We provide a questionnaire for you to fill out before our first meeting

Today’s post comes from guest author Nathan Reckman from Paul McAndrew Law Firm.

Most injured workers seeking an attorney’s help on their workers’ compensation claim have never hired an attorney before. This post gives a brief overview of how you can prepare for your first meeting with your attorney after you have been hurt at work.

The most important part of that first meeting takes place before you ever set foot in the attorney’s office. For your attorney, the goal of the first meeting is to gain an accurate understanding of the facts surrounding your injury. This is so the attorney can assess how the law will be applied to your case. In order for the attorney to make an accurate assessment, you have to be prepared to tell the story of your claim, most importantly how the injury happened, but also including what treatment and diagnoses doctors have rendered.

In order to help you tell that story, our office will send you a questionnaire to be filled out prior to your first appointment. The questionnaire asks for information we have found a court will find relevant to the claim.

1. We ask for your basic personal information like:

• Your age
• Your address
• Your educational background
• Your marital status
• If you have children
• Whether you are receiving any type of disability or unemployment benefits

2. We also ask for information regarding your employment like:

• The name of your employer
• Your hire date
• Your job location
• Your job title
• Your supervisor’s name
• A description of your job duties
• Whether you are a union member
• The name of your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance company

3. Next we ask about your injury. We ask:

• How your injury happened
• Where it happened
• Who, if anyone, witnessed your injury
• Which of your body parts were injured
• A list of all of your injuries and complaints related to that injury
• The name of the doctor(s) who treated you for your injury and what treatments they used
• How the injury was reported to your employer
• If you missed any time from work because of your injury
• Past injuries, if any
• What hospitals or doctors treated you for those past injuries
• Your job history, including dates work, job titles, whether you were injured at that job, and why you left each job

These questions will help us assess your claim to make sure you are being paid proper benefits.

Obtaining medical records often requires making a special trip to your doctors’ offices to pick them up.

In addition to answering the above questions, we also ask you to bring in all records you can obtain relating to your employment and injury. Of all of the possible records, medical records are the most important because they are best evidence in a workers’ compensation case. Obtaining medical records often requires making a special trip to your doctors’ offices to pick them up.

This is an overview of most of the information your attorney will ask for at your first meeting. If you put in the time and effort preparing this information for your first meeting, your attorney will be able to make an accurate assessment of your claim and quickly get started in helping you receive the benefits you deserve.

Prior results do not guarantee outcomes.
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