If you’re planning on suing over a car crash, your attorney will first have to determine whether or not you have a case worth pursuing at all. This will involve investigating the matter to see what the circumstances surrounding the crash entailed. This is usually free, so you’ll want to talk to an attorney whether or not you have money up front.
Investigation
There are claims over car crashes that also involve criminal charges; commonly, drunk driving. You’ll want to make sure your attorney knows if there are any criminal charges pending against the driver. This may influence how the attorney regards the case.
Your attorney, if they believe that your claim is worth investigating, may start working through what happened on their own. They may use computer recreations to get an idea of what happened at the accident scene. They may also get information from law enforcement or other sources to make a determination. This is not done without your permission.
The attorney will then determine whether or not they want to take you on as a client. If they have a lot of experience, it’s likely that they’ve handled claims like yours in the past, which may make it easier for them to determine whether or not yours is worth pursuing.
Litigation
The pre-litigation phase will come before you actually go to court. This is when the attorney gathers the evidence to back up your lawsuit. This is also the time when the other party may ask to settle out of court, particularly if they think that they’re going to lose. For the defendant, losing in court only means that they have attorney and court fees to pay on top of whatever else the jury determines that they owe you.
All of this starts with free car crash lawyer case evaluations, which you can set up online or over the phone. The attorneys who work these claims generally have to offer this service. Many of their clients wouldn’t have enough to pay upfront legal fees, so the attorney offers their services on the contingency that, if they lose your claim, you don’t owe them anything. You only pay if you win.
The best time to set up one of these appointments is right now. Even if you don’t think you have a valid claim, your attorney may think otherwise and may encourage you to pursue a lawsuit over the car crash you were in.
