Choosing the Right Lawyer is No ACCIDENT- A Personal Injury Guide - By Jeff Adelman (2025 Edition)
If you are reading this, you likely have been injured as a result of a car accident or slipping or tripping on someone’s premises as a result of negligence. In the pages that follow, I will provide insight as to what you should expect from a lawyer (attorney) fighting on your behalf for personal injuries. This book is intended as a general guide if you are unfortunate to have had this happen to you. It has been with the least amount of “legalese” as possible, so you do not have to be a lawyer to understand it.
If you are reading this, you likely have been injured as a result of a car accident or slipping or tripping on someone’s premises as a result of negligence. In the pages that follow, I will provide insight as to what you should expect from a lawyer (attorney) fighting on your behalf for personal injuries. This book is intended as a general guide if you are unfortunate to have had this happen to you. It has been with the least amount of “legalese” as possible, so you do not have to be a lawyer to understand it.
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Choosing the Right Lawyer is No Accident
or medical records of past health conditions, in which case you’ll be
asked to sign a medical authorization as part of the investigation of the
claim.
Requests For Admissions present the scariest written discovery to me,
because they are statements written by the opposing attorney that must
be admitted or denied within 30 days. If not, the statements are deemed
admitted by law, and can be read to a jury at trial. You will have to admit
or deny the truth of each of the statements that are presented.
If, by chance, your attorney misses the deadline, you can still get your
admissions in late by a motion in front of the judge, but it’s certainly
quite embarrassing for any attorney that has had to do this. You want to
get it right the first time.
Side note on tax returns: Do I have to disclose them? When you have
a wage loss claim, your tax returns are discoverable by the other side.
This can be a problem if you are somebody who relies on cash for income
but has not reported all of it to the government on your income tax return.
If a plaintiff makes a wage loss claim that includes unreported income
when taxes have not been reported properly, the plaintiff would either
have to lie about their tax returns or admit criminal conduct.
Therefore, if someone works with cash or does not report all of their
income, they should not bring ANY type of wage claim. Waiving that
claim makes the returns irrelevant, so you will not subject yourself to
impeachment, perjury or criminal indictment.
Side note on Social Media: If your case is in litigation, resist the
temptation to post! Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and other social
media are discoverable meaning the defense will have access to look at
it and question a plaintiff about it. Defense attorneys have the right to
view this information, and they will! What you put something out there
for public consumption assume you should be aware that you can be
questioned about it at deposition and at trial.
Jeff Adelman, B.C.S., Esq. 29
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