Meeting with a Lawyer

The documents that you should bring with you when you meet with a lawyer will likely vary depending on the reason you are meeting with them. If you have been injured and are hoping to seek compensation from the person or people who caused your injury, there is a good chance that your lawyer or a lawyer you are considering hiring, will ask you to bring any medical records or documents pertaining to your injury that you have.

Different kinds of claims and cases will warrant the need for different kinds of documents. The following are common forms of documents that lawyers often need but they do not typically need all of the ones listed below. If you do not have a document that your lawyer or a potential lawyer asks for, simply explain this to them and ask if any other documents will help in the absence of the one they originally asked for.

Documents that different kinds of lawyers may want to see and have access to include but are not limited to:

– Contracts such as employment agreements, leases, promissory notes,

 construction agreements, etc.

– Financial documents such as bank statements, stock and other

 investment portfolios, etc.

– Medical and other healthcare records

– Correspondence such as text messages, emails, or letters, between you

 and the other parties involved in the situation you need a lawyer for.

– Photos, videos or other visual documentation. This can include digital

 photographs including those posted on social media.

– Accident reports

– Police reports

– Private investigator reports

– Employment materials such as an employee handbook or manuals

– Witness statements and contact information

It is a good idea to make photocopies and/or take photographs of any documents a lawyer asks you for. Keep the originals in a safe place unless your lawyer specifically needs the original. If a lawyer needs more than one or two documents from you, it may help for you to put them all together in a binder in alphabetical order. If there are many documents, it may be a good idea to get binder dividers to make it easier for your lawyer to find things and potentially to charge you less since they did not have to spend as much time searching for and organizing things.

Some lawyers may ask you to fill out a questionnaire in advance of meeting. Be sure to return this to them in the amount of time they ask you to or let them know that you will not be able to do this. Let your lawyer or a potential lawyer do their work in advance so that you do not have to sit with them while they do it.

If you need legal advice, it is important that you get this from a lawyer that is licensed to practice in the jurisdiction for which you need advice.

Be informed with Top US Injury Attorneys.