears, and any insurance companies involved are already working on the case to find ways to avoid or minimize the amount they have to pay. Don’t give them that head start.
• Do NOT Negotiate or Enter into an Agreement with an Insurance Company. Insurance companies aren’t charities. They are there to make money, and one way they try to maximize their profitability is to resolve claims as quickly and cheaply as possible. They will want you to settle for significantly less than your claim is actually worth, and if you start to negotiate with them without your lawyer, you could be costing yourself significant amounts of money.
• Tell Your Lawyer Everything and Listen to Your Lawyer. Your lawyer is there to fight for you. In order to do that, he or she will need you to provide full and complete information about your accident and your injuries in order to thoroughly understand your case. Do not hold back anything; if there is information that you believe may hurt your case, it is even more important that you let your lawyer know that now because it will come out at some point. Once you have retained your lawyer and have entered into an agreement for them to represent you, everything you and your lawyer discuss is protected by the attorney-client privilege. Remember that.

James “Jim” Nugent: Your Connecticut Personal Injury Lawyer

I’ve worked hard to build a reputation as one of Connecticut’s premier lawyers advocating for injury victims’ rights, getting results for my clients for over 30 years. If you have suffered a personal injury or catastrophic injury, call me today at (203) 795-1111 for a free consultation.