At Coker Law we want you to feel comfortable coming into our office and meeting with members of our legal team. So, if you’ve suffered a personal injury, click on the video link below and I will walk you through what you can expect during your first meeting and what you might want to bring with you during that initial consultation.
During your first meeting we will want to get a good understanding of what happened. We will ask some questions in order to collect some important information from you to help develop the best plan for your case. The length of that first meeting will vary depending on your circumstances and for us to learn more about what or who caused your injuries.
Some cases can be clearly defined but other like medical malpractice may take a little longer. Coming in prepared can also help streamline this process. When you make your appointment, you can ask how long it might take so you can allow yourself the right amount of time. Let’s start with the items you should bring with you so we can make the most of our time together.
What You Should Bring:
- A police or traffic crash report from the incident or crash. If you don’t have a copy of the crash report, then the driver exchange of information will be fine.
- Any medical records and medical bills that you have accumulated during treatment since the injury occurred -with a list of any doctors you’ve seen.
- Your insurance documentation, automobile and health insurance information.
- Photographs you have of your car, the other car, and the crash scene.
- Any communication you have received from anybody about the crash. Be careful, as insurance companies typically will send you letters that do not correctly state what information they are entitled to get from you. (end version 2)
Questions We Might Ask
These documents may be helpful as we ask you about the details of your injury, what led up to it, were others involved and were there any witnesses. We will take notes and possibly ask you questions along the way to clarify some of the details. There are a couple of areas we will want to know in detail.
Medical Treatment
We will want to know what doctors you’ve seen, what medical treatment you’ve received since your injury and the time between those treatments.
We will also ask you how you’re feeling at the moment, and what your doctors have said about your prognosis. If you haven’t seen a doctor yet, it is important you schedule a doctor visit so the doctor can help you deal with your pain. At a minimum, it is wise to get checked out, even as a precaution. We have seen many clients whose pain increased as they were trying to get back to their normal activities. We might ask for permission to access your medical records from your doctors so we can review them in greater detail, so we can help explain to you the terms doctors use to describe your injuries.
Your Insurance Coverage
We will want to know about all of your insurance coverage. It’s important we know if you’ve filed a claim with your insurance company and/or the company of the person or persons who caused your injury. We will also ask if you’ve spoken with any insurance adjusters and if so, what you have said and whether you provided a recorded or written statement about the crash or injury. We also want to get your health insurance information. This will help us document the cost of your medical bills while also giving us the names of anybody else that may have provided medical care to you because of your injuries.
Next Steps
After we’ve discussed the elements of your case – we may want some time to speak with our other partners about your legal options and ask to follow up with you. This is common in injury cases – we want to make sure we have considered all options on how best to move forward.
If you have a case – we will ask you to sign a contract for legal representation and a statement of client’s rights. This will allow us to move forward with our representation of you and obtain the necessary documents on your behalf and represent you in court. We will encourage you to read over the contract and statement of client’s rights and ask questions before you sign it.
Once we represent you, you will have an entire legal team guiding you through every step in the process. We may have our investigator take another look at the facts of the case before any lawsuit is filed or a settlement is considered.
We will also have our paralegal gather all of your medical records and medical bills so we can provide a complete, accurate picture of how you were injured because of the negligence of someone else.
Do You Need Help?
We hope you never to need to call us, but if you are injured by a negligent driver, you want to speak with an experienced personal injury, trial attorney. You may qualify to receive compensation for your medical bills, lost wages and other expenses related to your injuries. To speak with a trucking crash attorney or for more information, call (904) 356-6071, or contact us a cokerlaw.com to schedule a free consultation. We are happy to see what we can do to help you or your loved one.
