San Francisco is a beautiful place, but it has its fair share of dangers. American drive more kilometers every year than do citizens of nearly any other country.
The beautiful streets, roads, and highways of San Francisco include treacherous winter roads and winding scenic byways as well as crowded city streets and intersections. Some of the worst cities to drive in in American are in San Francisco — by some polls, we have the very worst! There are a lot of places where you could find yourself hurt in a car accident.
When Should You Speak to A Personal Injury Lawyer?
Most of the time, you don’t need a personal injury lawyer. But, unfortunately, there may come a time when you do. And when the time comes, you’ll want to know what to do.
If you are injured in an accident that was no fault of your own, you could find yourself suffering personal and financial damages that you don’t deserve. If someone else’s negligence caused the accident (and therefore your injuries), you could have a path forward: a personal injury lawsuit. The right time to call an attorney is as soon as possible after your accident.
Why Do You Need a Personal Injury Lawyer?
There are certain jobs that you just can’t do yourself. Unless you’re an electrician, you probably would not try to rewire your own house. Unless you’re a pilot, you wouldn’t try to fly the plane you take to vacation. Even if you were a surgeon, you wouldn’t operate on yourself.
Law is like that. Only a trained attorney can represent you in court, and only an attorney should be trusted to help you negotiate a settlement if you choose to go that route.
Choose an injury lawyer who specializes in cases like yours. Go with a local pro, too: they’ll know the regional laws that apply to you, and they’ll even be familiar with the judges and opposition.
How Should You Prepare for and Conduct Your Consultation?
So here you are: you know that you need a lawyer, you know that only a lawyer can help you, and so you’ve called up and have scheduled an initial consultation with a trusted San Francisco personal injury lawyer. Now what? What should you bring to the consultation, and how should you speak to the attorney?
At an initial consultation, the attorney is going to decide if he or she should take on your case. In order to decide, they’re going to need to see evidence that you have a winnable case. You may not know yourself if you have one, yet, but you do have information that a trained attorney can make a determination based on.
We’re talking about the police reports, medical bills, doctor’s notes, pay stubs, and other documentation that you have related to your accident and your damages. With those in hand, you’ll be able to show your attorney what’s going on. Don’t worry too much about what it all means in terms of what you’ll claim in damages — that’s for your trained and qualified attorney to figure out.
You’ll have to explain your situation, too, of course. Stick to the facts and try to remember that this is about the law, not your emotions. Your attorney will be understanding, but he or she has a job to do — and to do that, they need the facts.
Ideally, you’ll find that you have a strong case. With the right attorney in your corner, you could win compensation for your damages.
