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Should I even hire a lawyer: If your are hurt, you probably should at least talk to a lawyer, and probably hire one. Of course, some people fear that if they hire a lawyer, it would cost them money. Yes, of course, lawyers charge money. But personal injury law has numerous traps and deadlines that even decent lawyers can miss. If you’re handling your own case, it’s much more likely for you to fall in these traps.

The Contingency fee: Most lawyers will be willing, if you have a decent case, to charge a contingency fee, which means that they will not charge you unless they prevail on your case. If a lawyer is not willing to work on a contingency fee, you may need to look to hire someone who will. Or, if no one is willing, it may show that they don’t feel your case can be won. That means you may be spending your own money on a tough case. If you’re in this situation you should sit down and ask your lawyer about whether it is still worth the effort, time, and money for you to continue.

Handling your own case: Our Step By Step Guide:
1. Take care of any medical treatment first. That means, if necessary, go to the hospital, or emergency room, or at the least set an appointment with the next available doctor. Follow your doctor’s advice. If you don’t, it could greatly reduce the value of your case.

2. Open a file, or notebook, to keep track of all your information. Keep track of every doctor you have seen and every bill your receive.

3. Contact the insurance company of defendant (the person or company that caused your injury) and let them know you have a claim. Find out your claim number, and if an adjuster has been assigned, get their name and number.

4. Continue your treatment until it is completed. Terminating treatment early without your doctor’s approval may cause problems. The insurance company, or the lawyer they hire, may claim that you weren’t really hurt because you stopped going to the doctor.

5. Do not give a recorded statement to an opposing insurance adjuster. Some insurance companies will pressure you to give a recorded statement. Unless it’s your own insurance company, in which case it may be required, do not give them one. If they say that they can’t process your claim without one, then you should contact a lawyer. Any statements made may be used against you later on. There are many

tricks that can be used to turn the evidence against you. Without being prepared or warned as to what those could be, you may be dooming your own case. Note, if your own insurance company is asking for s statement, you may have to give it, but your company may still hold statements against you. It would be better to hire a lawyer at that point who can prepare you.

6. Find out all possible deadlines in your case and the statute of limitations . That means you need to find out if your case has any notice requirements. For example, some states require a written notice be sent to any state or city agency very early on if you are going to seek redress. You need to know if that is applicable in your case. You also need to learn what your statute of limitations are. The Statute of Limitations give you only so long, from 1 to 3 or 4 years depending on the state the case arose in and the type of case. You need to know so that you will have time to hire a lawyer well in advance if you can’t get the case settled yourself.

7. Order Records and Bills: After you have completed your treatment, you then need to order all your medical records. To do this, you can contact the providers and ask them what the procedures are. You also need to find out how to get a copy of your bills. There may be some fees involved in getting those records.

8. Confirm any wage loss: You may have had to take some time off work. If you want to be compensated for that, you need to show it. The easiest way is to get your employer to write a letter as to how much time you lost.

9. Do not exaggerate or inflate your claim. If you are caught at it, you may have committed fraud, and at worse could go to jail, and at the least, you have ruined your claim. Note, insurance adjusters and attorneys have years of experience at exposing fraud. No matter how smart you are at it, they are likely much better at catching it.

10. Send a copy of all your medical bills and records, and any proof of lost income, to your adjuster. Keep a copy of everything. Even the best people lose stuff, so if you have a copy, it will save you a lot of heartache. Also, if you have a copy, you can make sure people are properly reading documents.

11. Be prepared to negotiate: Once they have looked at your records, they will make you an offer. You need to have an idea what your case is worth (click here). You should try to get them close to that number. It is common that the first offer will be much less than either what they are willing to pay or what your case may be worth. Once you have finally reached a deal, you have to sign a release.