Pre-Suit Interrogatories for General Type Cases

List the name and business addresses of each physician who has treated or examined you, and each medical facility where you have received any treatment or examination for the injuries for which you seek damages in this case; and state as to each the date of treatment or examination and the injury or condition for which you were examined or treated.

This one is very important to get correct. List every doctor, hospital, clinic, ambulance driver, fireman, X-Ray, MRI, and any labs that may have done any work, or looked or treated you in any way. I have listed the doctors we know about because you are treating with them for this accident, But, if we are missing any doctors, then we obviously don't know about them and need you to list them here. So please list each and every health care professional that you have seen, no matter how irrelevant it may seem

List the names, business addresses, dates of employment and rates of pay regarding all employers, including self-employment, for whom you have worked in the past ten years.

You want to list every employer, good ones and bad ones. This is important to the defense for two reasons, the first is to challenge your lost wages or earnings and second to look for any health insurance you may have had through your work or any workers compensation claims you have made. If you forget or leave out an employer, the Insurance Defense lawyer may suggest you are being dishonest. Please list all of your prior employment.

Do you contend that you have lost any income, benefits, or earning capacity in the past or future as a result of the incident described in the complaint? If so, state the nature of the income, benefits, or earning capacity, and the amount and method that you used in computing the amount

This is basically 3 questions in one. First, Do you have lost wages caused by the accident? Second, have you lost any employment benefits caused by the accident? And Third will you have lost wages in the future caused by the accident? 1) Past Lost Wages: We want to calculate every penny of lost wages that you suffered because of this accident. 2) Lost Benefits are listed below and select any losses that apply to your particular situation. 3) Future Earnings addresses questions like, will you get raises like you used to get since you were hurt? We want to tell them how will lose money because of your injury and how you calculated the figure. Don't worry too much about the calculations, just tell them what you lost, and what you think you will lose in the future and we may have an accountant or an economist calculate this for you.

List all former names and when you were known by those names. State all addresses where you have lived for the past ten years, the dates you lived at each address, your social security number, your date of birth, and if you are or have ever been married, the name of your spouse or spouses.

They want every address, every name, and all other piece of information about you so that they can check on your history and lifestyle over the past 10 years.

Do you wear glasses, contact lenses, or hearing aids? If so, who prescribed them, when were they prescribed, when were your eyes or ears last examined, and what is the name and address of the examiner?

In other words, was the accident your fault because you did not see very well and you were not wearing your prescription glasses, or did you fail to hear something? Can they pin any fault on you?

Have you ever been convicted of a crime, other than any juvenile adjudication, which under the law under which you were convicted was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of 1 year, or that involved dishonesty or a false statement regardless of the punishment? If so, state as to each conviction the specific crime and the date and place of conviction.

We want to accurately list any and all criminal convictions you may have as an adult. If you have any convictions and we tell the truth about them, this will prevent the insurance defense lawyer from telling the jury what your convictions were for. But if you get this wrong, the defense lawyer may get to talk all about your prior criminal convictions in great detail. Therefore, If you have any doubts about whether something resulted in a conviction, we can order a criminal history report from each state where you suspect a conviction may have been given to you. Also, if we know about them, we can usually get the judge to order the defense not to talk about any that are over 10 years old. But we have to know about this to protect you from this damaging testimony that can only be used against you if you don't answer this question correctly.

Did you consume any alcoholic beverages or take any drugs or medication within twelve hours before the time of the incident described in the complaint? If so, state the type and amount of alcoholic beverages, drugs or medication which were consumed and when and where you consumed them.

Were you drinking? or did you take any medication before the accident? They want to suggest that you were intoxicated and therefore the accident is at least partially your fault.

Describe in detail how the incident described in the complaint happened, including all actions taken by you to prevent the incident.

What did you do to avoid or reduce the severity of this accident? We want to make a list of everything you did right before the accident. The insurance company lawyer wants to place some blame on you for this accident.

Describe in detail each act or omission on the part of any party to this lawsuit that you contend constituted negligence that was a contributing legal cause of the incident in question.

What did the other people do wrong that caused this accident? Did anyone do anything to make it worse? Did they drive too fast? Did they turn when it was not safe to do so? Were they drinking alcohol or appear to be on drugs? The more clearly we can explain why it is the other driver's fault the easier it will be to win this part of your case, that is who is at fault.

Describe each injury for which you are claiming damages in this case, specifying the part of your body that was injured, the nature of the injury, and, as to any injuries you contend are permanent, the effects on you that you claim are permanent.

What still hurts? Cuts, scars, headaches, neck pain, back pain, can't sleep, numbness on a constant basis anywhere? This is important to list in writing all of the problems you have today. The defense has the right to know what you will tell a jury about your injuries. If you don't say much about them, then you can't say more at trial. Also, if you complain about every little tiny thing, then you may turn off a jury and sound like a complainer. I suggest you answer this question fully, and if you are not sure whether to include something or not, please include it so that we can talk about it later and possibly edit your answer to most help your case.

List each item of expense or damage, other than loss of income or earning capacity, that you claim to have incurred as a result of the incident described in the complaint, giving for each item the date incurred, the name and business address to whom each was paid or is owed, and the goods or services for which each was incurred.

Are you claiming any loss damaged clothing or other property? Also, list any extra expenses you have from this incident, including: cleaning services, lawn maintenance, broken eye glasses, torn clothing, damaged things in your possession, prescription drugs, bandages, aspirin, heating pads, crutches, etc. anything you have spent a penny on, that is related to your accident.

Has anything been paid or is anything payable from any third party for the damages listed in your answers to these interrogatories? If so, state the amounts paid or payable, the name and business address of the person or entity who paid or owes said amounts, and which of those third parties have or claim a right of subrogation.

Did your PIP auto policy, health insurance, medicaid, medicare, HRS, or social security pay anything for you?

List the names and addresses of all persons who are believed or known by you, your agents or attorneys to have any knowledge concerning any of the issues in this lawsuit; and specify the subject matter about which the witness has knowledge.

Usually, you, your family, all the witnesses to the accident, all of your doctors, any police officers, ambulance drivers, your employers, co-workers, and friends who know how bad you were hurt.

Have you heard or do you know about any statement or remark made by or on behalf of any party to this lawsuit, other than yourself, concerning any issue in this lawsuit? If so, state the name and address of each person who made the statement or statements, the name and address of each person who heard it, and the date, time, place and substance of each statement.

Did any driver or and defendant say anything about what happened? Did they make any admissions that we can tell the jury about? If so, we have to let the defense know now about any admissions or statements their client made that helps your case and hurts the defendants case.

State the name and address of every person known to you, your agents, or your attorneys, who has knowledge about, or possession, custody, or control of, any model, plat, map, drawing, motion picture, videotape, or photograph pertaining to any fact or issue involved in this controversy; and describe as to each, what item such person has, the name and address of the person who took or prepared it, and the date it was taken or prepared.

Usually, just the police, their insurance company, your insurance company, the defendant is all that I would know who may have photos, etc.

Do you intend to call any expert witnesses at the trial of this case? If so, state as to each such witness the name, and business address of the witness, the witness's qualifications as an expert, the subject matter upon which the witness is expected to testify, the substance of the facts and opinions to which the witness is expected to testify, and a summary of the grounds for each opinion.

Usually you will not know what “Experts” you will use beyond your treating doctors.

Have you made an agreement with anyone that would limit that party's liability to anyone for any of the damages sued upon in this case? If so, state the terms of the agreement and the parties to it.

Usually you have not made any such agreements.

Please state if you have ever been a party, either plaintiff or defendant, in a lawsuit other than this one, and if so, state whether you were a plaintiff or defendant, the nature of the action, and the date and court in which such suit was filed.

They want to know about any lawsuits you have ever been involved in, divorce included.

Have you been in any other type of accidents before such as other car accidents, slip and falls, boating accidents, sporting injuries?

They just want to know what other accidents you have possibly been in where you sought ANY medical treatment, no matter how minor.

List your prior automobile and health insurance companies you have had over the past 10 years.

They just want to know where else you have had insurance so that they can subpoena their records about you and find any claims you have made, or lists of any doctors or treatment you may have obtained in the past 10 years.

List all activities that you used to do but now you cannot do them at all, and list all activities that you used to do that are now hard to do because of your injuries.

This is a pretty straight forward question about what activities you used to do, but are now limited or impossible for you to do. The tricky part of this question that they will ask later is "how often did you do these activities before the accident?" They hope to show that you did not do that activity much, or it has been many years before this accident that you did that activity. So, try to list things that you did often, or at least once per year but now you cannot do them at all because of the injuries from this incident.

List all gyms and or health clubs you were a member over the past 5 years:

Please give us a list of all health clubs you were a member of over the past 5 years. This information will help show how active and healthy you were before the incident.

What was your cell phone number, carrier, and name of the account for your cell phone on the date of the accident?

The insurance defense lawyer may subpoena your cell phone records to see if you were using your cell phone at the time of the accident.

Thank you for taking the time to carefully answer each of these important questions. The quality of your answers to these questions will go a long way toward the success of your case. If later, you remember something, please let us know. Thanks Matt Powell