Portland injury attorney

What Does a Good Personal Injury Attorney Do?

Portland Oregon injury lawyerWe can’t speak for other lawyers, but here is what we do for our clients:

1. A Good Personal Injury Lawyer Stays Focused on You.

This includes:

  • educating you about the process
  • listening to your whole story during an initial meeting that can take a few hours
  • asking probing questions to make sure we get the whole story, including facts that our client may not know are important, but we do
  • discussing different strategies for getting you the most money possible
  • holding weekly firm meetings so that our entire team stays focused and intimately involved in each case
  • and most importantly, keeping in touch with you regularly so that you know what’s going on with your case

2. A Good Personal Injury Lawyer Thoroughly Investigates Your Case.

To make sure we know everything we need to know about a case, we will:

  • gather all of your medical records
  • investigate your accident, including:getting photos, visiting the scene, talking with witnesses, neighbors, police and emergency personnel, and doctors
  • study and summarize your medical records so that we can understand your injuries
  • meet and confer with your doctors so that we get a full depth of understanding about your injuries and possible future issues they may cause
  • retain experts to support your case
  • analyze any important legal issues that affect your case, including state, local, and federal laws, regulations, and court cases
  • and finally, determine when is the best time to send a demand letter or file your case.

3. A Good Personal Injury Lawyer Deals with Insurance Companies so You Don’t Have To.

We will:

  • deal with your auto insurance company to help maximize the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits that you receive
  • read and analyze your auto policy carefully to maximize any Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist Protection (UM/UIM) recovery
  • deal with the insurance company of the person who injured you so that they stop bothering you
  • read and analyze all other insurance policies that apply to your situation, including Medicare, Medicaid, Oregon Health Plan, your health insurance, etc.
  • if you have a workers compensation claim, we will get an excellent workers compensation lawyer involved
  • inform you immediately when we receive an offer from the insurance company
  • help you determine whether the offer is a good one

4. A Good Personal Injury Lawyer will Organize, Coordinate, and Defend Your Case.

If a lawsuit will be filed, we will draft the summons and complaint and file them with the appropriate court. We will also:

  • investigate the defendant so that the summons and complaint can be served upon the defendant in accordance with the law
  • arrange for a professional process server to serve the summons and complaint upon the defendant in accordance with the law
  • further investigate the defendant to find any criminal convictions or other useful information we can that may help your case
  • draft written requests for documents so that we can get information from the other side
  • respond to the other side’s written requests for information from you
  • fight with the lawyer on the other side to maintain your privacy as much as possible
  • prepare to take depositions of the person who inured you and any witness who we determine should be deposed
  • take all depositions necessary to your case
  • prepare you to have your deposition taken, and defend you during your deposition

We’ll also prepare you and your case for mediation, including

  • choosing a mediator
  • drafting a detailed mediation memo,
  • preparing arguments and readying the file
  • scheduling and attending the mediation itself

If a structured settlement annuity is to be purchased with settlement funds, we will provide the client with free professional investment advice from a certified and insured specialist. Finally, we’ll negotiate any liens in order to minimize the amount you have to pay back to your health insurance company or anyone else you owe money to due to the injuries.

5. A Good Personal Injury Lawyer will Prepare for Trial, if Necessary.

Not all, or even many cases end up going to trial. In the situation that a case does end up going to trial, however, we do the following things:

  • prepare you and other witnesses for trial
  • advise you on the best way to act, the best way to dress, and the best way to present yourself in order to maximize your recovery
  • create trial exhibits, often including photos, blow-ups of important medical records, and videotapes of witnesses who may be unavailable for trial
  • organized records and other evidence to be introduced at trial
  • prepare an opening statement, direct examination questions, cross-examination tactics, and closing statement
  • prepare pre-trial motions
  • try the case over the course of several days before an arbitrator, judge, or jury
  • prepare post-trial motions