When you’ve recently been in an auto accident, it’s important to remember that you and your car accident lawyer are a team. As with any successful team, open communication will provide the best results. Not only can this help us better prepare for depositions and trial, but it will also minimize the chances of being blindsided by opposing counsel.
Although the simple answer to what your lawyer needs to know about the car accident is everything, let’s narrow it down into the most important areas to discuss.
Factors contributing to the accident
Factors contributing to the accident are arguably the most important things to tell your car accident lawyer because this tells them exactly what happened. This is where you fill in the basic questions that any good journalist would seek to answer in a newspaper article, including:
- How the accident may have been prevented
- What actually happened
- When the accident occurred
- Where the accident occurred
- Who was involved in the accident
- Why the accident wasn’t your fault.
In essence, your accident attorney needs to know all the details about what happened. These won’t all be simple answers. For instance, answering what actually happened involves a discussion of all the contributing factors to the accident, like the weather, the safety of the area where the accident occurred, and even if alcohol or drugs were involved. The more tangible information you can provide your lawyer about how the accident occurred, the better it will be for your case.
Communication you’ve had with the other party
Unfortunately, anything you say can come up later when you’re being deposed or the case goes to trial. While it’s best to let your car accident lawyer handle all the communication with the other party, you won’t necessarily have an attorney at the time of the accident. You also can’t control if the other party contacts you by phone or in person.
This is why it’s a good idea to start jotting down anything you said to the other party immediately following the accident. Even seemingly innocuous statements like saying you’re sorry could be construed as an admission of guilt. No matter how trivial the conversations with the other side may seem, your lawyer needs to be the one to make the call as to whether it could impact your case.
Possible issues
Your car accident lawyer recognizes that no situation is as black and white as they might like it to be. Sometimes, you may have some blame for the accident, even when ultimate responsibility clearly rests with the other party. Things to let your attorney know about include:
- Alcohol consumption even if not drunk or buzzed at the time of the accident
- Cell phone use while driving
- Distracted driving
- Failure to follow traffic laws, like not using your turn signal or speeding.
While these factors may not be a deal breaker to your case, it’s important for your lawyer to have adequate time to prepare for them to come up. For instance, if opposing counsel produces statements that you were drinking prior to the accident, your lawyer would want to be ready with statements as to how little you had to drink and how long it was before you got in the car.
Above all, remember that your partnership with your car accident lawyer can only succeed when you provide them with the information they need to win your case.