What is the cost to just talk to a personal injury lawyer?

If you have been injured due to the negligence of another person you may be entitled to compensation for your past and future medical bills, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering. It's also likely you will want to contact a personal injury lawyer to determine how much your case is worth. Recently on our legal forum a user ask, "How much will I have to pay a personal lawyer to have them evaluate my injury case?"

Personal injury lawyers will generally evaluate a claimant's case for free. An evaluation may be a short conversation over the phone or they may have you come to their office for a short visit. Many personal injury lawyers also have online screening tools to help them evaluate cases. Lawyers use these evaluation forms to perform a cursory review of your case. If you use the online evaluation form and pass the first initial screening process, most injury lawyers will call you to gather more information.

After the evaluation the lawyer hopefully has gathered enough information to determine whether or not you have a case, the value of your case, whether there are discrepancies in your testimony, they type of medical evidence you have to support your case, the severity of your injuries, the details of your accident, and your degree of fault.

Will the lawyer take my case after they have evaluated my case?

Personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means they accept a fixed percentage of the recovery. If they do not think they can win your case, if they believe you are responsible for your own injuries, or if they do not believe you have suffered loss or injury they may refuse to take your case. Remember, if they cannot win your personal injury lawsuit they are not paid.

What do I do immediately following an accident?

The first step after an injury is to seek proper medical treatment. Next, make sure you understand injury laws in your state and what you have to prove to win your injury claim (duty, breach of duty, proximate cause of injury and loss). Next, contact several injury lawyers in your area either by phone or by completing the online case evaluation form.

While you are waiting to discuss your case with a lawyer you can take several additional steps to strengthen your case including gathering evidence from the accident, gathering contact information from witnesses, and continuing to get good medical care.

Personal injury lawyers also warn about talking to anyone about your case, signing any agreements, or accepting any type of settlement offers before they have had a chance to review your case.

In addition to each of the steps above, you should also find out the statute of limitations for cases like yours in your state. State limitations vary. For instance, in some states you may have up to a year to file an injury claim; other states may allow up to three years.