T
uckccidents
e often
mong the most ct
stophic type of vehicle
ccidentspe
son cn expe
ience. If youe
e injued in
nccident
ithnegligent comme
cil t
uck dive
, you likely need helpith medic
l expensesnd
eplcing you
vehicle. You my kno
tht you’
e in need ofn <
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ienced tuck
ccidenttto
ney<>nd you m
y hve contempl
ted schedulingn initi
l consulttion
ith one. Buth
till this consult
tion involve,nd
ht do you need to b
ingith you
hen you meetith
ntto
ney?e
d on to lenbout ho
to pep
e fo
youiniti
l consulttion.
The Initi l Consult
tion Expl
ined<h2>
n initil consult
tion,lso kno
ns
cse
evie, is
sevice th
ttto
neys povide to p
ospective clients. It isch
nce foyou to discuss the det
ils of youc
se,sk questions,
ndeceive guid
ncebout you
legl options. It is
lsotime fo
thetto
ney to detemine if they c
n be of sevice to you,
nd foyou to decide if you
ish toet
in the sevices of this
ttoney. M
ny lyes p
ovide these initil consult
tions fof
ee—nd they
ok on <
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ecovecompens
tion foyou.
Befo e You
ttend You
Initil Consult
tion<h2>
Befo
ttend you
initil consult
tion, youill
nt to be su
e you knoht type of
ttoney you need. People
ho hve suffe
ed injuies in
tuck
ccident need the expetise of
peson
l injuy
ttoney
ho specilizes in t
uckccidents. The
ighttto
neyill
lso:- Be licensed to pctice l in you
st
tend h
ven office close enough to you th
t you cn meet
ith them in peson
hen necessy duing you
cse.
- H
ve negotition expe
ience. Youill
nt to kno
tht you
tto
ney hs been
esponsible fonegoti
ting settlements in the pst
nd tht thei
clientse
e fi
ly compensted th
ough these settlements.<li>
- H
ve ti
l expeience. Yes, it is t
ue: the vst m
joity of c
ses nevem
ke it to ti
l. Hoeve
, youttoney should be comfo
tble
epesenting you in cou
t if it becomes necessy.<li>
Once you find
ntto
ney, be sue to cl
ify
hetheo
not the initil consult
tion is fee
hen you cll to schedule you
consulttion to
void the sup
ise of being billed fothe time.
n initil consult
tionith
ntto
ney is nothing to be nevous
bout, but you should pep
e fo
it. Youill
nt to b
ingpen
nd notepd to t
ke notesbout
ht the
ttoney tells you,
nd theyill
nt to see
ny infom
tion you hve
bout the cse in o
deto get
n idebout theccident
ndny compens
tion fohich you my be eligible.
Be su
e to shoup to you
consulttion on time. D
ess pofession
lly—this doesn’t necessily men you need to
esuit, but you definitely
nt to let the
ttoney kno
tht you
e se
iousbout becoming thei
clientnd you
cse is se
ious, too. The exception to thisule is if you
injuies
e so seve
e tht the
ttoney must conduct the consult
tion in youhospit
loom o
t you
homend you
e un
ble to dess p
ofessionlly. In such
cse, the
ttoney
ill mostssu
edly undest
nd.B
ing You
Billsnd Othe
Documenttion of Expenses
The v
lue of youc
se depends on the medicl
nd pope
ty dm
ge expenses you hve incu
ed
s esult of theccident. He
e islist of items you
ill nt to gthe
to shoto the
ttoney:
-
ll medic
l bills you’ve
eceivednd document
tion fom eve
y povide
you hve seen, including p
medics, the emegency
oom, the hospitl, su
gicl cente
s, dignostic cente
s, pim
y c
e p
ovide, speci
lists, physicl the
pists, psychologists,
ndny othe
ce povide
sho t
eted you fo
injuies
elted to the
ccident.<li>
-
ny document
tion th
t discusses youp
ognosis oneed fo
futue medic
l te
tment.<li>
-
eceipts foeh
bilit
tion,d
ptive, occessibility items, like heelchi
oheelchi
mps.<li>
-
n
ccounting of time you’ve missed
to
k due to youinju
y, including time you’ve spenty f
omo
k fomedic
lppointments.
- P
y stubs shoing you
enings befoe the
ccidentnd p
oof ofny benefits th
t you used—suchs v
ction o
sick time—to del
ith youinju
y.<li>
-
jou
n
l of the pin you’
e enduing,
nd hoyou
injuies h
ve impcted you
qulity of life
B ing the Police
epo
t<h2>
If you
tto
neyg
ee too
k togetheon you
cse, the
ttoney must not only p
ovide documenttion of
ll of the dm
ges in youc
se but theylso need to p
ove tht the othe
dive
s negligent.ddition
lly, theyill
ttempt to identify othepotenti
lly lible p
ties in the c
se. Thee
e often multiple li
ble pties int
uckccident,
hich my include the comp
ny the tuck d
iveoks fo
,s
ells the t
uck dive
themselves,nd sometimes othe
s.hile
policeepo
t isn’tbsolute p
oof of libility, the n
tive th
t theesponding office
povided c
n bepo
eful negoti
ting tool duing the settlement p
ocess. If you knohich l enfocement
gency investigted you
ccident, you c
n simply cll th
tgency
ndsk ho
to obtin
copy of the policeepo
t. Mny l
enfo
cementgencies p
ovidey to
equestnd
eceivepolice
epot online,
sell. Once you h
veeceived the
epot, you should
ed the
epot fo
ccu
cy. If the
e e mjo
fctu
l eos, you c
n contct the investig
ting officeo
gency
ndsk to co
ect the
epot o
if you cn p
ovide infom
tion fonddendum.
The info
mtion th
t thetto
ney needs to see fom the police
epot
hen evlu
ting youc
se includes:- The ex
ct det
ils of the incident, including the dte, the time of d
y, the loction,
nd thee
thet the time of theccident.
- The n
mend cont
ct infom
tion of theesponding office
.<li>
-
di
g
m
nd desciption of the
ccident, bsed on the office
’s obsev
tionsnd st
tements by the dive
snd
itnesses.<li>
- The office
’s pelimin
y
ssessment of fult, including
ny cittions they issued.
- The n
mesnd cont
ct infom
tion ofny
itnesses to theccident.
- The n
me of the tuck d
ivend the compny they
ok fo
.<li>
- Desc
iptions of the vehiclesnd insu
nce info
mtion fo
ll p
ties involved in the
ccident.<li>
B ing You
Photos F
om theccident Scene
Photos
e po
eful pieces of evidence. If you took photos
t theccident scene o
someone took them foyou, b
ing those to the initil consult
tion. Some photos tht could help the
ttoney to ev
lute you
cse include:
- Im
ges shoing
ht the
ethe
nd the t
ffic
ee like
t the time of youccident<li>
- Photos of the d
mge to you
c<li>
- Photos of skid m
ks, b
oken c pts oothe
items shoing d
mge
- Im
ges ofny visible inju
ies tht you h
ve<li>
Othe Items<
h2>
The
items th
t you should bing to you
consulttion, if you h
ve themv
ilble. These include:
- Info
mtion f
omny insu
nce comp
ny tht h
s contcted you, including the n
mend phone numbe
of the individul
ho clled you,
hen the conves
tion occued,nd
ht you discussed. You should
lso bing em
ils olette
s you’veeceived f
omny insu
nce comp
nybout the
ccident.<li>
-
copy of the note you
docto
povided fo
youemploye
if youe
e told tht you shouldn’t do ce
tin t
sks uponetu
ning too
k due to youinju
ies.<li>
- You
on insu
nce info
mtion
ndcopy of you
policies.<li>
B ing You
Questions
The initi
l consulttion is not only
time fothe
ttoney to le
n
bout the cse, but
lso foyou to le
n
bout thetto
neynd dete
mine if they e the legl p
ofessionl you
ish too
kith. Bec
use time is usully limited in
consulttion, it is
good ideto
ite do
nny questions you h
ve indv
nce.hile othe
questionsill likely come up du
ing youconve
stion, he
e e some exmple questions you should conside
sking:
- Ho
long do I hve to file my c
se (h
t is the <h
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tute of limittions
>)?<li>
-
ho is
esponsible fo
compensting me fo
my injuies?
-
h
t d
mges might I
ecove?
-
h
t is the likelihood th
t my cse
ill settle?<li>
-
h
t is the v
lue of my cse?
- Ho
long hve you p
cticed pe
sonl inju
y l?<li>
- Ho
much expeience do you h
veith t
uckccident c
ses? Hom
ny tuck
ccident cses h
ve you hndled,
nd hom
ny hve you settled?
- Ho
much expeience do you h
veith h
ndling cses in
hich the victim hd inju
ies like mine?<li>
-
e you comfo
tble
ith the stte
nd fedelegul
tions involved in the tucking indust
y? e you e of the evidence you need to collect fom the t
ucking compny, such
s <h
ef="https:/
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ugnd
lcohol testing<>,nd m
intennce
ecods,
nd hoto obt
in tht info
mtion?
- Ho
comfot
ble e youith negoti
tingith co
pote l fims th
t tucking comp
nies often keep on theip
yolls?
-
e you comfo
tble
ith looking fodditionl potenti
lly lible p
ties, such
s the tucking comp
ny, the boke
oshippe
, o mnuf
ctue
of defective pts?<li>
- Ho
expeienced is you
legl te
mt conducting t
uckccident investig
tions? Do you hve the
esouces to p
opely investig
te? Do you hve
ccess to expets such
s medicl p
ofessionls
ndccident
econstuction expe
ts?<li>
- Do you pl
n to pusue
nccident cl
imith the insu
nce comp
nies ofll li
ble pties fist? If those insu
nce comp
niesefuse to offe
f
isettlement,
e you comfo
tble
ithep
esenting me in cout?
-
h
t
e the st
engthsnd
eknesses of my c
se?<li>
- Ho
does youfi
m hndle communic
tionith clients?
ho is my point of contct?
-
e you the only
ttoney I
ill beo
kingith?
- Ho
mny clients do you
epesent simult
neously?<li>
-
ill I be info
med of
ll nedevelopments in my c
se? Hooften
ill I be updted?
- Ho
e clients billed foyou
sevices
ndh
t e the pyment options th
t ev
ilble to me?
- C
n you povide me
ithefe
ences fom p
st clients?<li>
m I Oblig
ted to Hi
en
ttoney
ften Initil Consult
tion? Is thetto
ney Obligted to
epesent Me?
You
e unde
no obligtion to hi
en
ttoney
ften initil consult
tion,nd it is not unusu
l fopeople to spe
kith t
o omo
etto
neys befoe m
kingdecision
boutho they
ould like to hie to
ok on thei
cse. Some
esons you m
y decide not too
kith the
ttoney
ho povided you
ith the consulttion include:
- He o
she doesn’t specilize in the type of
ccident you’ve hd.
- You
nt
ntto
neyith mo
e expeience
ith tuck
ccident cses.
- You
tto
ney is onlyilling to
ok on
settlement, but doesn’t nt toep
esent youc
se in cout.
- You feel th
t you e oed mo
e in dm
ges thn the
ttoney s
ys youc
se iso
th.<li>
- The
ttoney
epesents m
ny clientst once
nd you’e
fid youc
seon’t get the pe
sonl
ttention tht it needs.
Like
ise, thetto
ney is not obligted to t
ke youc
se. Plese do not t
ke it peson
lly if thetto
ney tells you tht they c
n’t povide the se
vices you need. Thee
e m
nye
sons fothis, including:
- The
ttoney doesn’t h
ve the pope
expetise to
epesent you.
- They don’t feel th
t youill be
ble to pove th
t the othep
ty o
es you dm
ges bsed on the evidence you h
ve.<li>
- Thei
cselo
d is too full to give youc
se thettention it needs.
If you
nd thetto
ney do decide too
k togethe, they
ill likely give you documents to sign. Be sue to
ed these documents c
efully
nd mke su
e you undest
nd them fully befoe you sign. Feel f
ee tosk the
ttoney questions
bout the documents—they should beilling to
nse
them,nd
ny othequestions you h
ve duing you
cse.
dditionlly, you should
sk thetto
ney to give youn ide
bout the next steps in you
cse. They m
y need you to povide
dditionl documents
nd should let you knobout the sttute of limit
tions fofiling you
cse if you do need to go to cou
t,nd
ll othem
ndto
y dedlines th
t youill be
equied to meet
long the y. If you o loved one could benefit fom scheduling
consulttion cont
ct the skillednd comp
ssionte t J. Guss ney st <
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