Your first meeting with a personal injury lawyer goes much further when you bring the right documents. This checklist applies whether you were injured in a car wreck, a truck accident, or a fall at a Houston business. Don’t worry if you don’t have everything on this list; a good lawyer can help you gather what’s missing. But the more you bring, the faster we can evaluate your claim and protect it.
1. The police or crash report
Bring the Houston Police Department, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, or Texas DPS crash report (or at least the report number), along with the date, time, and location of the accident and the names and contact information of any witnesses. If the accident happened at a store, restaurant, or apartment complex, bring any incident report the business gave you.
2. Photos and video of the accident
Pictures of the scene, the vehicles, your injuries, and any hazard that caused a fall are extremely valuable evidence. Dashcam footage, doorbell camera video, and screenshots all count. Photos of your injuries taken over several days or weeks can show how serious they were.
3. Insurance information
Bring your own auto insurance card and policy declarations page, the other driver’s insurance information, and any claim numbers you have received. Your own policy may include Personal Injury Protection (PIP) or uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage that you didn’t know you had, which matters in a city with as many uninsured drivers as Houston. Having spent years on the insurance side as an adjuster, claims counsel, and insurance defense attorney, I often find coverage clients weren’t aware of.
4. Letters and emails from insurance adjusters
Bring everything an adjuster has sent you: letters, emails, settlement offers, requests for recorded statements, and medical authorization forms. Please don’t sign anything from the other driver’s insurance company before we review it. Some of these forms give the insurer broad access to your medical history or release your claim entirely.
5. Medical records and bills
Bring anything you have from the ambulance, emergency room, urgent care, your doctor, specialists, physical therapy, and pharmacies. A list of every provider you have seen since the accident (with names and approximate dates) is just as helpful if you don’t have the records themselves. Also bring your health insurance card, since Texas law generally limits medical damages to amounts actually paid or incurred.
6. Proof of lost wages
Recent pay stubs, a letter from your employer about missed work, or tax returns if you work for yourself all help document your lost income.
7. Your out of pocket expenses
Receipts for prescriptions, medical equipment, mileage to appointments, rental cars, and repairs all add up. Keep them in one envelope or folder.
8. A short written timeline
While your memory is fresh, write down what happened before, during, and after the accident, and how your injuries have affected your daily life. Keep it private and share it only with your lawyer.
9. Your photo ID
We’ll need to confirm your identity and contact information.
10. Your questions
Your consultation is also your chance to interview us. See our list, 10 Questions to Ask a Houston Personal Injury Lawyer at Your First Consultation.
11. Missing some of these?
Call anyway. The sooner you speak with a Houston personal injury lawyer, the sooner we can request records, preserve evidence, and deal with the insurance company for you. Herrera PLLC offers free consultations in English and Spanish, and you pay no attorney’s fees unless we win or recover for you. Call 832.891.3210 or visit our office at 2339 Commerce Street, #172, in Houston’s EaDo neighborhood.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney client relationship.
