Video – What Are My Responsibilities In My Personal Injury Lawsuit? What Do I Have To Do?

Ray Hrdlicka – Presenter – Attorneys.Media

“What does the person in the lawsuit have to do? A lot of people think that I’m just going to hire a lawyer and I don’t have to do anything else. But what do they have to do?”

Andrew Dósa – Personal Injury Lawyer – Alameda County, CA

“Well, the practical answer is that it’s always good if you follow my advice and suggestions. But that’s just management. The reality is that the customer has a relatively minor role. It’s a little older… If we take a step back and look at what happens after the client has hired me. What I want to tell the client is that he doesn’t have to talk to his insurance company. He doesn’t have to talk to his insurance company. You just have to go see your doctor and focus on getting well as soon as possible. I’ll take care of the busy side of things. I’ll send you a letter. Typically, I will send you a copy of a letter that I will send if I request records, request a letter of opinion, or request a wage loss report from an employer.

So the client has this information. I’m just telling them this… “you’d probably rather not have to talk to me, but if you’re going to hire me, at least I’m the one you’d be willing to talk to.” When I give them information, they know I’m taking care of them and can answer if they have any questions. But mostly, they just want to know that things are moving.

Once we start litigation, they have a greater responsibility that usually has to do with discovery. Which is where each side has to share the information it has with the other. So. I’ll have the client come to my office. We review the questions that are asked and put them in writing and send them out. Or, they may have to prepare for a deposition. Usually the next step is, if we have to mediate, they’ll sit with me in the mediation session and then we’ll work with the mediator and then we’ll try to resolve the case. But other than that, and going to trial, really, the client’s role is primarily to communicate with me. And I just give them updates. So, like we did in the smaller, less stressful stage at the beginning, this is a bit more of the same.”