One of the most critical actions that an employee can practice after being injured at work is to contact an experienced workers’ compensation attorney in California. The first conference with a lawyer gives an injured worker an immeasurable sense of their compensation claim’s strengths and vulnerabilities and the attorney’s expertise and interest in the case.

If you are also planning to hire one for you, then here’s a quick guide on what to take for your first meetup with the lawyer. You need to give as much information about the injury you experienced at the workplace to the attorney. Plus, coming fully prepared with the relevant documents and materials can support the attorney to evaluate whether your claim is valid enough or not. The must-have documents in your list should be:

• Employment records mentioning the roles and responsibilities 
• Recent bank statements
• A quick summary of the incident, including the date and time 
• Contact information of the manager/supervisor 
• The supervisor gives the notice with the date and time
• An e-copy of the message sent to the employer concerning the incident 
• Address and contact information of the facility and physician along with the treatment dates 
• Medical records related to the diagnosis 
• Contact details of the eyewitness, if any
• Images of the injury
• Any letters or emails exchanged between you and the employer regarding the injury claim. 

Having similar information can help the attorney assess the claim and better understand the sophisticated issues. The earlier the information is gathered, the quicker the claim process can be processed by any licensed lawyer for workers’ compensation in California. Now, let’s move to the questions part. 

Besides collecting the necessary papers to review the details, your first consultation with the attorney will also give you a chance to ask questions. The most obvious ones can be: 

How long has the expert been practicing as a California workers compensation attorney? 

Has the attorney represented clients with injuries/incidents similar to yours? 

What’s the attorney’s success rate on compensation claim cases? 

Will, the attorney, be individually handling your case, or will there be any assistants’ involvement? 

Once you are done and satisfied with the attorney’s credentials and background, the next thing you may want to shed some light on can be the strategy. For instance, you can simply ask the expert lawyer to share your case’s strong and weak points. Also, you can discuss whether the settlement can be a good option or not. At the same time, it is also necessary to discuss the costs or the fees, including the legal expenses required to file a claim. Getting answers to all these questions beforehand can help avoid misunderstandings or confusion that could later turn out to be expensive or troublesome. 

Ultimately, workers’ compensation in California is a complicated area of the legal system. However, having a detailed initial consultation can help you in several ways while making you understand what to expect from an attorney.