For anyone that has been involved in a California personal injury accident the process of settling or litigating your accident case can be long, frustrating and confusing. Hiring an experienced California personal injury accident attorney is clearly the most important first step. While it is true that some minor accidents with minimal injuries can be settled without the need to hire an attorney, in most cases hiring an experienced attorney is a critical part of the litigation process. Once you have hired your personal injury accident attorney, you may wonder what he is doing to investigate and prepare your case. In many cases, your attorney is working had behind the scenes to investigate your case but you may not see everything he is doing. To help clients understand the investigation process for a California personal injury accident case, attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates offers the following information that may help you understand what your attorney is doing behind the scenes.
1. Contacting the defendant. Your personal injury attorney may need to contact the defendant first to determine whether or not he was covered by liability insurance that with cover your injuries. In some cases, the insurance information is already known by the client but in others your attorney will need to determine whether or not there is insurance coverage and if so who the carrier is.
2. Contacting witnesses. Witnesses can be an invaluable part of a personal injury accident case. If the defendant is not admitting that she was negligence (at fault) in the accident then objective witnesses may play a critical role in the accident investigation. Your attorney will look to the police report as well as any information gathered by you or anyone with you to find potential witnesses. In personal injury accident cases other than car accidents, there may be a variety of other witnesses available such as fellow employees in a work accident case, fellow passengers in a plane or train accident case or neighbors in a dog bite case.
3. Experts. In some cases, your personal accident attorney may need to consult with experts for your case. An accident reconstruction expert may be needed to help determine how an accident happened or a medical expert may be needed to help explain your injuries. Locating and consulting with the right expert for your case can be rather time consuming but is often an important element in your case.
4. Interrogatories and depositions. In many cases, your attorney will send written interrogatories (questions) to the defendant or schedule a deposition (an in person chance to ask questions) with the defendant or a witness. These discovery tools are an excellent way for you attorney to get an idea how the defendant or a witness will testify when the case makes it to trial.
5. Medical reports and summaries. When you get close to the end of your medical treatment, or are at maximum medical improvement, your attorney will request detailed medical bills, reports and prognosis from your medical providers. The point of these documents is to show what your damages (expenses) have been to date and what they are likely to be in the future.
As you can see, your California personal injury accident attorney is working hard behind the scenes in order to get you the compensation that you deserve for the injuries you have suffered. If you would like a free and detailed evaluation of a potential personal injury accident case, please contact experienced California personal injury attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit him online at www.ledgerlaw.com.
