The first meeting with your personal injury lawyer can be a source of stress and anxiety. It can be hard to know how best to prepare for this appointment. After this initial meeting, you must decide whether to retain that attorney’s services or continue your legal representation search.
What Happens During Your Initial Consultation With A Personal Injury Lawyer?
Every attorney has a unique way of conducting initial meetings with potential clients. For example, not every personal injury lawyer or law firm will:
- Offer a free initial consultation
- Schedule initial meetings for the same length of time
- Schedule the meeting with an attorney instead of legal support staff
- Provide you with materials to review at home
Despite these differences, a few topics of conversation will come up in almost every first meeting.
The Personal Injury Lawyer Will Get To Know You
This first meeting is an opportunity for the personal injury lawyer to learn about you as a person and a potential client. During your conversation, the personal injury lawyer will ask you questions to help them understand your objectives in seeking legal representation.
For example, an attorney may want to know if you are looking for a quick settlement or if you want someone who will take your claim to trial, no matter what.
The personal injury lawyer will also want to know your expectations of them and their firm. For instance, the personal injury lawyer might discuss how often you want to hear from them as your case progresses. This knowledge helps them determine whether they can meet your expectations or not.
The Personal Injury Lawyer Will Listen To Your Story
It is equally important that the personal injury lawyer understands your case before agreeing to represent you. Expect the personal injury lawyer to ask questions about how your injury happened, what evidence supports your claim, and how badly you have been hurt. Bringing notes or documentation along to this first meeting can be helpful.
Personal injury lawyers in California have an ethical obligation not to accept a case they are not qualified to handle. Therefore, an attorney might decline to represent you if they don’t feel comfortable handling your claim. The attorney can avoid many practical and ethical issues if they consider this obligation during the initial meeting.
The Personal Injury Lawyer Will Explain A Course of Action
Once the attorney decides they can assist you with your claim, they will explain how they plan to do this. The steps the attorney intends to take are subject to change as your claim unfolds. Nonetheless, during your first meeting, the attorney might take time to sketch a broad picture of how your claim might proceed.
Ask questions if you do not understand the personal injury lawyer’s suggestions. You should leave the meeting with a good understanding of what the personal injury lawyer plans to do to represent you. The personal injury lawyer should also be able to articulate how their proposed course of action can achieve the goals you identified.
The Personal Injury Lawyer Will Explain Challenges To Your Claim
A personal injury lawyer should never guarantee that a case will succeed. Instead, they should anticipate issues that could affect how much compensation they receive. An experienced attorney can spot these potential obstacles and discuss how they might appear in your case. They can also address how particular challenges could impact your ability to recover compensation.
One typical example in personal injury cases arises when the injury victim was also partly to blame for the accident or their injuries. In California, any fault attributable to the victim will proportionally reduce the victim’s compensation award. In theory, the victim could be 99% responsible for an accident and still recover some compensation.
Conversely, in Florida, a victim who is more than 50% responsible for causing the crash or their injuries cannot recover any compensation at all. Therefore, while it is always critical that your attorney examine any fault attributable to you, this step is even more important in Florida.
You And The Personal Injury Attorney Will Discuss Fees And Costs
At some point, expect to discuss the personal injury lawyer’s fees and how those are calculated. If the attorney does not bring this issue up, take it upon yourself to raise it. You deserve to know how much the personal injury lawyer with whom you are speaking charges for their services and what other expenses you might have to pay during your case.
Many attorneys take cases on a contingency basis. These personal injury lawyers will not charge any upfront fees for their services. Instead, they will take a percentage of any recovery they obtain for clients as their fees. If an attorney takes your claim on contingency but fails, you will not owe any attorney’s fees. However, you might still pay filing fees, expert witness fees, and similar expenses.
Sometimes, a personal injury lawyer might charge a client an hourly or set rate for their services. The client would owe these attorney fees regardless of the case’s outcome. In addition, the attorney may require the client to put down a deposit or retainer before they begin work. The attorney fees would be on top of other litigation and filing fees.
You Get To Evaluate The Personal Injury Lawyer
Throughout your initial meeting, you should listen to the attorney’s answers and consider their communication style. Take this time to decide whether their approach matches your expectations. If you do not agree with the attorney’s evaluation of your case or have concerns about how they would represent you, it is best to meet with other lawyers.
Make The Most Of Initial Meetings with Your Personal Injury Lawyer
The first meeting with a personal injury attorney lets you and the lawyer learn about each other. During this time, you will decide whether you can work effectively together. Expect to discuss your injuries and goals with the personal injury lawyer, and do not hesitate to ask the attorney questions about their approach, fees, and plan for handling your claim.
