July 14th, 2022
Do you want to go see an attorney regarding your potential claim, but you do not know what to bring? Do not fret, during your initial consultation an attorney does not expect you to know everything about your claim and what is necessary. Indeed, the initial consultation is simply for you and an attorney to talk about a potential claim to decide if it is a matter the attorney can assist you with. You can expect the initial consultation to be a detailed conversation about the event, the injuries you sustained, and additional ancillary factors about your claim. If the matter is an issue the attorney can help you with, and you believe you and the attorney are a good fit, you likely have ample time to provide the attorney with the necessary information, assuming the incident occurred relatively recent. With that said, if you did not contact an attorney right away, you will have a shorter amount time as the statute of limitations on your potential claim will continue to approach.
For purposes of this blog, let’s assume you were involved in an automobile collision and you decide to go to an initial consultation with an attorney. So what should you bring? Different attorneys may request that you bring different information depending on the specific facts of your claim. With that said, there are at least some key documentation and information you should think about bringing to your initial consultation to expedite the evaluation of your claim.
First, you should bring the police report, if you have one. The police report is important because it provides a plethora of basic and essential information such as the names of the people involved, potential witnesses, the insurance carriers covering each individual, roadway conditions, time of the collision as well as potentially a liability determination. All of this information is essential in evaluating a claim. Second, you should bring a copy of your driver’s license. This can serve multiple purposes, but at a fundamental level, it will be able to establish that you have a valid driver’s licenses and are able to operate a vehicle. Third, you should bring your automobile insurance information and the automobile insurance information of the other individual in the collision, if you have that information. If your matter is a claim that the attorney is going to help you out with, he or she is going to need your insurance information to put the applicable automobile insurance carriers on notice of the claim and uncover the potential insurance coverages. Also, if you have received any correspondences from either your automobile insurance carrier or the other individual’s insurance carrier, you should bring that documentation as well because that is information the attorney will likely need to evaluate. Fourth, you should have your health insurance information with you to provide to the attorney, especially if you have already received medical treatment following the collision. Fifth, bringing photographs of your injuries and damages to your vehicle are also important to bring to your initial consultation. The photographs will demonstrate the severity of the collision and the extensiveness of your injuries.
Obviously, there is a ton of more information that an attorney might need to evaluate your claim. It is dependent on the type of claim and the issues involved. At the end of the day, if you still do not know what you should bring to your initial consultation, you can always call the attorney’s office and ask. The attorney and/or his or her staff will likely be able to provide a list of items that you will need to bring to the initial consultation so it can be as productive as possible.
