5 Things To Be Prepared for During Your First Meeting with A Personal Injury Lawyer

You were hurt, and now there’s a first meeting with a personal injury lawyer on your calendar. If you’ve never done this before and you’re nervous, that’s normal. The short answer: bring the crash or incident report number, photos, medical records and bills, your insurance papers, anything you’ve signed or said to an insurer, and a list of earlier injuries. Expect a conflict check, your story, questions, an honest early read and an explanation of the fee. You don’t have to decide anything in the room, and in Michigan, what you share is generally kept confidential even if you never hire that lawyer (MRPC 1.18(b)).

The meeting is the easy part. The hard part is the claims process around it: scattered records, insurer forms and deadlines that keep running while you decide. Michigan’s rules are in the boxes marked “In Michigan.”

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What should you bring to a first meeting with a personal injury lawyer?

Bring what you have, in copies. If you leave originals, get a receipt (State Bar of Michigan). You don’t need every record first: a provider generally has 30 days to act on a request for your medical records (45 CFR 164.524), so a list of your doctors and hospitals is enough to start.

A printable checklist

What happened

• The crash or incident report number, and who made the report (a police agency, or a store or property manager)
• Photos and video of the scene, the vehicles or hazard, and your injuries
• Witnesses’ names and phone numbers
• A short written timeline: when, where and how it happened, and what you did next

Your injuries and costs

• Medical records and bills, and a list of every doctor, hospital, therapist and pharmacy, with dates
• Proof of lost pay: pay stubs, a note from your employer on days missed and sick or vacation time used, and tax returns if you’re self-employed
• Itemized receipts for out-of-pocket costs, such as prescriptions, mileage to appointments and paid help at home
• Notes on what you can’t do now that you could before

Insurance and paperwork

• Your insurance declarations page (after a crash, your auto policy’s)
• Claim numbers, adjusters’ names and every letter from any insurer
• Anything you’ve signed, cashed or said: a release, a medical authorization, a check, a recorded statement
• Your health insurance card, and any Medicare or Medicaid details

Your history

• Earlier injuries, accidents and claims, especially to the same part of your body

Photos, video and damaged property can disappear; see how to preserve evidence after an accident.

Why these papers matter

Insurance. The declarations page shows the kinds and amounts of coverage you have (Maryland Insurance Administration), which tells a lawyer where payment may come from.

Anything signed or said. A release is essentially giving up your right to sue in exchange for payment (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School), and in Michigan, cashing a check sent with a prominent statement that it’s full payment can end a claim whose amount is uncertain or disputed (MCL 440.3311). Tell the lawyer about every paper and statement, and see what to say when an insurance adjuster calls.

Health coverage. If Medicare, Medicaid or a health plan paid for your care, it may have to be repaid from a settlement. Medicare can recover from anyone who receives the money, including you and your lawyer (42 CFR 411.24(g)), and in Michigan the state can recover what Medicaid paid (MCL 400.106). See who gets paid from your settlement.

Earlier injuries. They don’t automatically sink a claim: Michigan’s model jury instructions let jurors award damages for making a pre-existing condition worse (M Civ JI 50.04). The other side will likely look for them, so tell your lawyer first. The State Bar of Michigan urges being truthful with your lawyer, especially about anything you think could hurt your case.

What happens in a personal injury consultation?

The first meeting is often called a consultation, a chance for you and the lawyer to get to know each other (State Bar of Michigan). Many lawyers offer a free or reduced-fee first consultation; ask about any charge when you book. In the room, be ready for five things:

1. A conflict check. Expect to be asked who else is involved, such as the other driver, the property owner and the insurers, so the firm can make sure it doesn’t represent someone on the other side. The comment to Michigan’s ethics rule on prospective clients advises lawyers to limit a first consultation to what they reasonably need to decide whether to take the case (MRPC 1.18, comment).
2. Your story. Tell it from the beginning, including the parts that worry you. Lawyers also notice how clearly and consistently you tell it.
3. Questions about your injuries, treatment, work, insurance, what you’ve signed or said, earlier injuries and any posts about the accident. If you don’t know an answer, say so rather than guess.
4. An honest early read: strengths, weak spots, deadlines and what else is needed. A good lawyer may tell you things you don’t want to hear, such as that you don’t have a case, and you shouldn’t feel rushed (State Bar of Michigan).
5. The fee and next steps. If the lawyer wants the case, expect the fee explained and perhaps a written agreement. You don’t have to sign on the spot.

Is what you tell a lawyer confidential if you don’t hire them?

Generally, yes. Michigan’s ethics rules call someone who consults a lawyer about possibly hiring them a “prospective client,” with some, but not all, of the protection a client gets (MRPC 1.18(a) and comment). Outside Michigan, ask how your state’s rules treat a consultation.

What Michigan’s rule protects

• What you share. Even if you never hire the lawyer, they can’t use or reveal what they learned from you, except in the narrow ways allowed for a former client’s information (MRPC 1.18(b)). That holds however brief the conversation (comment).
• Your side of the case. If you shared information that could significantly harm you in the matter, the lawyer and the rest of the firm generally can’t represent someone against you in the same or a substantially related matter (MRPC 1.18(c)).

What it doesn’t do

• Make the lawyer your lawyer, or oblige them to take your case. A consultation usually leaves both of you free to go no further (comment).
• Always keep the firm off the other side. A lawyer who learned nothing that could significantly harm you may take the other side, though still barred from using or revealing what you said (MRPC 1.18(b), (c)). Even if the lawyer did, the firm may still take the other side with both clients’ informed consent, confirmed in writing, or if that lawyer took reasonable care to learn only what was needed, is screened from the case and its fee, and you’re promptly notified in writing (MRPC 1.18(d)).
• Cover what you send unprompted. Sending your story to a lawyer whose ad just lists their experience, practice areas and contact details, with no reasonable expectation that the lawyer is willing to discuss taking your case, generally doesn’t make you a prospective client (comment).
• Apply in full if you agreed otherwise. A lawyer may require, as a condition of the consultation, your informed consent that nothing you disclose will stop them from representing someone else in the matter (comment). Read forms before you sign.

So until you and the lawyer both agree to go forward, usually by signing a fee agreement, don’t assume the lawyer is representing you, and don’t count on anyone else to track your deadlines. The State Bar of Michigan calls the written agreement the framework for the lawyer-client relationship.

What should you ask the lawyer?

Write your questions down; as the State Bar of Michigan puts it, there are no stupid questions. At a minimum, ask how many cases like yours the lawyer has handled and tried, who will do the work day to day, what the strengths, weak spots and deadlines of your case are, and whether the fee is figured before or after costs. Our full list of questions to ask a personal injury attorney goes further, including how to check a lawyer’s license and discipline record. To compare lawyers, see how to choose the right lawyer for your case.

How will the lawyer charge?

Injury lawyers often work on a contingency fee: a percentage of what’s recovered for you, and no fee if nothing is. Case costs, such as filing fees, records and experts, are separate, and the lawyer may advance them (MRPC 1.8(e)). The State Bar of Michigan advises reading the agreement carefully, asking about anything unclear before you sign and keeping a copy. For the math, see how personal injury lawyers get paid.

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What are the red flags?

Slow down, or walk away, if you see any of these:

• A guarantee. Lawyers can’t guarantee a particular result (State Bar of Michigan), and Michigan’s ethics rules bar lawyer communications likely to create an unjustified expectation about results (MRPC 7.1(b)).
• Pressure to sign now. An injured person pressed to hire a lawyer on the spot may find it hard to weigh the alternatives, the comment to Michigan’s solicitation rule warns (MRPC 7.3, comment).
• Uninvited contact. A lawyer may not seek your case in person, by phone or by a message addressed to you when a significant motive is financial gain, unless you have a family or prior professional relationship. Truthful, non-deceptive letters are the exception (MRPC 7.3(a)).
• Offers of money, such as a loan or help with bills. Beyond advancing case costs, lawyers generally can’t give clients financial help in a lawsuit (MRPC 1.8(e)).
• Vague answers about the fee, the costs or who will do the work.

What happens after the first meeting?

Usually one of three things:

• The lawyer offers to take your case. Read the agreement at home if you need to, and keep your signed copy. What a personal injury lawyer does, step by step covers the agreement and what comes next.
• The lawyer needs more before deciding. Ask what they need and when you’ll hear back.
• The lawyer says no. Ask why, whether another lawyer might take it and for any papers you left, and ask for the answer in writing. One lawyer’s no isn’t a ruling on your claim. See why a lawyer may reject a case, and get a second opinion soon.

Whatever the answer, your deadlines keep running. See personal injury deadlines in every state.

What to do next

1. Start a folder today with what you have from the checklist, and note what’s missing.
2. Write down your story and questions.
3. Book a consultation, or two or three, and ask about any charge. Get a free case review, or, if you were hurt in Michigan, compare injury lawyers near you.
4. Hold off on signing a release or giving the other side’s insurer a recorded statement until you’ve had advice.
5. Put your deadlines on the calendar, starting with any notice deadline, such as Michigan’s one-year PIP notice.

What waiting can cost

• Your right to sue. A lawsuit filed after the deadline can be dismissed, however strong the case (in Michigan, MCL 600.5805(1)).
• Benefits you’re owed, such as Michigan no-fault benefits, which need written notice within a year of the crash unless the insurer has already paid (MCL 500.3145(1)).
• Evidence. Video gets recorded over, cars get repaired and witnesses move on.

What a good outcome looks like

You walk in with one folder, your questions written down and your story in order. You walk out knowing what the lawyer thinks of your case, which deadlines apply and what the fee would be, with an agreement to read at home, or a clear answer and time for a second opinion. From dreading a meeting with a stranger to walking in prepared and walking out knowing where you stand.

Updated September 28, 2026

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state. Reading this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.