Once you have done the above, the next most critical step you can take is to document everything that happened before, during, and after the accident. Any twists, turns, or jolts should be noted. If you have a digital camera or a camera phone, take as many pictures as possible. Photograph the damage to all vehicles inside and out. Photograph any visible bumps or abrasions you or a passenger in your car may have. Did you bump your head on the steering wheel or against the window? Did your back hit the center console? No matter how small the pain, whether instant or enduring, reduce is to writing or take a picture of it. Injuries sustained in automobile accidents have a tendency to turn into chronic conditions over time if not treated immediately or properly. That simple head bump may possibly have been a concussion or could lead to serious cognitive issues in the future. What you thought was just a sore back may turn out to be a ruptured disc, which could lead to terrible pains that shoot down to the lower extremities.

In the ensuing days, make sure to write down every little pain that occurs. Apply detail to these notes by describing what action you were doing and what bodily position you were in immediately before the pain arrived. This information is critical to doctors, chiropractors, and other healthcare professionals in diagnosing the injury. Did you miss work because of the pain? Were you unable to take that planned biking & hiking trip? Were you unable to be intimate with your loved one due to the severity of the pain? If so, write this down as well because it may allow your attorney to file a lost wages or loss of consortium claim against those responsible.

The best and most ideal way to preserve these notes and pictures is via email. Type all of your notes and attach the pictures in an email and send it to a family member or a friend you can trust. Make sure to copy the same email to yourself. By doing so, you are preserving the date and time of the pain which is important for attorneys in proving the causation element of a tort claim. Finally, you should schedule an appointment with a personal injury attorney to learn what legal remedies may be available to you for the injuries, pain, and other inconveniences you may have suffered.

 Article provided by Mazen Abdallah, JD/LLM

Mazen Abdallah will be assisting Ready Lawyers provide you with the most comprehensive and up-to-date educational resources.  We invite you to read more about Mr. Abdallah at his website: www.MazenAbdallah.com.

If you are looking for a Houston lawyer or attorney, remember that Ready Lawyers is your number-one source.

There is no surprise why people are so interested in avoiding jail. Jail time essentially means a surrendering of all of your freedoms, and can often mean the end to meaningful relationships, your employment, and role in your community. The question of jail (or prison) time is not easily answered through a online search. Moreover, the importance of the correct answer to that legal question is far too important to be left to an anonymous individual on the internet.

Therefore, if you find yourself contemplating jail time, then you likely need to contact an attorney as soon as possible.

What if you can't afford a lawyer? Then What?
Many attorneys offer free case reviews or will argue your case on a contingency basis. The bottom line is that even if you can't afford legal help, you can still get it. If you're freedom is at stake, it is much better to be safe than sorry.

Use this site as a tool to getting that ideal legal representation. We invite you to read our other articles, contact qualified lawyers, and make the most out of your legal issue.

Today's 'Before Legal Advice Series' is going to tackle what is likely the most commonly asked question in the legal field. This question takes many forms such as, "Can I sue?," "Do I have a legal case?," Do I need a lawyer?," and many more. We are going to try to give you some suggestions on how to tackle that question, and come one step closer to resolving your legal issue. As you read on be sure to remember, ReadyLawyers.com is not here to provide legal advice. We are only offering general legal information for your reference. The law can sometimes be complex and very particular to your situation. As always, we encourage you to follow due diligence when reading our articles and consult legal counsel as soon as possible. For further information, we invite you to visit our Disclaimer and Terms of Service accessible on the site. Without further ado, lets discuss our topic for the day.

For Starters: Who is allowed to sue?
Generally, in order to sue you must have suffered an injury due to the action or inaction of another, in violation of your civil rights under state or Federal law. The injury you suffer need not be physical, and courts are often willing to reward injuries incurred through mental duress, racial stigmatization, loss of property or other financial assets, and other non-physical damages. In some situations, a member of a group where someone suffered racial discrimination may sue on his or her behalf. In other situations, spouses of the injured party may also have a cause of action.

How do I know if I have a legal case?
Unfortunately the answer to this question isn't always a simple one. Factors such as the facts of the case, the nature of the injury, and the jurisdiction in which the injury occurred all serve to complicate the issue of whether or not you have a case. Your best approach is to find an avenue where a legally savvy individual (preferably an attorney) who is willing to hear the details of your case and asses if you can sue, and more importantly, if your chances of winning are high enough to warrant the legal expenses.

While searching for an attorney, look for terms such as "Free Consultation" or "Free Case Reviews." These terms indicate that the lawyer is willing to review your case and intelligently address the question of whether or not you have a legal case. The attorney's featured on this site should be a great start. When contacting them ask them direct questions, and do your best to get a real sense on where your legal issue stands.

Other Options
Beyond contacting an attorney, there are a number of other approaches you can take. However, taking the law into your hands is generally best left for a trained professional, and often the risk of being wrong, coupled with the effort, just isn't worth it. That being said, other ways to discover whether or not you can sue includes 1) contacting a local law school and visiting with the head of the department, 2) searching for similar cases online, and 3) visiting your local law library.

However, we highly discourage you from pursuing these three alternative methods. Considering that many lawyers are willing to talk to you about your case without any cost to you really makes that your smartest approach.

The Dreaded Statute of Limitations
It's appropriate for us to note the statute of limitations and how it may apply to your case.
The statute of limitations effectively gives an expiration date on your ability to take legal action. Sometimes the clock starts ticking when you are injured and other times it may begin ticking once you actually discover that you were injured (for example, imagine a worker who contracted cancer due to the negligence of his employer, but did not discover it until 15 years after he is infected).

Thus, it is important to be educated on how the statute of limitations applies to your specific legal needs. However, regardless of how much time you think you have, you should always act fast when it comes to suing. Time is often NOT on your side.

Questions
Questions? Comments? We invite you to partake in our new discussion for below. As always, we at Ready Lawyers wishes you the best in your legal matter, and look forward to hearing back from you soon.

We are excited about providing helpful tips and legal information directly through our website. We invite you to visit our site, and enjoy our growing educational resources. Thank you!

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We have also made a few more visual changes, which should make the site easier to navigate. Finally, we have made a few more changes to the back-end of the site which should improve speed and reliability of our services.

If you have any comments or suggestions, we welcome you to write in below. Thank you, and we will keep you updated on ReadyLawyers.com.

Step One: Identify Your Area of Law
You may locate the best divorce lawyer in the world, but that individual may be of little assistance if you are looking for someone to write a will. Thus, your first step is to refine what area of law your legal issue applies to. You can approach this task by doing a little research on the web, view our own area of law descriptions on the right of your screen, or simply ask people around you. If you are still unsure, it is alright to guess the area of law, and simply contact any attorney. That attorney may be able to provide some additional guidance and even refer you to one of his colleagues.

Step Two: Locating Legal Aid in Your Area of Law
As you may have guessed, the next step is to begin seeking for lawyers/attorneys in your area of law. Try a basic Google search of "[Insert your city] [Area of Law] lawyers." Thus, if you are looking for criminal lawyers, and you live in Houston Texas, your search will look like "Houston criminal law lawyers. Other avenues to search include the Yellow Pages, and referral websites (like the one your at now!).

Be relentless and thorough in your search. Look beyond the first page of search engine results while trying to get a feel for who the lawyer is. Read the attorney's online profiles, and take notes on who you think may be good for your case. Your goal at this stage is to develop a master list of lawyers from which you can identify your ideal counsel.

Step Three: Narrowing the List
Great, now you've likely found huge lists of legal representatives eager to offer their services. What you need to do now is refer to the notes that you have taken to compare and evaluate the proficiency of each lawyer. As you find a lawyer that seems to appeal to you, add them to a new list with additional notes on their education, qualifications (like experience), and anything else you find that indicates the personality of the lawyer.

Few notes to keep in mind during this step:
The school that the attorney attended is necessarily correlated to the value of their legal advice. Many terrible lawyers attended the best law schools, and many of the worst law schools have helped produce some of the best lawyers. Simply use an attorney's education to give a fuller understanding of their work-ethic.

Look for applicable expereince in your particular law. Remember, you're hiring a lawyer that can serve your particular legal issue best. Not just the best overall lawyer.

Finally, remember that you are hiring a person to counsel you. You need to feel comfortable talking to this individual, and you need to feel confident in their abilities. Look for references, and even feel free to contact the attorney to request additional information.

Step Four: Making Contact
By now you should have a healthy list of about 25-30 attorneys. Using your notes, try to rank these lawyers by who you think would serve your interests competently. Then, from the top, start contacting them. Call and ask questions, request a free consultation, inquire upon how much time would potentially be devoted to your case, and set meetings. The attorneys who rub you the wrong way get crossed off the list, and the attorneys you like get promoted. As you continue through this process, your ideal legal counsel will slowly emerge from the pack. Inform that attorney of your interest, and go from there.

Congratulations
That's all there is to it. Using this simple four step method should help you get the most out of your dollar, and will hopefully lead your case to a favorable outcome. Feel free to comment with questions or suggestions in the form below. As always, we at Ready Lawyers wish you the best in your legal endeavors.

We are diligently researching our first topic, and you should expect our discussion on it shortly. Stay tuned, and we can't wait to have you back at www.ReadyLawyers.com.