Ugh. Interrogatories.

Dear Personal Injury Client: There’s a fat envelope in your mail. The other side has sent us written questions for you to answer. They’re called interrogatories.

Please pay attention! How you respond to these questions is extremely important. You’ll sign your own name to the answers, verifying the accuracy of what’s been said. The other side can read them out loud in court. If you later testify to something different, it could sound like you are lying.

The answers to these questions require joint effort. Ultimately we’ll type up the answers in the proper format, but having your best information first is crucial. 

Interrogatories cover many of the things that are important to proving (and eventually resolving) your case. We’ll be providing not just your personal data, such as your date of birth, past addresses, education and employment history, but also the who-where-when-what-and-how's that support your complaint. Your medical history, including the treatment you’ve received for your injuries. The precise nature of the harm you’ve suffered and the monetary damages we’re claiming. The facts to support each and every legal claim we’ve made. Who our expert witnesses are and the opinions they have. Whether and how your injuries prevent you from working. What we know about the other side’s evidence.

A number of these questions are for us, your personal injury lawyers, to answer. There may even be some we don’t want to answer, and we’ll be in charge of getting any disagreements resolved. But we must act promptly.

So don’t just shove that fat envelope aside. Open it. Work hard to give us all of the information that’s requested. And call us if you need help. The sooner we send out the answers, the sooner we can get your case resolved. We both want that, right?