There are many reasons to hire a lawyer after an automobile collision.  For most people, hiring a lawyer boils to two good reasons.  First, lawyers are experts and know the ins-and outs of insurance law.  Make no mistake—the insurance companies (even your insurance company) are businesses, and the less they pay you, the more they keep for themselves and their shareholders.  We’ve seen insurance companies attempt to unlawfully deny Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims, but we know when they are required under Maryland law to make those payments.

Second, the time period even after a minor automobile accident is stressful, if not traumatic.  We want our clients to worry about one thing—getting better.  We can take away the phone calls from the insurance companies and we’ll handle the entire claim—getting your car repaired or paid for, collecting all of your medical records and bills to ensure you get a good automobile accident settlement, getting your medical bills paid through PIP, and investigating the facts of your collision.

Should You Pay To Meet With A Lawyer?

Any trial lawyer worth his salt will not charge you for an initial consultation.  You should never (repeat:  NEVER!) have to write a check to your lawyer for a personal injury case.  Most lawyers offer free preliminary meetings, but some lawyers will try to make a few bucks off of you beforehand.  There’s no reason to pay a lawyer for that initial meeting.

We can do whatever is convenient for you:  we’ll meet you in one of our offices in Baltimore City, Salisbury, Frederick, Cumberland or Hagerstown.  We can also do this meeting by phone, or we can meet you in your home or in the hospital.

Things To Give Your Lawyer

In order for your lawyer to hit the ground running, bring as much information as you can to your initial meeting.  Some things that might have include:

  • Your insurance information: a copy of your insurance card and the declarations page of your insurance policy. If you don’t drive, try to bring that information for any relatives who live in your household, or the owner of the car you were traveling in.
  • Insurance information for other drivers: the insurance company, policy number, and claim number for other drivers/car owners involved in the accident.
  • Letters: to and from your insurance company, any insurance company representing other drivers in the accident, and from hospitals or medical providers.
  • Photographs: of the car damage, the scene, witnesses, your injuries and anything else of importance.
  • Contact information: of all people who were involved in the accident and everyone who witnessed the accident.
  • Your driver’s license.
  • Paystubs for 3 months before the collision: if you missed time from work (even if your job paid you for lost time).
  • Medical records or bills: related to the accident.
  • Estimates, invoices or bills: for property damage (for example, the car, damaged articles of clothing, etc…).
  • Your health insurance information: including insurance company, policy number and contact information.
  • Police report: or exchange of information report.
  • Contact Information for all doctors or health care providers: you have seen because of the accident.

The more information you can give us, the quicker we can get started helping you.  Don’t worry if you don’t have everything, or if it isn’t organized.  Just bring what you can, and let us take care of everything else.  Our job is to make things easier on you.

At our first meeting, we will ask you about how the accident happened, what doctors you saw, what injuries you had, and a little about your prior medical history.  We’ll also ask you to fill out some forms, which we’ll explain in the next blog post.

Contact Us

If you have questions after an automobile accident in Maryland or West Virginia, contact our automobile accident lawyers at 1-800-776-4529, or send us some brief information about your automobile accident through our online portal.  We’ll take good care of you.

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