Your responsibilities during a personal injury claim

When you’ve been injured due to the action or inaction of another responsible party, the first step toward compensation is a negotiation. Despite what some television shows depict, this is not a simple process. During negotiations, a legitimate lawyer cannot simply walk into a room, flip through the paperwork of a case and start offering terms for settlement. It takes time to study the situation and it also takes a lot of participation on your part as well. Unfortunately, more often than not, negotiation cannot resolve the matter with satisfaction and it turns into a lawsuit.

Your Biggest Responsibilities As The Client

As the client, your number one responsibility is to communicate with your attorney. You need to give them every bit of information they ask for and then some. You need to take the time to return phone calls, read and respond to letters they send, and ask questions when you have them. They need to know everything they can about the case in order for them to have the best chance at winning. You also need to be punctual in your communication, you can’t just return their phone call the next day, you need to return it as soon as you realize you missed it, if you did. In the legal world, a lot of information is time sensitive and putting off a return call can very easily be what makes or breaks a case.

Your Second Biggest Responsibility As The Client

In addition to answering the attorney’s questions and communications with them on a timely and openly honest basis, you also need to keep them informed of important changes in your life. You need to document your injuries, your medical costs, major financial changes- especially if they are related to the injury, such as losing work, and even divorce as a result of the hardships caused by the financial burdens the loss of work created. Your records should be meticulously kept and your attorney should have complete copies of everything.

Why It is Important To Follow These Responsibilities

iStock_000008042862_SmallIt may seem like a lot of work and communication, but there is a reason for that. Court cases are won or loss based on facts and the more facts a case has in its the favor the stronger that case stands. If your attorney can prove that your injuries were not only the result of another party, but that they have caused a clearly depicted paper trail of financial and life problems, then your personal injury lawyer should have no problem getting you the compensation you deserve.