What to Expect After Hiring an Attorney for a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Many people think that having an attorney will mean that they must go to court.  Although it is impossible to make any guarantees, most client’s cases settle out-of-court, saving you the stress and expense of trial.  Since any “estimate” to the value of a case and/or the time it will take to settle stands a good chance of being in error, it is inappropriate to predict these things.  However, it is to our advantage to obtain the best possible settlement in the shortest period of time. Pursuant to our agreement, I never commit you to a settlement without your consent.

Loss of Consortium

If you feel that your spouse has a claim for their inconvenience as a result of your injury, advise me immediately because there is a one year Statute of Limitations from the date of accident to assert their claim as well as yours.

Client Insurance Coverage

It is usually advisable to utilize your health insurance or automobile medical payments coverage applicable to the accident.  This coverage can be used to pay medical bills within a reasonable time after they are incurred rather than asking health care providers to wait until the case is settled.  If you possess this kind of insurance coverage, any benefits payable thereunder will not count against you or cause your rates to increase.  Health coverage and automobile medical payments coverage do not require someone to be negligent in order for the benefits to be payable.

Litigation Process

Due to the nature of this specialized field, the efforts expended by this office are sporadic.  Therefore, you probably will not hear from us on a regular basis.  Many factors affect the time it takes to obtain a settlement and the following is a brief summary of the most common ones:

1. Initially, a lot of work may be done such as obtaining witness statements, photographs, official reports, etc., in order to gather whatever evidence is necessary to verify how the accident occurred and to help establish who was at fault.
2. We cannot proceed until we are advised that you have been released by your doctor and have recovered from your injuries or have been advised that your physical condition has stabilized.  At that point we begin assembling medical reports, records and bills, employment reports and other items necessary to document each element of your damages.  This process takes time since some health care providers and employers are slow in preparing the reports we request.
3. Our next step is to solicit an offer from the insurance company involved.  This is another source of delay since each case is generally reviewed by a number of insurance company employees.  When we receive a offer, we convey it promptly to you and review our alternative courses of action at the time.
4. If we are unable to obtain a fair settlement with the insurance company through negotiations, we file suit and/or demand arbitration.  The defendants we bring into the case have thirty days from the time they are served in which to file their first paper relative to the lawsuit. Sometimes there are several defendants and some may be difficult to locate.  Sometimes one defendant will bring other defendants into the lawsuit.
5. After all defendants have filed their respective “answers,” “discovery” proceedings are started which may include depositions of parties, witnesses and experts.  We assist and instruct you at every step and we may utilize the same discovery devices to substantiate your claim.  Discovery can be very time-consuming and expensive depending upon the complexity of any given case.
6. After discovery is completed, we request a trial date.  The assignment of the trial date is completely beyond the control of any party to the lawsuit, but is dependent upon how busy the Court is where the lawsuit is filed.

Client Creditors

When a person is involved in an accident, it is not unusual for financial disruption to occur.  Not only is the injured person unable to work, but at the same time may have an increase in financial obligations.  If it is fairly obvious that you will be unable to meet your financial obligations, you should immediately notify your various creditors before you become greatly in arrears on your required payments and ask them to suspend your payments until such time as you have returned to work.  Usually creditors will be understanding if they’re told what to expect in advance and will make reasonable arrangements for payments to be delayed.  If necessary, this office will contact your creditors for the purpose of verifying the accident and, if requested, agree to protect your creditor’s claim out of the proceeds of any settlement.  When checking with your creditors, you should check to see if you have Credit Disability Insurance which makes your loan payments while you are disabled.

Client Instructions

Attorney - Client Meetings

Although most of our work is done by phone and by mail, when it is necessary to meet with you we can meet at one of our offices or wherever it is most convenient to you.  Meetings with clients are handled by appointment only, so in order to avoid a wasted trip to one of our offices, please phone first to make an appointment or to get your question answered over the phone.  If I am not available when you call, please leave your name and phone number with the secretary and tell her what your question is or what your message is.  I will get back to you as soon as possible.  We believe that the telephone is the fastest and most convenient way for us to communicate with each other and therefore, encourage its use.  Please advise us if your telephone number changes.

Proper Health Care

Proper health care is essential for 3 crucial reasons:

1. A “minor” injury could be more serious than you think;
2. It will be difficult to convince anyone that you had discomfort but chose to “suffer in silence” rather than seek health care;
3. By not obtaining adequate health care or by returning to your normal work and normal activities too soon, the other side may allege that you failed to comply with you “duty to mitigate damages” (the law imposes upon every injured person the duty to prevent his/her injuries from becoming worse), and that they should not be financially responsible for same.

Rental Cars

When the other party is at fault their liability insurance company is responsible for providing you with a rental car while your vehicle is being repaired.  Normally, you will have to rent the car and pay for it first.  You are also responsible for insurance, tax, and gas on the rental car.  The insurance company will then reimburse you after they receive the rental bill.

Avoid Discussing Your Case

Do not discuss the accident with anyone other than associates of our office and your doctors.  If anyone questions you about your case, tell them that you’ve been instructed not to discuss your case.  Refer all inquiries to our office.

Other Important Instructions

1. Do not sign any document relative to your case without discussing it with us first and providing us with a copy
2. Send us copies for all bills you incur relative to the accident even if your own insurance company is paying them.
3. Notify us immediately when your doctor has released you from further care and when you have returned to work.
4. Notify us immediately if you have a change of address or phone number.
5. Do not change doctors without advising us.
6. Notify us immediately if you become involved in another accident.

If in the future you should have any questions regarding your case, please feel free to contact our office and we will assist you in each and every way possible.  Please provide our (916) 721-3324 telephone number to anyone else who may contact you about your case.