You have been in a motor vehicle accident as driver or passenger. The accident was not your fault. You have suffered physical and psychological injuries and economic losses as a result of the motor vehicle accident. You retain legal counsel to represent you in your claim against the at-fault driver. There may be things that you disagree with in your counsel’s approach to marshalling your case, however, you are not knowledgeable enough to understand the legal and factual layers and complexities of your case.
Your best course of action is to ask questions including why something is being done or not done. You should ask to be advised of the expected timelines and why those times exist and are important. Your lawyer works for you but he or she needs your cooperation and assistance in moving your case along.
In doing so, it is not wise to tell you lawyer the following:
1. You will not look for the photographs you took at the scene because they didn’t show anything important – your lawyers will know what is important or not;
2. You do not need medical treatment when your treating physician strongly recommends that you need treatment to improve – your lawyer will quickly let you know that this attitude or decision may be quite harmful to your case;
3. You do not care about receiving a financial settlement as you are only interested in justice – your lawyer will tell you that the financial settlement is really the only justice you can hope to obtain other than a criminal conviction for the at-fault driver. Your lawyer will tell you that the only real justice would be to put you back in the position you were in the day before the accident happened, and that is impossible.
If you have been involved in an accident, speak to a lawyer to understand your right, as well as what you can do to help win your case.