When you are coming to our office for your initial personal injury consultation, we need to see enough information to make an informed decision about your case, including its likelihood of success. To do that, we need as much information as possible. The exact information you should bring depends on the circumstances of your case, but in general you should try to assemble this information:
- Accident, incident, or injury reports from police, administrators, or other officials to document when, where, and under what circumstances the accident occurred
- Medical records for treatments you received related to your injury.
- Medical bills that include both covered and out-of-pocket expenses for your injuries
- Medical leave reports or other documents that show how much time you took off work due to your injury
- Pictures of the accident location, your injuries, and vehicles or machinery involved in the accident
- Correspondence received from insurance companies, medical providers, and others about the accident or injury
- Contact information for insurance companies, other parties involved, and any witnesses with relevant information
Obviously, this could amount to a great deal of paperwork to bring. However, it’s important to bring as much as you can so that we can get an understanding of the true circumstances of your case and make a determination about the likelihood of success for you.
When we talk to you on the phone to set up the appointment, we may specify additional information relevant to your case or tell you if some information is not necessary. If you can’t find some of the relevant information, we can often help you figure out who to contact about getting copies.
A personal injury case refers to a legal dispute that results when an individual suffers harm or sustains an injury from an accident that someone else may be legally responsible for. Such cases are often caused by the carelessness or negligence of another. In some instances, multiple parties may be responsible, and so the victim may choose to sue all involved parties to recover the full amount of both economic and non-economic compensation needed for his or her injuries.
Auto accidents are among the leading causes of death in the United States, resulting in tens of thousands of fatalities each year and serious injuries in the hundreds of thousands. Rollovers, head-on collisions, rear-end collisions, and T-bone car wrecks can lead to life-changing injuries such as loss of limbs, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain damage, and severe burns.
When a passenger vehicle is involved in an accident with a massive truck, the damage can be catastrophic or even fatal due to the truck’s weight and size. Many factors can cause truck accidents to occur, such as truck driver fatigue, driver recklessness, driver inattentiveness, lack of driver training, following another vehicle too closely, speeding, unsecured cargo, poor truck maintenance, manufacturing defects, poor weather, or inclement road conditions.
Motorcycle accidents that happen all too often on U.S. roads and highways are often a result of negligent and careless drivers who do not recognize the road rights and privileges of motorcyclists. Some causes of this type of accident are speeding, distracted driving, failure to yield, driving while fatigued, road defects, or driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
When an accident with a motor vehicle and a bicycle takes place, disaster is likely to result—particularly for the rider who is more likely to sustain serious and even fatal injuries. Bicyclists can suffer injuries such as head trauma, broken bones, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, internal injuries, damaged limbs, and road rash. The most common cause of bicycle accidents is the motor vehicle driver’s carelessness or negligence. Sadly, these accidents are often deemed minor incidents, and so local officials discount the cyclist’s side of the story.
With thousands of workers either sustaining serious injuries or being killed in construction accidents each year, it is no wonder that jobs in the industry are among the most dangerous in the country. Even with strict safety regulations and standards in place, construction workers must face high risks of injury every single day from accidents such as falling materials, excavation accidents, lifting injuries, scaffolding accidents, cutting and welding accidents, ladder accidents, machinery and heavy equipment accidents, explosions, and exposure to toxic materials. As a result, workers sustain injuries such as fractured or broken bones, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injury, electrocution, burn injuries, and wrongful death.
No matter how friendly a dog may be, it is important to remember that any dog breed can attack a human. Hundreds of thousands of victims are brought to the hospital each year due to dog bites—though thankfully most injuries from this type of accident are not fatal.
Property owners have a duty to ensure the safety of all their guests and visitors and must therefore keep their premises in a reasonably safe condition. This includes fixing dangers or warning visitors of slippery floors, uneven surfaces, and icy walkways. Liability may also extend to dog bites, elevator or escalator accidents, accidents due to insufficient security, poor lighting, or poor ventilation.
Assisted living facilities and nursing homes are meant to be safe havens for the elderly—a place where they can be given quality short-term or long-term care, protected from all types of harm, and treated with utmost dignity. Unfortunately, all too many nursing homes are focused on earning a profit as opposed to providing the quality of care required by their patients. As a result, nursing home patients suffer from serious illnesses or injuries due to their caregivers’ negligent actions.
As a consumer, you have the right to assume that each product you purchase is safe and that it will function as it is intended to. However, thousands of individuals are injured from dangerous or defective products every year, including automobiles, toys, sporting goods, prescription drugs, medical devices, household appliances, machinery and workplace equipment, and so much more.
As a patient, you place your life into the able hands of medical professionals and healthcare facilities, rightfully expecting to be provided a certain standard of care. In some instances, however, the negligence or error of a medical professional may cause your condition to worsen or result in additional injuries.
The process of pregnancy and giving birth can be extremely challenging, particularly since there are numerous things that can go wrong. Sometimes, a baby is born with a life-altering condition that health providers had nothing to do with. Other times, however, a birth injury may result from a poor decision made by a health care provider during delivery.
