Case strength self-assessment
This is not a score, a verdict, or an estimate of what a claim is worth. It cannot tell you whether you have a case. It is a checklist: answer each item, and it builds a list of specific things to raise with a lawyer. Nothing you select is saved or sent anywhere.
Work through the items below. As you answer, guidance appears under each one. With JavaScript turned off, all of the guidance is shown at once — read it as a plain checklist.
How fault looks
A police report, incident report, or citation supports your account of who was at fault.
Discuss: Bring the report or citation number to the call. It is a starting point for the fault question.
Discuss: Ask the lawyer how fault could be established without a supporting report — witnesses, video, physical evidence.
Discuss: Ask the lawyer to help you request the report and read what it says.
An independent witness — not a friend or passenger — saw what happened.
Discuss: Give the lawyer the witness name and contact details early, before memories fade.
Discuss: Discuss what other evidence exists for the sequence of events.
Discuss: Mention anyone who may have seen it, including nearby businesses with cameras.
Someone has suggested you were partly at fault.
Discuss: Raise this directly. California reduces a recovery by your share of fault but does not bar the claim; the lawyer will want the details.
Discuss: Note that fault appears to sit with the other side, and confirm nothing was said at the scene that changes that.
Discuss: Tell the lawyer exactly what was said at the scene and to any adjuster.
Injury and treatment
You were seen by a medical provider within a few days of the incident.
Discuss: Bring the name of the first provider and the date of that visit.
Discuss: Explain why there was a delay — it matters, and a documented reason helps.
Discuss: Work out the date of your first visit before the call.
You have followed the treatment your providers recommended, without long unexplained breaks.
Discuss: Bring a list of your providers and roughly the treatment dates.
Discuss: Discuss any gaps and the reasons for them — cost, transport, work, being told to wait.
Discuss: Gather your appointment history so the timeline is clear.
You had a prior injury or condition affecting the same part of the body.
Discuss: Disclose it up front. You can still claim for making it worse, but the lawyer needs the history and the prior records.
Discuss: Confirm this with your own memory of past care; the other side will check.
Discuss: Pull your medical history so the "before" picture is accurate.
Insurance
You know whether the person at fault had insurance.
Discuss: Bring whatever you have — the exchange-of-information form, the other policy details, the claim number.
Discuss: Ask the lawyer how coverage gets identified, including employer or vehicle-owner policies.
Discuss: Bring the police report; it usually lists the other insurer.
You know whether your own policy includes uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
Discuss: Bring your declarations page so the lawyer can see the coverage and limits.
Discuss: Ask the lawyer to review your own policy — it can matter even if the other driver was insured.
Discuss: Find your declarations page or call your insurer for a copy.
Timing
You know the date of the incident and whether a government entity was involved.
Discuss: State both on the call. Deadlines depend on them, and a government claim runs on a much shorter clock.
Discuss: Make confirming the filing deadline the first thing you ask about.
Discuss: Ask the lawyer to identify the deadline that applies before anything else.
Prior representation
Another lawyer has already worked on or declined this case.
Discuss: Say so, and bring any agreement you signed. A prior lawyer may have a lien, and a decline tells the next firm what to look at.
Discuss: Confirm you have not signed anything with another firm.
Discuss: Check whether you signed a representation agreement at any point.
Start a case review call
Bring the points above to a case review call. I go through the facts with you: what happened, when, whether you were hurt, whether anyone represents you, and how to reach you. It is not legal advice, and I will not put a value on your claim.
Common questions
- Does this tell me whether I have a case?
- No. It does not score your situation or predict anything. It is a checklist that turns your answers into specific points to raise with a lawyer, who is the only one who can assess a case.
- Are my answers saved or sent anywhere?
- No. Nothing you select here is stored or transmitted. It stays on the screen in front of you and disappears when you leave the page.
- What do I do with the result?
- Bring it to a case review call. The points it produces are the things a lawyer will want to talk through, and having them ready makes the call faster and more useful.