INTRODUCTION

Accidents resulting in personal injuries are a common occurrence in our
daily lives. In addition to auto accidents, we may suffer personal injuries
or property damage in accidents in the home, at business premises or on
streets and sidewalks. Injuries may also be caused by carelessness of
doctors, lawyers and other professionals. You can protect yourself by
consulting a lawyer if you suffer and injury or property damage as a result
of an accident.

EVALUATING YOUR CLAIM

To determine whether you have a claim, your lawyer will consider whether
another person's conduct wrongfully caused your loss. There are three kinds
of wrongful conduct - negligence, international misconduct, and strict
liability.

Negligence is the most common basis for recovery of losses from an
accident. The law holds individuals responsible for their own carelessness.
For example, drivers who neglect to sop for stop signs or doctors who fail
to follow established medical procedures.

Recovery for intentional misconduct may result if someone has deliberately
hurt you or your property. For example, if someone has deliberately hit you
without your permission, detained you against your will, or made false
statements that injure your reputation.

Individuals and companies may be responsible for damages on the basis of
strict liability if they have engaged in dangerous activity, such as
conducting blasting operations or keeping wild animals as pets, or if they
have manufactured a defective or dangerous product.

WHAT IS YOUR INJURY WORTH

Your lawyer can help put a dollar value on your injury. You are entitled to
compensation for your medical expenses lost wages, and the cost of repairing
your property. You are also entitled to compensation for any pain,
disfigurement, physical handicap, embarrassment, loss of enjoyment of life,
mental distress, emotional pain, and other psychological injuries.

FINDING SOURCES OF COMPENSATION

The time, effort, and expense of a lawsuit are not ordinarily worthwhile if
the person responsible for your injury does not have sufficient assets to
pay for your damages. Your lawyer can help you determine what assets or
insurance are available to compensate you. You can bring an action against
all those who caused your injury. For example, if a negligent person injures
you in the courses of working for someone else, that employer is often
responsible as well. Other parties potentially responsible for an auto
accident may include the owner of a vehicle driven by someone else or even
governmental authorities, if defective conditions contributed to the
accident.

PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW AND INVESTIGATION

Your lawyer will carefully interview you to learn the facts of the
accident, who is responsible, the extent of your injuries and the amount of
your loss. After the initial interview, your lawyer will obtain medical
records, interview witnesses, obtain police reports, and other information
to help prove your claim.

FILING A LAWSUIT

Your lawyer may be able to settle your claim and obtain compensation for
you without a lawsuit. Your claim may also be settled after a lawsuit is
filed, or even after a trial. If a lawsuit is necessary, your lawyer will
prepare the documents necessary to file your claim with the court and gather
the evidence needed to probe your claim at trial. The process of gathering
evidence is call discovery. It ordinarily includes the exchange of relevant
documents, the answering of written questions known as interrogatories and
orally questioning witnesses under oath before trial in depositions. The
pretrial discovery process can take many months to complete depending on the complexity of your claim.

If not settled, your case will go to trial after the completion of pretrial
discovery. It may take months or years to set a trial date depending upon
the court where your lawsuit is filed. Most cases that go to trial are
decided by juries. However, your case may be decided by a judge if it is
required by statute or agreed to by the parties to the lawsuit.

PRESERVING THE EVIDENCE

Your claim is only as good as the evidence that supports it. When an injury
occurs, you should take notes on the circumstances of the accident,
including the names, addresses, and phone numbers of witnesses, doctors, and other medical care providers who treated you. Your lawyer needs this
information to determine whether your can prove your claim.

It is often useful to photograph or videotape the evidence of the nature
and extent or your injuries and the damage to your property. Photographs
should be take of your bruises, stitches or other visible signs of injury.
In the case of an auto accident, the vehicle should be photographed before
any repairs are made. After a fire in your home, take pictures of the
damage. You can help establish the date of the photos by keeping notes and
having someone witness the taking of the photos. These photos can provide
valuable support for your claim.

Preservation of evidence is essential to the successful resolution of your
claim. If he evidence is lost or destroyed it will be difficult to prove
your case at trial. The evidence should be stored in a secure place where it
will not be damaged. If the claim involves a defective product, retain, if
available, the packaging and instruction booklet as well as the actual
product that caused the injury.

Your lawyer may recommend that you keep a daily log of the medical and
financial consequences of your injury. In your log, you can keep a record of
hospital stays, doctor visits, medical treatments, healing progress, medical
bills, time lost from work, lost earnings, and expenses incurred.

CONCLUSION

Under the law, others may be responsible for your injuries. In the event of
such an injury, consult a lawyer as soon as possible. It is important to act
quickly to preserve your rights to compensation from those who caused your
injuries. Any inquiries that you receive should be referred to your lawyer.
Your lawyer will estimate the value of your claim and help you collect fair
compensation for injuries and damage to your property.